Front calliper binding on 4 ride

[woody1970]

Hi Guys. I noticed the other day that my front brake is binding on my 4 ride & been getting hot which is not good. I assume the Caliper pistons need a clean & are perhaps corroded. There’s plenty of life in the pads . Mileage is nearly 1400

Is this an easy job as I’ve not tackled this job before. 

Any advice would be great, thanks in advance , Andy

[turbofurball]

Hi Andy, it's not bad - trials calipers are made to be light weight rather than hard wearing so it's no surprise they need a little TLC.

You'll need the right tools for removing the caliper (usually allen keys, I don't know about the 4Ride specifically), some brake cleaner, nitrile or equivalent gloves, a toothbrush and some way of compressing the pistons (there's a special tool but I usually use a small socket and a pair of plumber's pliers, very carefully).  If you pull the caliper you can remove the pads and see the pistons, use the brake cleaner and toothbrush to clean the pistons (don't be shy with the cleaner), then you'll be able to see if there's any corrosion ... if the pistons are oxidised, don't push them into the caliper, get yourself a rebuild kit.  If they're nice and clean you can use the lever to push them out a teensy bit, use a little brake fluid as lubricant, and then compress them back into the caliper to get everything moving again.  Don't use any WD40 or similar on the brakes.

While you're at it, you can check the pads, and once it's remounted put in some fresh brake fluid.  Check that the wheel spins with only the slightest touch of the pads before you go out riding again, if it's still locking up it's time to remove the pistons which is more of a messy job.

There's probably good videos about how to do this on the interwebs

 

Make sure you don't get brake cleaner or brake fluid on you, use nitrile rubber gloves, consider using safety goggles the first time you do a job like this, it's surprisingly easy to get something in your eye ... brake dust, cleaner, and fluid are all bad for you!

Edited May 8, 2023 by turbofurball

[woody1970]

Thanks very much for the detailed instructions, that’s brilliant. I’ll let you know how I get on . Probably be next week  end  till I tackle it 👍👍. Cheers Turbofurball , love the name btw

[turbofurball]

Thanks, the username is an old one from when I was a crazy cat lady and spent my time tinkering with '80s turbo cars ... a lot has changed since then, lol

[woody1970]

Love it . The 80’s  cars were brill weren’t they. My mate had an Escort XR3i with a Janspeed exhaust , sounded lovely. I had a Vauxhall Nova SR as a first car in 88 & a Honda XL125 . Life was ace lol

[turbofurball]

lol, proper boy racer territory ... I had a variety, but that was by the time they old, cheap (not yet considered classics), and needing of mechanical attention.  My favourite was an '87 Shelby GLHS.  The '80s was a good time for hot hatches in general though

[woody1970]

😃😃

[jonnyc21]

Just checking but have you already double checked the front brake lever adjustment?  If somehow you have little to no play in the adjustment screw between the lever the master cylinder piston it can cause what your talking about as well.  Just worth backing that out a touch and double checking everything if you haven't already. 

Other than that turbofurball's post is excellent. 

[turbofurball]

2 hours ago, jonnyc21 said:

Just checking but have you already double checked the front brake lever adjustment?  If somehow you have little to no play in the adjustment screw between the lever the master cylinder piston it can cause what your talking about as well.  Just worth backing that out a touch and double checking everything if you haven't already. 

Other than that turbofurball's post is excellent. 

Excellent point! (and thank you)

[woody1970]

Thanks Jonny for your idea. I had a look this morning & the free play is fine. 
Yes, great advice from Turbofurball. I managed to take the calliper off last night  although the Allen bolts were stupidly tight even with penetrating oil 2hrs before & give it a good clean up .  Then I gave each piston a little brake fluid & one piston was a bit lazy so I assume without Turbos suggestion of a rebuild kit will stay lazy . The hardest part I found was fitting  the spring . But I’ll get used to it. The wheel seems to rotate a lot better now so just need a short road test 

[jonnyc21]

It's always good to double check the simple things just in case but good to hear you know the cause and good luck with a rebuild at some point. 

[turbofurball]

If only one is a bit sticky you might get rapid and uneven pad wear, so keep an eye on that ... it might free up with a few heat cycles now it's clean, though

[woody1970]

Cheers Jonny & Turbo.
I took a ride over to the Wye Valley on Sun  & it behaved perfectly but like you say I’ll strip it down again soon & give it  another lube before it gets seized up again

[woody1970]

I think I ought to have a look at the rear too just for peace of mind

[lemur]

On the mono bloc 4 pot clippers that have no cotter pin or bolt holding the pads in place, the pistons on outside are prone to seize.  Watch for wear on only one of the two pads if your brake is weak.  I literally forced the working pad to stay retracted and by applying hydraulic pressure at the lever the seized side popped free.  Corrosion on the inside of the 2 aluminum threaded plugs is suspect and I've only seen that problem on that one specific model calliper.  I think it was 2017 they used that brake model extensively.