Defender 110 Calipers

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sp00k

sp00k

Well-Known Member
Posts
1,530
Location
Washington, County Durham, UK
I went to change the brake pads on my 110 and I'm not happy with the pistons. Some have slight end corrosion but appear to work fine, others with a slightly sticky action.

Bearmach calipers are about £100 the pair. OEM's are about £240 the pair.

I'm assuming I will need to go OEM but thought I would check.

Also, what are the specs for when discs should be changed? I have solid discs and they have a lip of around 1mm each side. This does not seem excessive but if I'm in there anyway, I thought I might as well change them.
 
Have you thought about just changing the Pistons and seals? there are rebuild kits with stainless pistons available.
I'm not saying it's the way to go but it is an option worth considering.
 
HI Sp00k

Not sure what landy you have age wise,

but page 24 of the Rave manual has info for the 300tdi brake min thickness etc.

Plus, I think @Flossie changed his pistons for the SS ones, maybe he can confirm and if he did if it was worthwhile.

Cheers
 
sp00k said:
I went to change the brake pads on my 110 and I'm not happy with the pistons. Some have slight end corrosion but appear to work fine, others with a slightly sticky action.

Bearmach calipers are about £100 the pair. OEM's are about £240 the pair.

I'm assuming I will need to go OEM but thought I would check.

Also, what are the specs for when discs should be changed? I have solid discs and they have a lip of around 1mm each side. This does not seem excessive but if I'm in there anyway, I thought I might as well change them.
Click to expand...
id get 2 new cheap calipers britpart sell some ive used quite a few, plus new discs and pads,what age of truck is it
 
It's a late model 110 originally fitted with a 2.5 NA diesel. As it's ex-mod, I don't know exactly.
Looking at the Section 70, Page 4 WSM Book 4, it uses the later style calipers - the ones with the long wire type anti-rattle spring.
Are Britpart calipers really ok James - never through I would see you recommend them! Britpart discs as well? The discs are about 12mm which as I understand it is on the limit, so they need to be changed.

I have a question about the brake pads James, I have already bought new pads which are compatible with my existing calipers but I did not fit them due to the state of the pistons - will these be compatible with the new calipers as well as the newer ones seem to use springs now for anti-rattle.
 
sp00k said:
It's a late model 110 originally fitted with a 2.5 NA diesel. As it's ex-mod, I don't know exactly.
Looking at the Section 70, Page 4 WSM Book 4, it uses the later style calipers - the ones with the long wire type anti-rattle spring.
Are Britpart calipers really ok James - never through I would see you recommend them! Britpart discs as well? The discs are about 12mm which as I understand it is on the limit, so they need to be changed.

I have a question about the brake pads James, I have already bought new pads which are compatible with my existing calipers but I did not fit them due to the state of the pistons - will these be compatible with the new calipers as well as the newer ones seem to use springs now for anti-rattle.
Click to expand...
discs need changing because you have a ridge regardless of thickness,id have though youd want rtc5572 and rtc5573 pads for solid pins fit all 110 solid pin calipers
 
I would still consider a rebuild with stainless as it will give you a better finished product than buying a new caliper which will then last longer. I have just replaced the seals in mine and the pistons (stainless) just needed a quick wipe over to clean up and they were perfect again

sp00k said:
I have thought about a rebuild but I don't have the expertise to judge what's serviceable.
Click to expand...

In terms of judging what is serviceable when i rebuilt them originally I replaced everything. The only thing I reused was the casting itself, all the seals, gallery seals, bolts, pistons, and bleed nipples were replaced.
 
I meant in terms of I don't know what a good caliper looks like if you see what I mean. I've read about pitting on the calipers but mine are going to need a lot of cleaning before anything like that would be apparent.
 
Slightly off topic, but I have a couple of questions re the top swivel bolts. Disconnecting the brake bracket was difficult for me to to the many layers of paint in this area. Better than rust :)

During the process, I must have dislodged the swivel ball seal slightly as it lost a lot of grease, obviously I can replace the grease but I wondered if this could have affected how it's shimmed or anything?

Is normal blue loctite the correct one for the bolts? I did see a couple of mentions of using 270 but that seems a bit extreme. Same question for the disc to stud axle and caliper bolts. The original hub bolts certainly did not use 270 as I was able to undo them by hand, although it was difficult to get them cracked off.
 
sp00k said:
Slightly off topic, but I have a couple of questions re the top swivel bolts. Disconnecting the brake bracket was difficult for me to to the many layers of paint in this area. Better than rust :)

During the process, I must have dislodged the swivel ball seal slightly as it lost a lot of grease, obviously I can replace the grease but I wondered if this could have affected how it's shimmed or anything?

Is normal blue loctite the correct one for the bolts? I did see a couple of mentions of using 270 but that seems a bit extreme. Same question for the disc to stud axle and caliper bolts. The original hub bolts certainly did not use 270 as I was able to undo them by hand, although it was difficult to get them cracked off.
Click to expand...
when you undo the top bolts swivel housing drops down a little allowing a gap between seal and ball,its best to support with a jack prior to undoing them,it wont effect any shimming ,blue 243 stud lock is more than adequate
 
sp00k said:
Slightly off topic, but I have a couple of questions re the top swivel bolts. Disconnecting the brake bracket was difficult for me to to the many layers of paint in this area. Better than rust :)

During the process, I must have dislodged the swivel ball seal slightly as it lost a lot of grease, obviously I can replace the grease but I wondered if this could have affected how it's shimmed or anything?

Is normal blue loctite the correct one for the bolts? I did see a couple of mentions of using 270 but that seems a bit extreme. Same question for the disc to stud axle and caliper bolts. The original hub bolts certainly did not use 270 as I was able to undo them by hand, although it was difficult to get them cracked off.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by the brake bracket? Is that the bracket that holds the brake line? If so, on mine you only have to undo two bolts, so it shouldnt affect the swivel. It should be OK in any case.

Also, on mine, those bolts have locktabs. Later ones may use loctite.
 
jamesmartin said:
when you undo the top bolts swivel housing drops down a little allowing a gap between seal and ball,its best to support with a jack prior to undoing them,it wont effect any shimming ,blue 243 stud lock is more than adequate
Click to expand...

Nice one, james, if the regular stuff is good enough for you, I will use it in future.
 
sp00k said:
I have thought about a rebuild but I don't have the expertise to judge what's serviceable. The caliper don't leak so they will probably clean up fine.
Click to expand...

Seals and pistons, there is nothing to calipers - replace those and you have more or less as new calipers!
 
Frustratingly I'm still waiting for half my parts to arrive. Hopefully they will be here today.

I've watched quite a few videos covering this job. I ordered replacement hub seals and mine do look a bit manky. They are the type with a double lip where they face into the stub axle.

Do you need a special tool to insert them or can you knock them home with a rubber mallet?

I've not interfered with the existing ones, so I don't know how tight a fit they are.
 
Last edited:
I'm currently in the same position I freed off my pistons but they did not look good. I was thinking about buying a spare set and changing piston to stainless ones just makes the job quicker.
 
The caliper are a small part of the job. Changing the discs is the bit that's added a fair bit of work. It's all the little things that add up like cleaning the bolts and holes.

I would appreciate any advice on my above post re seals.
 
With your hub seals when I have replaced mine in The past I have used the old bearing race to gently tap them in, the same way you use it to drift in the new bearing race. They are a snug fit but not tight. You can almost press them home by hand depending on what aftermarket brand they are.
 
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