wilwood caliper drag

[acme383]

i was out in the garage, fit checking a new front tire for clearance and noticed there is a fair amount of drag on the front brakes. same on both sides. these are the old style 4 piston calipers (with the tubes on the outside). my friend has the same ones and has the same issue.if you push the pads back in slightly, the drag is gone. anyone else run into this? what was the fix?

[Alex Denysenko]

Basically rebuild the calipers.
Replace the piston seals and scotch bright the caliper bores.
Good as new afterwards.
We service ours this way every spring.
Takes about 4-5 hours including the bleeding.
We carry the seals in stock by the way.

[acme383]

alex, thanks for the info. pm me your info. Dan

[Chris "drooze" Wertman]

Originally Posted by Alex Denysenko

Basically rebuild the calipers.
Replace the piston seals and scotch bright the caliper bores.
Good as new afterwards.
We service ours this way every spring.
Takes about 4-5 hours including the bleeding.
We carry the seals in stock by the way.

Yeppers X2....

In addition, if you want real issues run it that way.....drag, heat , expansion, more drag, warping of rotors.....

Ive had 2 nearly fatal bike wrecks because of dragging calipers......it only takes a hair before the cycle starts and on a bike when that dragging wheel hits the marbles its all over.

PLUS if one drags more than the other.....well....turning without steering when stopping is always a good cardiac health test

Yeah......GOOD Advice Alex.....

The alloy has a dielectric reaction albeit mild in the case of aluminum and steel .... and well.....good advice....nuff said.

Also IF for some reason that dosent fix it , look into debris in the lines or the master cyl, I once had a piece of hard chrome that had flaked off a piston and worked its way back up the line over time and it was acting like a flapper valve to a small degree but enough to cause drag and start the cycle....and in my case, flip the cycle

[Robert Simpson]

Originally Posted by acme383

i was out in the garage, fit checking a new front tire for clearance and noticed there is a fair amount of drag on the front brakes. same on both sides. these are the old style 4 piston calipers (with the tubes on the outside). my friend has the same ones and has the same issue.if you push the pads back in slightly, the drag is gone. anyone else run into this? what was the fix?

We had the same thing with the same style calipers. As Alex said clean and rebuild them. But, make sure you use the round o ring seals and not the replacement square ones. It makes a big difference. We got our kits from Rebco? This was before we knew Alex was a dealer.

Robert

[Barnstorm]

Yes... use the round seals even though Wilwood says use the square seals. I also put a 2in long compression spring over the cotter pin between the pads that retract them. Make sure there is no pressure in the lines by cracking open a bleeder. Lost 2 tenths and 5mph due to drag.

[ssdeuce]

using the round seals apply to all wilwood calipers i need to do the same with mine on my 68 camaro

[offroadr]

Old thread but mine are dragging pretty bad.

Anyone know where to get the proper rebuild parts today?

[ss3011]

Also make sure the pads have not worn on a taper . Tends to make the pistons stick in the bore .