Brake piston removal tool

[normspanners]

If you cant move it with the hyd' s as standard you are not going to get it out with an air line !! if four pot you have to block the easy pistons and move the tight ones first a bit at a time I use long stud joining nuts with bolts that go inside the hollows of the pistons, that way you can bring them out a little at a time adjusting the nuts and bolts a little bit that YOU decide then can adjust the bolts to hold the pistons just before they pop you can usually tell that it is nearly there as the piston starts to get a little wet as soon as that is seen push that piston back in a fraction with the bolts, then do the easy ones till they are all at the popping point , you should then be able to wobble each out .

 

[outofthefire]

I use one of these with the rubber attachment on the end, I then noticed how much this clown was charging I paid about 4.99 for mine and I figured he'd put the decimal point in the wrong place, then I saw the price in the second link I cant believe anyone would buy them at these prices .

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AIR-COMPR...Air_Tools_and_Compressors&hash=item4161920c08

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6PC-AIR-B...Air_Tools_and_Compressors&hash=item1c30d1d819

 

[AndyStobbs]

Splatterer I'm not far from you. My workshop is at your disposal should you need a compressor. Probably got a few other ways of doing it too. Let me know by PM.

 

[brightspark]

I use one of these with the rubber attachment on the end, I then noticed how much this clown was charging I paid about 4.99 for mine and I figured he'd put the decimal point in the wrong place, then I saw the price in the second link I cant believe anyone would buy them at these prices .

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AIR-COMPR...Air_Tools_and_Compressors&hash=item4161920c08

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6PC-AIR-B...Air_Tools_and_Compressors&hash=item1c30d1d819

well theres a d,,.k head born every minute paying stupid prices without checking 1st. and by his sales count of them theres 54

 

[Robotstar5]

I like the adjustable length bolt idea Norm

 

[mike os]

compressed air would be my very last resort..... using the master cylinder would be first ( even if it is of the bike it is quick enough to reconnect) once they are 3/4 out they usuall come easy enough by hand.

using a grease gun if they are really tight would be second, i hate seeing compressed air used for stuff like this, "compressed liquid" is 1000x safer and probably 100% more effective


edit... and less likely to damage something or someone

 

[Keithm1]

Compressed air is normally the route I go when there proper stuck if there's a bit of movement and not too stuck you can fit some tyre levers in back to back and squeeze them like a scissors to grip the inside and wrangle out it's worked for me in the past when trying to save pistons
Taping a bit of wet dry paper to the table with some brake fluid on and rub the piston on it cleans them up nice and it's easier than trying to do the other way round just don't over do it
If it was me and r1 or fazer 1000 calipers are a bolt on that's the route I'd be going

 

[mangocrazy]

Taping a bit of wet dry paper to the table with some brake fluid on and rub the piston on it cleans them up nice and it's easier than trying to do the other way round just don't over do it

Personally I wouldn't go near brake pistons with wet and dry. Grey Scotchbrite is the most aggressive material I'd use to clean pistons. Most bike pistons are just anodised alloy, so will get marked very quickly by wet and dry.

 

[hairymel]

well theres a d,,.k head born every minute paying stupid prices without checking 1st. and by his sales count of them theres 54

it seems to be common practise among the bulk sellers to just wang the price up to a stupid figure when an item is out of stock, possibly to keep the listing active until they have restocked.

the £50 blowgun must have been cheaper previously as it has been bought by 1500 people - i am sure that not all of them were really that stupid

 

[Keithm1]

Personally I wouldn't go near brake pistons with wet and dry. Grey Scotchbrite is the most aggressive material I'd use to clean pistons. Most bike pistons are just anodised alloy, so will get marked very quickly by wet and dry.

I hear you
It can be done but just don't over do it ive rebuilt many pistons and never had a problem

 

[Splatterer]

To update you folks.
I've PM'd Andy, what a gent.
I wish I'd thought of two tire levers back to back!!
That's a question I've asked in another thread about crossbill pliers and whether you could get them.
Anyway, I got the pistons out with a heat gun and a laser thermometer.
I took the casting slowly up to about 70 degrees Celsius where ESAB mig gauntlets are effective insulators and allowed the removal of the pistons and calliper bolts.

 

[mangocrazy]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm reviving it to say that I (eventually) took the advice in this thread and used a grease gun with an adaptor (1/8" BSP at gun end to M10 banjo at caliper end) to remove caliper and master cylinder pistons on an old 350LC Yamaha that wouldn't budge with an airline. I couldn't believe how easy it was, and no fear of pistons flying across the room and damaging things (like fingers etc.) Thanks to all who suggested it.

 

[jordan1]

Never used pliers or grips on brake caliper pistons unless they are being replaced. Air line [with caution] lol for me every time

 

[ukracer]

it seems to be common practise among the bulk sellers to just wang the price up to a stupid figure when an item is out of stock, possibly to keep the listing active until they have restocked.

the £50 blowgun must have been cheaper previously as it has been bought by 1500 people - i am sure that not all of them were really that stupid

The blow gun is now 3.49 delivered. I know ax I just purchased one....stupid prices are used (as has been said) when out of stock ax a relisted item now takes ages to rise up google ranking irrespective of whether you are top rated seller or not.

 

[jordan1]

I have one of the Sealey kits, very useful.

 

[mangocrazy]

I recently had to overhaul some Brembo 4-pot bike calipers, and the gold anodising on the outside was pretty much invisible. The whole caliper was varying shades of brake dust. The calipers were still connected to the brake lines and master cylinder, so with the pads out I put one of my 'special tools' in each caliper body - a caliper shaped piece of 6mm plywood and pumped the pistons out until they were all bearing against the ply.

I then split the caliper halves, drained what fluid I could and then extracted the pistons using a pair of external circlip pliers with a suitable length of 8mm petrol hose covering the prongs of the pliers. A bit of waggling and out they all popped. To clean all the brake dust off the calipers the best thing I've found is Wonder Wheels, a thin blade screwdriver and grey Scotchbrite. Give the calipers a good scrubbing in WW with a toothbrush, then follow up with the thin blade screwdriver on the heavy deposits. Finish off with the grey Scotchbrite and they should end up spotless. WW and grey Scotchbrite also cleans up the seals a treat.