Rust belt Brembos - brake job - frozen caliper pins!
 

The crummy factory pads chewed up my rotors before the pads were gone, so I did my first Brembo brake job (OK, I used to roadrace and really *use* the brakes decisively!).

I mail-ordered Porterfield R4S carbon-kevlar pads (pricey, but worth it IMHO...great stopping, low-dust and very rotor-friendly). I had to go to my area's warehouse AutoZone to get the rotors without ordering at the closest one (and waiting an extra day), but for some odd reason they were $10 cheaper than the non-Brembo rotors ($35 per rotor)!

It seemed like a pretty simple brake job, up until I tried to remove the pad retention pins. Tapping on the end, _nothing_. Vice-grips on the round end of the pin, trying to rotate...nothing.

In the end, it took 2 people and an incredible amount of heat on the caliper (from a propane torch...using the old pads as a heat shield to protect the brake hose) to break the pins loose. Me on the vice grips trying to rotate the pin while buddy hammering away on the end, luckily did the trick.

This is with only 1.5 winter seasons in the Chicago area, so Brembo owners who live in similar climes might consider getting a set of new pins before doing brake work; I'm pretty sure I came pretty close to breaking one of the pins during my brake job!

The pins cleaned up OK, but I did put anti-seize on them before reinstalling. I'm sure as hell am going to make a point of using the vice-grips to rotate them this spring when I take the snows off, next fall when I put them back on.

--Ken

i am willing to bet someone before you took it apart and didnt recoat in anti-seize. unless you bought it brand new in which case i am confused.

Bought mine new. I took my Brembos apart to paint them. I saw no lube or antiseize on the pins. They were dry on both sides.

If you drive through winter, the calipers and bleeder/banjo should be serviced and lubed yearly. Seized brake parts are very common.

To paraphrase a common expression. "Corrosion Happens".

I bought it brand new, late Dec 2010; this was the first brake job.

Not a sign of any lubrication on the pins at all.

I'll make it a point of breaking the banjo's and bleeders loose when I
swap out the snow tires.

--Ken

i let my brakes go a little too long and ended up with a seized pin i had to drill out, and one piston that would recess all the way back. crate engine had the parts good to go.