Rear caliper piston compression

[RedRyder]

Finally making use of this section with a noob question. Last time I had the rear pads/rotors changed I had a shop do it because I had to replace the rear calipers themselves and it was right after I got the car so it wasn't something I was ready to mess with yet. So I've changed front brakes but never rear.

How do you guys compress the rear caliper piston? My c-clamp I used for the front is like 1/8" too small and there seems to be nowhere else to put the other end of the clamp to compress the piston in. I tried the little ledge by the brake line bolt (which put the clamp at a slight angle) and when it got tight I used a pipe for leverage, and ended up bending the slide handle on the c-clamp.

Not sure I want to go buy a bigger c-clamp. Is the rear piston suppose to be much harder to compress than the front? I have the brake fluid reservoir cap off...


EDIT: Does the piston have to be screwed in, as in turn it with something using the flat indentation in the top of the piston? I never turned the fronts, they just compressed in...

 

[RedRyder]

Nevermind I'm a big idiot. You turn it.

 

[ryan s]

yep, fronts compress, rears turn

you should be able to "borrow" a cube-like tool from autozone/oreillys if you dont have something to turn them with.

 

[RedRyder]

I used this, since the only comparable thing I had lying around to turn it was a crow bar haha. Thanks, I forgot auto stores had a tool to rent for this.

 

[kn0x47]

actually auto stores don't have a rental tool for this. its just everyone buys it then returns it saying they "didn't need it"

 

[RedRyder]

Ah guess that was the true meaning of "borrow".

In any event it was pretty easy to turn. The YouTube vid I had watched showed a guy using a crow bar, and that seemed like overkill.

 

[RedRyder]

Two small bolts in the rotor are seized, what kind of drill bits are best for drilling these out? Tried ones that came with my DeWalt drill and they're not the right type as the heads became dullened.

 

[lashlee]

If I remember correctly I usually start with a 1/8" or 5/16" HSS bit and step up to a 3/8" or 1/2" HSS drill bit for the head.

 

[RedRyder]

What does HSS stand for?

And is it important to replace these? I am using them up front since they came out easily when I put on the BBK...but on the other rear side I did not replace them when the heads snapped off.

 

[F23A1AT]

Drill the screw heads off, you don't really need them anyway the wheel will sandwich the rotor to the hub.

I used a mega sized slotted screw driver to turn my pistons back in.