Spindle, Strut and Caliper wear, ok or not?

[BigglesRiviera]

Dear Brainstrust,

Me again. 

Looking for some advice on wear...

Currently doing a front end suspension rebuild and have come across a few question marks on whether parts need to be replaced or if they’re ok. 
 

Strut spindle, just checking if this colouring would indicate bearings need to be replaced or is this standard? 
 

Brake Pistions - I’m pretty sure this is self evident and these should be replaced. The inside of the piston and the surface facing the brake pad is lightly pitted.
 

Strut calliper arms - what I thought was just surface rust is quite decent pitting in parts, the deepest maybe almost .75mm.  This one is the most worrying. I’ve just bought new B6 inserts and now I’m not sure if the whole strut should be replaced. 
FYI The arms in these pic have been wire brushed, so what’s there is the actual surface. 

How I drive - Calm in the morning and usually aggressive on the way home where safe to push the car. I’ve also got some track days booked in. It’s my daily driver and my daughter comes with me now and again for daycare drop off and short trips so how I drive doesn’t really matter, if the struts are unsafe I’ll change them. 

If I do have to replace the struts, my strut number is a turbo number 91134104232. Is this any different to a non turbo strut? 

Thanks for any help. I’m working on becoming a paid member to support the site too FYI, just have to reset my PP password. 

Cheers! 
 

[Pembo]

Having just done brakes and front bearings on my '73 i'll tell you my thoughts. The rust on your spindles is not a concern IMO it is minor. Indicates that the spindle spacer, (The wide collar at the rear) may have a broken or missing o-ring behind it. Letting water seep in from behind under the inner bearing. The outer face of that spacer that the seal runs against needs to be cleaned to a better state or you will leak grease. The rust on the caliper brackets looks significant but there is still heaps of steel in there. You say it's the surface but it isn't. That bubbly stuff will come off. Try a sanding disc on a grinder or something more aggressive. The brakes are the biggest pain in the arse. Mine were so corroded into their bores that i almost gave up. The little lip under that dust seal which lies outside the piston seal will rust up and bind the piston which takes force to overcome when pushing the pedal. This reduces the force acting on the pads giving you crap brakes.  Fix that and put in a new seal kit and all will work. The outward appearance is kind of not important. The step in the piston top lip is meant to face at a particular angle from vertical. It's in the book. Idea is to reduce brake squeal. To remove the pistons if they are stuck first take out the pads and pump the brakes. The pistons will come out till they hit the disk. Remove from car and use air pressure to pop out one side. (use a rag to stop spray when it pops. You may need to do one side, get it clean reinsert, then pop out the other side. Then disassemble clean and reassemble. I was unable to separate two of the four calipers due to rooted cheese head bolts but you can still renovate them while assembled, it's just harder. Back to the bearings. Make sure they are squeaky clean when you assemble and use new grease. Any contamination especially grit will shorten their life. Finally, confidence. I grew up working on cars so i have lots of experience. If you are not certain what you are doing with brakes and wheel bearings i'd let a mechanic do the job. If my modern 4wd had a problem with its 8 speed autobox i'd take it to an expert. Know your limits and use discretion. Same as you i take my kids in the car so it needs to be done right.

I missed the question about bearing replacement. Answer is yes, they are cheap so put in new ones. $90 for both sides including new seals. Getting the bearing cones out and new ones in needs some experience so maybe take them down to a mechanic if you've never done that before.

[BigglesRiviera]

Thanks @Pembo

Lack of confidence is not my issue, my old man always said my over confidence was what was going to get me into trouble. 

Seriously though, as long as I've got a manual and the right tools I'm pretty confident to get most things right, for time sake though, maybe I'll get the bearings done at the mechanics. 

Re the brake pistons, on the Pelican Parts website it says "If the machined surfaces on the piston are heavily rusted or pitted, it must be replaced." 

Hence my thinking of replacing them. Maybe I can just take the pistons out and flatten and polish the faces? And yes i thought the angles were wrong too. 

Thats awesome about the struts though. Ill clean them up easily enough. 

Thanks so much for the help! 

