Tools for Rebuilding Brake Calipers

Series Summary

Your car is a complex machine made up of simple machines that have many different parts and processes that must be checked for breakage, leaks, and wear. Properly working brakes are obviously essential to your driving safety and they should be checked periodically and especially if you notice problems with them. At some point you will need to replace or rebuild the brake calipers on your vehicle. Would you like to know how to rebuild brake calipers yourself? The process is not as complicated as it sounds, and makes a great do-it-yourself weekend project.

In this free auto repair video series learn how to rebuild the front brake calipers on your vehicle from certified mechanic Nathan McCullough. Nathan will tell you what you need to know about rebuilding brake calipers. He will give you mechanic tips such as what tools and supplies you will need to disassemble and rebuild your brake calipers. He will demonstrate essential steps such as how to loosen lug nuts, how to jack up your vehicle, how to remove your car tire, how to remove your banjo bolt, how to remove your brake caliper, how to remove your outboard brake pad, how to disassemble and clean your brake caliper, how to reassemble a brake caliper, how to bleed brakes, how to install a car tire, and how to fill your master cylinder.

Video Transcript

"In this clip we're going to talk about the proper service procedure to rebuild a front brake caliper. In this step, we're going to talk about the tools required in order to remove and rebuild a front brake caliper. What I have here in front of me is a four way for removing the lug nuts from the tire. We also have a good standard and metric socket set. We'll need a couple different ones, depending on the specific make and model. I have brake clean. It's the only solvent recommended for internal brake components. I have some dot-free brake fluid. I have my magnetic tray for fasteners and things of that nature. I have an assortment of small flat blade screwdrivers and an angle pick. I also have my caliper rebuild kit, which consists of a seal, the main sealing component inside the caliper, and a new protective dust boot. I also have my heavy duty jack stands and of course, my hydraulic floor jack. I also have a small hammer, and a large, flat blade screwdriver and a conventional style C-clamp. These are the tools required in order to properly rebuild the front brake caliper."