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is this a common problem with our calipers?

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Old Mar 9, 2008 | 08:42 PM
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Question is this a common problem with our calipers?

i will try to make this long story short, but i spent the weekend installing bilstiens, hypercoils, slotted n drilled rotors, and brake pads. everything was sailing along, easy peasy japaneasy, until the front calipers. on both front caliper brackets, one of the two (not sure of actual part name) floating pins that the smaller 2 of the 4 bolts threads into were seized up. my brakes had been steadily getting worse and when i put my new C6 wheels on last weekend i noticed the right rear had a crack all the way across. but i guess this was my real problem. we first noticed the problem after putting the driver side back together and the rotor would not turn without a prybar. after discovering the problem we soaked it down with an anti seize spray and went to the passenger side. it too had one completely seized and the other just barely moved. well after much effort we got the passenger side all freed up, used some sand paper to clean up the corosion and rust put some grease in it and put it back on. the driver side on the other hand would not give. ended up breaking the pin off inside the bracket. drove all over town trying to find a caliper bracket to no avail. ended up buying 2 kits, one with the pins and the other with the grommet/boots. went back home and drilled a hole from the other end and used a punch to drive it out (had to use 4lb sledge). cleaned it out, used a tap kit to thread the hole we drilled and ran a bolt into it, and put it back together. everything looks good and works great. apparently, i haven't had decent brakes the whole time i have had the car(since may of 07) because there is a HUGE improvement!! i am going to have pics in a couple of days of all this taking place on my links in my sig. but i guess my real question is: is this a commond problem? should i look to aftermarket calipers and brackets? i guess this problem has been putting constant pressure on my pads and rotors at all times. hell, i think my gas mileage improved on the way from pops house to mine! both front rotors were heat checked and warped and like i said the right rear was cracked. left rear seemed to be fine. ok, i will end this now so much for keeping it short eh?
any ideas? suggestions?
thanks
jman
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Old Mar 9, 2008 | 09:27 PM
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That happened to one of my brackets as well. I think the problem only occurs once the bracket is removed from the rotor.

I doubt people that only change pads have this problem.
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Old Mar 10, 2008 | 02:38 AM
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thats why i use the white purpose grease in the pins on mine, i use the white purpose grease because it waters out when it heats up so the pins are fully lubed at all times! also make sure you bleed all the air from the inside of the boot so the pin will feel like its spring loaded
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Old Mar 10, 2008 | 02:47 AM
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I had to get new caliper brackets because of that crap... I grease them everytime I have my wheels off. But mine is a DD.
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Old Mar 10, 2008 | 02:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Joshiedoom
I had to get new caliper brackets because of that crap... I grease them everytime I have my wheels off. But mine is a DD.
yea mines a dd too
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Old Mar 10, 2008 | 04:42 AM
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yeah, mines a driver, can't say daily cause i drive a truck mon-fri and am out of town overnight quite frequently. the ones we had problems with are like you said, spring loaded now. didn't do anything to the rears cause they were operating properly. we did use regular grease with them though. i will get some of the white grease for the boots. i know that was the problem on the one that broke, the boot was torn and it was full of rust and junk. i do plan on painting my calipers black, especialy now with the C6 rims and shiny zinc coated rotors so when i do that job i will clean the rears and replace the grease all the way around. thanks guys i'll tell ya, that whole problem was a pain in the *** but overall a fun weekend wrenching on the car with pops although i guess my hotchkiss STB will forever be known now as a "sissy bar" he must have called it that a 100 times in 2 days LOL
jman
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Old Mar 10, 2008 | 07:30 AM
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When I was working on my front brakes last year, I had to replace both calipers, including brackets because one pin on each side had seized to the brackets. I got mine at autozone (remans), they had caliper with the bracket, pretty cheap too. If you've got more cash than I, try to get new, not reman.. the factory calipers are known for spreading, causing uneven pad wear etc
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Old Mar 10, 2008 | 06:33 PM
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yeah, i tried auto zone, advance, etc. actually the guy at advance is an ls1 fan and started calling everywhere we hadn't been yet trying to find one in stock but everyone would have had to order it. even called a buddy of his that has a WS6 with a turbo to see if he had one laying around.

i put up a page of pics of doing the job, showing the froze pin, and the finished product if anyone wants to check em out. i just love the new stance with the bilstiens and hypercoils and the new rotors look cool also. more importantly, the car brakes MUCH better now

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2884795/4

jman
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