monkeymaker

I was swapping out my front rotors today and was surprised to see that the rubber boot that surrounds each caliper's piston is totally fried. I guess it's from the heat generated on track. Anyhow, half of the rubber material is totally gone. I mean it's not even there anymore, like ashes that blew away in the wind. I'm a bit concerned now that stuff might get up in there and bust the bladder that holds the fluid in. Should I be worried?

Has anyone run into this? And if so, what did you do about it? Rebuild the calipers?

blah

Same thing happened to one of my front calipers: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...&threadid=85888. The rebuild kit is only $16, but I don't want to fool with attempting to rebuild it. I'm actually taking it into the dealer today to get it fixed. The only problem is that the dealer won't rebuild the caliper - "we usually don't rebuild it, we just replace it" - which of course means more $$$ from stupid me. If this becomes a routine problem, then it looks like I'll be learning how to rebuild my calipers.

monkeymaker

After the problem is fixed, is there some sort of heat resistant grease that can be spread all over it to prevent this from happening again?

CoralDoc

Been there - done that. After I melted the boots on my calipers last year, I now expect to rebuild my calipers as part of the maintenance necessary for track use. I'm not aware of a more heat-resistant solution, so if anyone is, please let us know.

SDosMil

I swear there were more messages on this thread yesterday. Brad from Pinnacle systems had some interesting info, and I replied with a follow up question. What happened? Was I dreaming?

Tedster

That stuff is in the paralell thread over in Under the Hood:

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...threadid=112993

SDosMil

Thanks... duh for me.

Gloffer

Here's another thread on this subject.
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...?threadid=98092
I ended up rebuilding my calipers. Not very hard really, just ate some brake fluid spray when I stuck the air hose in the brake hose hole to get the piston out. Make sure you put some rags in the caliper gap to "catch" the piston when it ejects from the bore.

I also removed my metal dust shields when I had the calipers off. Haven't been to the track since, so I'm not sure whether the dust boots will melt again or not.

I also got a PM on this, quoted below:

If it is just the dust seal, you really don't have too much to worry about unless the area you drive in the roads are full of debris. Also, part of the seal as you say, may get lodged in there and start causing a headache as well. If you can just remove the seal you shouldnt experience any problems. Many of the race calipers that I build my kits with do not contain dust seals. I have been using these on the streets for many years without any problems or issues.