Crusty corroded brake pipes

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by Blink

Bigg Red do decent caliper refurbishment kits (pistons, seals, guide pins, etc) - http://www.biggred.co.uk/

Nope, the quality of the Bigg Red kits are rubbish, if you've overhauled your brakes with one, you will find that out soon enough :

Brian

[Robti]

Originally Posted by marinabrian

Nope, the quality of the Bigg Red kits are rubbish, if you've overhauled your brakes with one, you will find that out soon enough :

Brian

Argh just did my rears on the 800 with them

[Blink]

Originally Posted by marinabrian

Nope, the quality of the Bigg Red kits are rubbish, if you've overhauled your brakes with one, you will find that out soon enough :

Brian

What's wrong with them?

[clf]

Originally Posted by Blink

What's wrong with them?

The rebuild kits I got (a few years ago now) had no flexibility to slide over the pistons. The ones I bought came with pistons, which seemed to be fine, so after tearing one, and thinking it was my fault, I ordered a pair from Brakes Int on eBay (as Bigg Red didnt have any listed without the pistons when I looked). When fitting them, whilst tight, they felt a hell of a lot more pliable, and whilst tight, went over the piston, and allowed full movement of the piston whilst fitted. The BR ones I doubt would have given the full movement.

Of course I could have been supplied the incorrect piston boots, but everything else fitted correctly, but the seals felt harder, almost like plastic rather than rubber (I know they wont be rubber).

[Blink]

Originally Posted by clf

The rebuild kits I got (a few years ago now) had no flexibility to slide over the pistons. The ones I bought came with pistons, which seemed to be fine, so after tearing one, and thinking it was my fault, I ordered a pair from Brakes Int on eBay (as Bigg Red didnt have any listed without the pistons when I looked). When fitting them, whilst tight, they felt a hell of a lot more pliable, and whilst tight, went over the piston, and allowed full movement of the piston whilst fitted. The BR ones I doubt would have given the full movement.

Of course I could have been supplied the incorrect piston boots, but everything else fitted correctly, but the seals felt harder, almost like plastic rather than rubber (I know they wont be rubber).

This is what I've used on the rears (fronts still to go):

Springs - Brakes International BPF1097S
Pistons & seals - Bigg Red BRKP242S
Guide pins, sliders & end caps - Frentech S7022QP-2
Bleed nipples - Brakes International NIP2012L*
Calipers - original ATE (blasted, cleaned & painted)

(* Later replaced with Goodridge M8 Speed Bleeders)

Here's the equivalent piston from Brakes International - Budweg BCP3616.
And this is the equivalent seal kit from Brakes International - Budweg BCK3616.

The Bigg Red pistons and ring seals went in nicely and (greasy fingers aside) the boots went on without much fuss. Material-wise, I couldn't see any real difference between the old boots and the new boots except the ground-in dirt on the old ones. Having said that, I haven't road-tested the car yet (no back box!) so we'll see.


Websites

Brakes International - https://www.brakesint.co.uk/
Bigg Red - http://www.biggred.co.uk/
Frentech - https://www.frentech-uk.co.uk/

[clf]

Originally Posted by Blink

This is what I've used on the rears (fronts still to go):

Springs - Brakes International BPF1097S
Pistons & seals - Bigg Red BRKP242S
Guide pins, sliders & end caps - Frentech S7022QP-2
Bleed nipples - Brakes International NIP2012L*
Calipers - original ATE (blasted, cleaned & painted)

(* Later replaced with Goodridge M8 Speed Bleeders)

Here's the equivalent piston from Brakes International - Budweg BCP3616.
And this is the equivalent seal kit from Brakes International - Budweg BCK3616.

The Bigg Red pistons and ring seals went in nicely and (greasy fingers aside) the boots went on without much fuss. Material-wise, I couldn't see any real difference between the old boots and the new boots except the ground-in dirt on the old ones. Having said that, I haven't road-tested the car yet (no back box!) so we'll see.


