Question about caliper piston seals

[AndrewJames]

Afternoon all,

Well, I'm not afraid to embarrass myself and embarrass myself I shall - I've got a silly question.

https://imgur.com/a/dNEsGSD - I bought these lovely tin foil calipers for my rear brakes

Both appear almost identical, the pistons are the right size and the calipers the same size etc, but clearly the outer seal on the caliper on the right is different and not as advertised.

My question... Does this matter at all?

Many thanks,
Andrew

[vitesse]

To me the outer seals are basically dust covers, not sure if yours aren't identical - looks like one piston is further in than the other.

Regards

[AndrewJames]

Originally Posted by vitesse

To me the outer seals are basically dust covers, not sure if yours aren't identical - looks like one piston is further in than the other.

Regards

Hey Vitesse, both pistons are lined up in the same position and there's exactly the same distance between them and the other side of the caliper. So there's the same amount of room for the disc and pads on each caliper which is why I was hoping this wouldn't matter.

I guess if they are just dust shields it can't matter but I thought I better ask the people of the forum

[COLVERT]

It looks like the seal is not located correctly on the piston.--( I think there's a groove for it to fit in. ) It will then fold back on itself and you'll have a matching pair.-----

[T-Cut]

As I see it, the outer rim of the seal on the right unit sits much further back than the other one. It seems from the smaller width of the rim visible on the casting that the outer groove must be further back. If all the piston sizes/clearances are the same, I'd say this difference is more or less cosmetic.


TC

[AndrewJames]

Thanks for all the replies. Quite difficult to get a decent picture of this but they both seem to be in about the same place looking at the piston. The upward ridge is visible on the piston on both calipers. Looks sort of like a groove in the photos but not in person.

https://imgur.com/a/3G0BplM

I noticed this on ebay, a front caliper and the seal looks a lot like the one I have with the way it curves over the casting rather than sitting in front of it:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/For-Rover....m46890.l49286

[AndrewJames]

Originally Posted by T-Cut

As I see it, the outer rim of the seal on the right unit sits much further back than the other one. It seems from the smaller width of the rim visible on the casting that the outer groove must be further back. If all the piston sizes/clearances are the same, I'd say this difference is more or less cosmetic.


TC

You described this a lot better than I could . I checked with a digital caliper earlier and all the sizes and clearances are identical yes. With this difference being just cosmetic, I may have started the most boring thread in the history of the forum!