Rear Brake Sticking - EBrake

[TexasPettey]

My driver side rear brake is sticking a bit. It is enough to stop the car after a slight roll and make it very hard to turn the tire by hand off the ground. I suspect that it is the ebrake release. When I pull the ebrake & release, it sticks. No stick on the pass side, and I can tap the ebrake cable to caliper attach a bit to release the brake. The cable has plenty of stretch. I can pull it by hand with pliers to remove it from the caliper. When I press the brakes from the pedal and release, there doesn't appear to be any sticking.

Is there any quick fix to get the ebrake release to move freely? If not, could the spring need replacing? Can one buy the spring?

 

[RAYSIR]

Have you tried spraying a penetrating oil on the lever assembly. Sounds like it's not a rusty cable. Normally I would say it was a caliper piston sticking but you proved that wasn't the case. Sounds ike the lever .

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

If you detach the cable and the spring, does the arm move freely?

To remove the spring, I'd rather have you struggle with unhooking it instead of taking the arm off. There are some issues with re-tightening the bolt because there is nothing inside that is really strong enough the resist the tightening torque. You'd have to grab the arm with vise-grips and tighten the bolt against that...

I'll send you a spring if that's what is needed.

 

[TexasPettey]

Thanks. I'll try popping the spring off tonight and see what happens.

 

[got one]

Chris, I would get a group of guys to come over and support you...but Hoorn is a bit of a commute right now

 

[TexasPettey]

The plot thickens ...

Took the spring off. It came off easily. Once off, I couldn't move the e-brake lever on the caliper to engage or disengage by hand. I could move it with vice grips locked on to give me extra leverage. To compare, I took the spring off the other side. I could move the ebrake level by hand to engage or disengage. Sounds like something is sticking inside wrt the lever. I sprayed in a bunch of WD-40, and it was substantially easier to move. I can almost move it by hand. The spring still doesn't fully pull back the lever when the ebrake cable is attached. I can pull the ebrake cable easily with a pair of vice grips.

Another thing I noticed was some front/back play on the upper guide pin. I could move the caliper front/back on the rotor, as if there was a worn guide on the upper pin. The other caliper did not have the front/back play. This motion was not in line with the piston, as in depressing the piston or moving along the guide pins. It is perpendicular to the piston and guide pins, front to back on the car.

Any ideas Tom?

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

If WD40 helped, then I think the grease behind the rubber seal has been cooked and is now hard or sticky. Using vice grips to support the arm, you can remove the bolt, then remove the arm, remove the seal and take a look. Perhaps cleaning the area and fresh grease will help. There aren't mechanical parts inside (on the other end of the brake lever arm) that should resist the arm movement. Use the vise grips to support the arm when you retighten the bolt. I can send another seal.

The front/back play on the larger guide pin - was it there before? Are the rubber boots OK? Often the inner one is abraded by brake pad material and gets a hole, allowing more debris to enter. I can send a fresh boot if needed. These are the impossible to purchase boots that you can't see if they are bad until you change the pads or rotors.

If the play is worrisome, then the pin and/or bore has worn - that would be a little surprising since you've only had the calipers for a short time. I know mine are not exceptionally tight, since I hear them "click" when I back up and load them in the opposite direction.

I'm traveling to Detroit for the VCA-SRT AX tomorrow. Send an email (or a PM, that triggers an email to come look at the PM) and we can figure out what to do.

 

[dave6666]

If WD40 helped, then I think the grease behind the rubber seal has been cooked and is now hard or sticky. Using vice grips to support the arm, you can remove the bolt, then remove the arm, remove the seal and take a look. Perhaps cleaning the area and fresh grease will help. There aren't mechanical parts inside (on the other end of the brake lever arm) that should resist the arm movement. Use the vise grips to support the arm when you retighten the bolt. I can send another seal.

The front/back play on the larger guide pin - was it there before? Are the rubber boots OK? Often the inner one is abraded by brake pad material and gets a hole, allowing more debris to enter. I can send a fresh boot if needed. These are the impossible to purchase boots that you can't see if they are bad until you change the pads or rotors.

If the play is worrisome, then the pin and/or bore has worn - that would be a little surprising since you've only had the calipers for a short time. I know mine are not exceptionally tight, since I hear them "click" when I back up and load them in the opposite direction.

I'm traveling to Detroit for the VCA-SRT AX tomorrow. Send an email (or a PM, that triggers an email to come look at the PM) and we can figure out what to do.

Tom - really cool of you to help people out like that with small parts and free advice.

Now for my problem on my '01 GTS... Car won't stop fast enough when braking from 150ish mph. Can you send me the parts to fix that? Buddy?

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Dave, I could send you some small parts, but installation might be painful and brass is heavy, so shipping cost would be expensive.

Have you corner weighted the car? It is a bit of labor, and you have to find scales, but this tuning effort (I recommend both front wheel weights be equal with you in the car.) is worth it.

 

[TexasPettey]

Tom - really cool of you to help people out like that with small parts and free advice.

Now for my problem on my '01 GTS... Car won't stop fast enough when braking from 150ish mph. Can you send me the parts to fix that? Buddy?

Tom has helped me out on multiple occasions and is a really top notch guy. His rear brake upgrade is by far the most cost effective one out there. Starting from stock, it's night and day on the track. I'll say that agressive pads, coolers, and that upgrade made a huge difference in my braking on the track. BM3's have decent bite, but I'm going to try a more agressive pad next time out.

 

[dave6666]

Dave, I could send you some small parts, but installation might be painful and brass is heavy, so shipping cost would be expensive.

Have you corner weighted the car? It is a bit of labor, and you have to find scales, but this tuning effort (I recommend both front wheel weights be equal with you in the car.) is worth it.

Doesn't corner weighting require adjustable springs? I have OEM stuff on my GTS.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Yes, you need to adjust the springs, but if the right front locks up first all the time, it's worth trying to shim the RF or LR spring. That 100+ lb difference left to right in static conditions might close to double under braking and your foot is trained to let up when only one brake skids. That means the other three still had lots of capability, and you're not using them.

Yes, you also have an ABS car, which should electronically adjust this. But I suspect two front brakes working at 100% are better than one at +5% and one at -5% weight loads.

The other DIY option is : http://forums.viperclub.org/showthread.php?t=535163&highlight=adjustable+shocks

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Chris; pin boot, shaft seal, smaller bolt rubber & nylon are in the mail tomorrow.