brake caliper hack needed

tanuki.himself

Active member
After a day of steep and twisty mountain road driving i've just discovered my front brake pads on one side had started to squeal and turns out are now down to the rivets. I've got it just in time to save the disk and have managed to get some new pads, but it looks like the contributing factor is that one of the pins that holds the caliper to the frame was sticking and causing the inside pad to wear very quickly. Its a strange pin with a stepped recess on the end and a small rubber/plastic sleeve around it maybe 10mm long and 6mm diameter, and the whole thing slides in a hole in the frame against a spring to allow the caliper to float and adjust as the pads wear. That rubber sleeve looks to be the problem as its all split and torn up, so its not allowing the pin to slide easily. The problem comes in that i'm currently in a small mountain town in the central highlands of Guatemala, and none of the spares place have anything quite like this part. I can try the Suzuki dealers in Guatemala city in a few days when i get down there, but that is a couple of days drive away on mountain roads.

So, i need a quick hack. A local mechanic who I had check my work has packed it out with grease and says it should be OK for a couple of months, and he's probably right, but i'd like to think of something better both for immediate safety and long term if I can't get the parts any time soon.

My thoughts are maybe 2 or 3 layers of shrink wrap tubing, which i happen to have with me. My worry is that even though it is heat resistant would it stand up to the heat of being in the brake frame? Or, does it have to be rubber/plastic? could i wrap a spiral of suitable thickness single strand copper wire around the pin and hammer it down to fit correctly? i'm pretty sure the frame is cast iron, and its not like its moving around very much that i need to worry about wear....

anyone care to share their thoughts and opinions on the above, or have any other bush mechanic hacks/suggestions that may be available in the rural third world please?

cheers

m
 

tanuki.himself

Active member
pin is already fitted back in the vehicle but picture from the autozone web site which does sell them is the bottom left pin,

1528857330263.png

and the rubbers are the ones on the right
1528857414039.png


but who knows how long it would take to ship from the US and as we are on the move every few days its tricky - priority shipping from someone on ebay gives at best a 2 week window and mentions that it may be delayed by Guatemalan customs
 

Ducky's Dad

Explorer
priority shipping from someone on ebay gives at best a 2 week window

Why eBay? Many sellers are flaky, so why not order from a more reputable source like Autozone or Summit or Jeg's, get quick ship and a tracking number?
 

tanuki.himself

Active member
its the finding someone who will even ship to Guatemala - autozone etc don't seem to ship outside the US - can't even get a price without a zipcode

but its all moot now - i picked up a new pin with the rubber fitted for 14 bucks at the Suzuki dealership yesterday, having driven down from the mountains with the grease packing
 
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