 

[Pembo]

Sorry i wasn't clear about the brakes. The only surface that matters is the condition of the shiny bits of the piston when you get it out of the caliper. (Re the brake pistons, on the Pelican Parts website it says "If the machined surfaces on the piston are heavily rusted or pitted, it must be replaced.") that quote means this.  (Mine were real SOBs to remove) The pics you have all show the exterior of the Calipers/pistons. The condition or the surface rust here is irrelevant. When you clean the calipers, pistons and all the internal galleries and are ready to reassemble, the piston must be smooth and without scratches or corrosion or the new seals will leak. If the calipers are not leaking now, which they appear not to be, then they are most probably fine to renovate. The lip i mentioned which was unclear is under the old rubber dust seal. The last bit of the piston is outside the seal. The bore inside the calipers in this area corrodes and impinges on the pistons. That must be cleaned back with glass paper or emery cloth to regain clearance. Remember to be clean and blow out the calipers with compressed air thoroughly before assembly. You don't want glass paper grit left in there.

[BigglesRiviera]

Thanks mate, got one piston out, when they say use just a touch of compressed air they mean it. I pumped it in to get one piston out and had I have had a finger in there reckon it would have taken the tip off. 

here’s the one I pulled out. If their all like this I think I’m ok. No pitting just a touch of surface rust/dirt. 

 

[Pembo]

Yep, the fact they weren't leaking brake fluid before is an indicator that they are probably reuseable. Emery cloth if you have some or very fine black wet and dry paper. Have you got the new seal kits?

Now check the bore outside the seal. Rub that back to shiny metal and they wont bind. you need a pair of tweezers or something to remove the old seals. Careful to not twist it when replacing it is a square section.

[BigglesRiviera]

Not yet, 

I’m about to order a bunch of stuff now that I’m redoing the seals and bearings. 
 

While I’m doing all this I’m going to do the rotor, It has about 1mm left and a pretty high ridge on both sides so I think I’ll just replace them. 
 

Gotta figure out how to get the spacer off the spindle to check the ORing, I think I have a puller somewhere...

[Pembo]

A pretty shitty job but it's nice to know you have good brakes.

 

3 minutes ago, BigglesRiviera said:

Not yet, 

I’m about to order a bunch of stuff now that I’m redoing the seals and bearings. 
 

While I’m doing all this I’m going to do the rotor, It has about 1mm left and a pretty high ridge on both sides so I think I’ll just replace them. 
 

Gotta figure out how to get the spacer off the spindle to check the ORing, I think I have a puller somewhere...

Yes i did not need to do my spacers so i cant help you there. Might be easy or might not. Don't want to jinx you.

I have bought new disks but didn't need to do them yet. The disk bolts to the hub so you will need thread locker and the correct torque figures (in the book probably) and a torque wrench with which to determine said torque. This is one where i would not guess.

[BigglesRiviera]

Yup. 

Funnily enough they are actually pretty damn good. I drove my old mans 87’ Carrera 3.2 and his brake feel was really soft and spongy and it had been serviced recently. 

Mine are super grippy and way more responsive than his. All this with a leaking master cylinder and brake fluid that was filthy! 

Hopefully that wasn’t the secret sauce and now I’ve stuffed them...

[Pembo]

That looks like Hoisin sauce. Mmmm not.. If your reservoir is close to the front guard then i probably don't need to tell you to be really careful with rags and stray drips. It fucks up paint quite rapidly.

[BigglesRiviera]

@Pembo I just had a motorcycle racing neighbour over talking about bearings. He told me a good way to check was to load the bearing into the race and turn whilst applying pressure. 

There should be nothing noticeable other than smooth rotation. 

I put the ones I have taken out back in and checked them and they were super clunky. 

He had a feel... “These are the worst bearings I’ve ever felt.”

He then showed me some spare bad bearings he had replaced and compared to mine they were pristine. 

So good advice on the replacing them! Cheers, just waiting for my Pelican Parts order but I’m afraid it won’t get here before my Sandown track day on the 6th. 
 

Anyone know of a bearing supplier in Aus? 

[Pembo]

Any bearing supplier can get them. They are a common size. You can see the part numbers on the pelican site if you cant see them on your actual bearings. You could buy from Pelican but we should support or local businesses with simple stuff like bearings.