Front Brake caliper

[mal]

Has any one any idea how to remove pad retaining pin , the allen headed pin appears to be chewed up and won't come out i'm relucant to drill it out in case i damage the caliper, any ideas would be welcome

[YEN_POWELL]

I saw an american article which suggested using a stardrive or torx socket the same size as the chewed out allen screw hole. I would clean out all the cack with a piece of wire and try the proper size allen key first though. Sometimes a good quality one is a better fit than a cheapo type. There should be a slot headed covering screw protecting the allen head, has that gone?

[Northy]

The trouble is they get corroded in if left over time , especially during winter months .
I had one do it and had to take the whole caliper off the bike . I had to saw the pin ( well you need a new one anyway) to release the brake pads, then attacked the remaining pin from behind with small mole grips , chisel etc but it was corroded in . Had to drill it out in the end but it's a lot easier when it off the bike . Whilst The caliper is off the bike pop the piston out and clean them up - lot cheaper than replacing a warpped disc. Ok you've got yo bleed the brakes but that doesn't take long
Put it back together with grease/ copper slip on the pin and the screw head.Check the other side and regularly take them out and grease them.

Northy

[YEN_POWELL]

I only do mine up gently with the long arm of the allen key. That and plenty of copper grease and they won't seize. Still that won't help you till you get the old one out....

[iswoolley]

I had a similar situation with my XR400, I rounded off the edges of the recess with an allen key. So I got a socket with a similar sized torx head, hammered that into the recess, then got a very long bar on the socket. Key to the job was making sure the socket was firmly hammered in so it gripped the pin. I'd leave drilling as the very last option, it's got to be pretty easy to destroy the threads tapped into the calliper. The new pin went in with a ton of copper grease on it, but I'm fairly sure that won't last the winter. Best plan is to wear out brake pads fast enough that you have to keep removing that pin!

Iain

[mal]

Thanks for info, luckily the pads have plenty of life left in them i was just going to grease the pin.

[mal]

I've tried all the various suggestions still wont come out , looks like a drilling out case I'm thinking of buying stainless brake hoses so i'll kill two birds with one stone when i get them

[africatijn]

Hi,
Maybe a long shot (dont have the caliper in my hands.... ) but here goes:
Isn't it possible to grip the pin with grippliers when the caliper is off? Ie, to attack it from the other side. If you catch my drift.

Maybe the brake pads are in the way, but maybe possble to sacrifice them or manouvre them out of the way if you have one of the two pins removed...

Just some ideas to prevent the drill entering the valuable caliper just yet...

GdLuck.
Tijn

[YEN_POWELL]

And heat it with a wet cloth for 5 minutes first, or a hair dryer(not a blow torch, I've seen aluminium melt). The softer alloy of the caliper might expand more quickly than the steel pin.

[kiroh]

This is quite obvious, but no one has mentioned it before - use WD40 to spray both sides of the head of the pin. Make sure nothing goes on the disk or pads! Leave it for 30 minutes. This will loosen the pin nicely. Try undoing the pin again - either with an allan key or with pliers (you can grip the pin from between the two pads).

As for the stainless braided hoses - instead of using the original inverted Y configuration, use inverted V. This will be cheaper and more reliable as well. Make sure you order a long banjo bolt for the top.