Websites

Brakes International - https://www.brakesint.co.uk/
Bigg Red - http://www.biggred.co.uk/
Frentech - https://www.frentech-uk.co.uk/

They all look familiar, to me. I didn't get as far as fitting them as the boot ripped with the second attempt seemingly the same. There was a night and day difference.between the brakes int and br ones. I could well have been given the 36mm boot, instead of the 40, but the piston was the correct 40mm within the kit, likewise the cylinder seal.was correct.

There was simply next to no pliance to allow it to slip over the piston, even with a pack of grease over it.

Sent from my SM-A600FN using Tapatalk

[Blink]

Originally Posted by clf

They all look familiar, to me. I didn't get as far as fitting them as the boot ripped with the second attempt seemingly the same. There was a night and day difference.between the brakes int and br ones. I could well have been given the 36mm boot, instead of the 40, but the piston was the correct 40mm within the kit, likewise the cylinder seal.was correct.

There was simply next to no pliance to allow it to slip over the piston, even with a pack of grease over it.

If I've got the energy I'll get a pair of Brakesint kits when I do the front, then I'll whip the rear pads out and compare the boots. I didn't have the problems you had though - maybe Bigg Red have changed suppliers.

Pic - rears with BR boots & pistons



That's the best shot I've got that shows the boots - I was getting bored with brake calipers by this stage.

[clf]

Originally Posted by Blink

If I've got the energy I'll get a pair of Brakesint kits when I do the front, then I'll whip the rear pads out and compare the boots. I didn't have the problems you had though - maybe Bigg Red have changed suppliers.

Pic - rears with BR boots & pistons



That's the best shot I've got that shows the boots - I was getting bored with brake calipers by this stage.

I cannot say if they have or not, nor can I say they were the incorrect boots, as there are two types. 36 and 40mm that correspond to the pistons used.

Before building up the fronts, Brakes Int do the correct calipers new. A pair of front calipers, if I recall, were about £100 per pair, and £140 for the 190 versions.

this was one of mine (before I wiped off the grease lol)

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by Blink

What's wrong with them?

The rubber crumbles away after about six months of use, they were assembled with Renolit Red rubber grease, nothing new there.

I had issues like this before with "Britpart" kits for the Freelander, substitute those with the original Lucas TRW components, and they are still operational fifteen years later.

I'd rather buy the cheap new calipers, or new old stock ones that pop up from time to time on eBay, than waste my time with rubbish that is not fit for purpose.

Brian

[Blink]

Originally Posted by clf

I cannot say if they have or not, nor can I say they were the incorrect boots, as there are two types. 36 and 40mm that correspond to the pistons used.

Before building up the fronts, Brakes Int do the correct calipers new. A pair of front calipers, if I recall, were about £100 per pair, and £140 for the 190 versions.

I'd say it's pretty unlikely that BR gave you 36mm boots by mistake when everything else in the kit was 40mm - the difference between a 36mm and a 40mm would be easy to spot if they were side by side.

I might fit new calipers on the front - it'll all depend on the money situation. Brakes Int 's front calipers for KV6 are £67 per side at the moment (FTE, Brake Engineering or Budweg) ex surcharge. XPart's exchange price for ATE rears was £115 per side when I checked so I expect the fronts would be a fair bit more.

Originally Posted by marinabrian

The rubber crumbles away after about six months of use, they were assembled with Renolit Red rubber grease, nothing new there.

I had issues like this before with "Britpart" kits for the Freelander, substitute those with the original Lucas TRW components, and they are still operational fifteen years later.

I'd rather buy the cheap new calipers, or new old stock ones that pop up from time to time on eBay, than waste my time with rubbish that is not fit for purpose.

Brian

I can change the rear boots easily enough when I get to the front end refurb (subframe, brakes, suspension all coming off for sorting out).