I was today years old when l learned.

[Highway_Star]

That unlike every other car I've ever worked (old Minis, old Fords, old Land Rovers, old Range Rovers, old Toyotas).

You cannot just push the rear caliper pistons back on the Mini R60 Cooper S. You need a windy tool.

Wee trip to the tool shop tomorrow morning then.

 

[Munkul]

Lots of cars have wind back calipers. Just about every car I've worked on had them. Probably everything from 90s forward has them. Its how the handbrake mechanism self adjusts.

 

[BrokenBiker]

That unlike every other car I've ever worked (old Minis, old Fords, old Land Rovers, old Range Rovers, old Toyotas).

You cannot just push the rear caliper pistons back on the Mini R60 Cooper S. You need a windy tool.

Wee trip to the tool shop tomorrow morning then.

What does the piston look like? I've had grat success using a c clamp and a pair of pipe grips to give the twist needed.

I've also used bolt heads, pin Spanners, off cuts of box section with bolts welded to them...I tend to lose the proper tools shortly after their first job

 

[Onoff]

Huh? Most pistons have little slots in the face for the wind back tool "prongs" to engage in.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Huh? Most pistons have little slots in the face for the wind back tool "prongs" to engage in.

most do but ive also encountered on i believe a 2002 (pre facelift) jag x type there is a 12mm hex in the center of the piston to provide the winding motion, but it also needed to be pressed at the same time, and ive found various manufacturers use various hole spacing for the wind back tools so i just wing it and make whatever i need at the time from what i have

ironically i have a wind back tool on the lathe now ready to be modified for a mate that wants the top end turned down and a socket welded on so he can use a ratchet to wind it

 

[bricol]

I was 19 in 1989, when attempting to fit pads back into a 1977 Lancia Beta.
I survived with pit spanners, a length of brass bar, even files until about ten years ago when I had to give up and buy a tool to get the pistons back on my Alfà 159.

 

[Highway_Star]

What does the piston look like? I've had grat success using a c clamp and a pair of pipe grips to give the twist needed.

I've also used bolt heads, pin Spanners, off cuts of box section with bolts welded to them...I tend to lose the proper tools shortly after their first job

That's exactly it, there are two slots in the face for the tool to engage in.

Everything else I've ever worked on had either rear drum brakes, drum handbrake inside the rear discs (Toyotas), or transmission handbrake (Land Rover). The newest were 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser and 2004 Toyota Corolla, both used shoes acting on the inside of the disc.

I've never come across this arrangement where the handbrake acts on the pads/discs.

I did think about making something up, but given that a proper set with adaptors for various vehicles isn't hugely expensive, I tidied up and had a beer.

 

[Highway_Star]

Huh? Most pistons have little slots in the face for the wind back tool "prongs" to engage in.

Apparently so!

The fronts on the Mini do not, I just cracked the bleed and pushed them back with a G clamp, exactly as I've done on Land Rovers and Toyotas for years.

But the rears, because the incorporate the hand brake, they do and need a tool.

 

[Melvyn Best]

The first cars I can remember with wind back pistons on the rear calipers were Rover 2000s and MK4 Zephers and Zodiacs. from the 1960s so not a new thing! Just wait until you have to fit rear pads on anything with an electric handbrake, you need to plug in diagnostic equipment as you do to bleed some brake systems these days

 

[Highway_Star]

The first cars I can remember with wind back pistons on the rear calipers were Rover 2000s and MK4 Zephers and Zodiacs. from the 1960s so not a new thing! Just wait until you have to fit rear pads on anything with an electric handbrake, you need to plug in diagnostic equipment as you do to bleed some brake systems these days

Ironically, the old Toyotas need Techstream to bleed the ABS properly!

 

[BrokenBiker]

The first cars I can remember with wind back pistons on the rear calipers were Rover 2000s and MK4 Zephers and Zodiacs. from the 1960s so not a new thing! Just wait until you have to fit rear pads on anything with an electric handbrake, you need to plug in diagnostic equipment as you do to bleed some brake systems these days

and then there are the inboard shoes that run inside the rear discs for the handbrakes too...all good fun til you cant get the disc off because of the lip worn into it and the adjuster is seized

 

[RWD3M]

That's exactly it, there are two slots in the face for the tool to engage in.

Everything else I've ever worked on had either rear drum brakes, drum handbrake inside the rear discs (Toyotas), or transmission handbrake (Land Rover). The newest were 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser and 2004 Toyota Corolla, both used shoes acting on the inside of the disc.

I've never come across this arrangement where the handbrake acts on the pads/discs.

I did think about making something up, but given that a proper set with adaptors for various vehicles isn't hugely expensive, I tidied up and had a beer.

I believe on some cars (I seem to remember my X Type - 2007 MY did) have a LH wind on one side and RH on the other. Perhaps someone lilke @premmington can confirm I haven't just imagined this?

 

[Munkul]

I believe on some cars (I seem to remember my X Type - 2007 MY did) have a LH wind on one side and RH on the other. Perhaps someone lilke @premmington can confirm I haven't just imagined this?

that's correct, most tool sets come with a LH and a RH winder.

 

[RWD3M]

that's correct, most tool sets come with a LH and a RH winder.

Thanks, nice to know I'm not just making up random stuff!

 

[keithski122]

Open ended spanner with a socket extension through the ring end works sometimes.

 

[Moose McAlpine]

I believe on some cars (I seem to remember my X Type - 2007 MY did) have a LH wind on one side and RH on the other. Perhaps someone lilke @premmington can confirm I haven't just imagined this?

Mostly Fords use LH wind-backs on the passenger side.

(X-type being on a Mondeo platform.)

A lot of electronic calipers require diagnostics to put them in service mode but aren't actually wind-back calipers. You see the 3-pin adapters for VAG cars, but those calipers just push back.

 

[Turbo]

The square bar from a household door handle fits nicely in the rear caliper piston of a 205gti to wind in the piston.
Its only recently that I bought a wind back tool set for the van.

 

[indykid]

and then there are the inboard shoes that run inside the rear discs for the handbrakes too...all good fun til you cant get the disc off because of the lip worn into it and the adjuster is seized

I'm yet to encounter a drum in disc shoe with any wear on it (from the small sample of vehicles I've owned with the setup). It makes sense really, since the handbrake is normally only engaged when the vehicle is stationary so there's very little if any relative movement to wear the drum. If you've got wear lips, it would suggest either the handbrake isn't disengaging or someone's been trying to do some sick skidz.

Drum service brakes, though.....I've fought them!

I like drum in disc. Apart from backplate corrosion, I rate it highly

 

[BrokenBiker]

I'm yet to encounter a drum in disc shoe with any wear on it (from the small sample of vehicles I've owned with the setup).

i cant remember what vehicle the last ones were on that i dealt with...possibly my hyundai terracan and they had a huge lip on them...adjuster on 1 side was seized and it was a nightmare getting them off.not sure why the lip had formed as the reason i was taking them off was due to the handbrake not working at all, and i was told it had been like that for a few years

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I seem to remember, back in 1970's, struggling to wind back late father in laws rear calipers on his Rover P6 v8.