wigenOut-S30 Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Hello, I did the S12W caliper and brake upgrade about 6 years ago.. Well my Drivers side caliper started sticking.. I tried taking the pins out and using antiseze but it did not solve the issue. I went to autozone and bought a 88 Toyota 4 runner S12W caliper (PN C8465) and new pads. I bolted it on and here is what I found.. The rotor is actually making contact with the caliper. Did I get the wrong S12W caliper or is it a defect in the casting? You can see in the pic that the new caliper is pushed out and has way more spacing on the outside and touching on the inside. The old S12W caliper is evenly spaced at 1mm on each side. New caliper Old S12W caliper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-E Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 You likely got one of the made in china re-cast calipers that parts chains sell as "remanufactured", so quality will be hit or miss, try exchanging it with another first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigenOut-S30 Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share Posted September 29, 2014 Yeah, I am taking it back tonight.. It was from Autozone,, so (Duralast).. I am going to get the one from Oreillys today .. I think it is either Bindix or Best Brake brand.. I am sure I could shim it but I would rather not have to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 You don't need to take it back. Just measure the offset and add hardened steel shims between the caliper and the mounting ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thezguy Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Unrelated question: Do you have access to vernier calipers? I'd love to know the size of those Pistons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigenOut-S30 Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 JohnC, do you know where I could locate the shims/washers thin enough.. I will need something in the size of .5 to 1mm.. The thinnest I could find around the house is 1.5mm and they were just a little too thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I went to ace hardware because I had the same problem and found some really thin washers in the stainless section. They were cut washers so they seemed to be different thicknesses. I dug thru them all and got the 2 thinnest ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-E Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 You'd have better luck drilling and cutting some shims from sheetmetal, they might carry that flexible aluminum sheet stuff for diy patches, that would be about 1mm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 McMaster Carr has hardened shims in various thicknesses. Http://McMaster.com Regular sheet metal can be too soft. Hardened is important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHANTOM-POWER Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 (edited) You likely got one of the made in china re-cast calipers that parts chains sell as "remanufactured", so quality will be hit or miss, try exchanging it with another first. Hi Sorry for the thread segway. I have never heard of recast calipers. How would you know if they are genuine castings or recasts. do they have different markings or are they obviously badly cast? Are there specific brands that are known for carrying recasts. For some constuctive help how about if you had your spacers turned down the .75mm/.030" It should center your caliper again. I think you will run into the same issue the next time the caliper has to be replaced. Ahmed Edited September 30, 2014 by PHANTOM-POWER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigenOut-S30 Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 I ordered shims from Mcmastercar.. I ordered .3mm thick shims.. ID12mm and OD 18mm. I ended up using 2 on each mounting tab.. So .5mm would have been perfect.. Now the caliper sits dead in the middle and the brake is together with pads.. Plus they overnight-ed them which was a surprise. Thanks for the link JohnC!! As for how to tell if they were recasts I really dont know.. My guess is that my original ones were not recasts and the one I got was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miles Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 After having bad experiences with several parts store calipers I now only use Nugeon brand parts. Napa carries them. Excellent quality control. http://www.nugeon.com/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-E Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Hi Sorry for the thread segway. I have never heard of recast calipers. How would you know if they are genuine castings or recasts. do they have different markings or are they obviously badly cast? Are there specific brands that are known for carrying recasts. For some constuctive help how about if you had your spacers turned down the .75mm/.030" It should center your caliper again. I think you will run into the same issue the next time the caliper has to be replaced. Ahmed Generally they are copies, they obtain a real one to make a mould, often a pitted one after the rust is cleaned off, which is why the copies are usually even more lumpy... Depending on the market and foundry, they may or may not remove markings, or run both types, where they can sell the counterfeit "genuine" ones for a premium to parts stores, then offer "reproductions" for less. I don't really believe the distributors are quite so naive, they know what's going on, they just make too much money being silent. The calipers in my BBK are re-cast, and modified to my specs; I know a little about this topic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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