huey_33

Ran into a little problem while I was changing my rear brakes and thought you guys might be able to help me out. I had everything done until I got to part where I had to compress the caliper piston back in. I know on the rear calipers you have to twist the piston for it to go back in. But I sat in my garage for almost an hour turning it and it will not go back in so my caliper will not fit over my new brake pads. Is there something I am missing or does it sound like I have a bad piston? Thanks in advance.

MustangLouver

I had the same problem when I changed my rear brakes. Try pressing the brakes to let it all the way out, then try to press it back in. It worked for me.

huey_33

Well I finally got the piston compressed back into the caliper, now I can't get the caliper lined up correctly onto the bracket so I can get the two screws back in. I'm giving up now before I do something I will regret later.

WhiteFoxGT

You have to twist and compress at the same time, once you back it in all the way, you have to untwist it a hair to get those 2 tabs on the caliper straight up and down, so it'll line up with the tabs on the brake pads. Its not rocket science people, its brakes lol

MustangLouver

Lol. But when things dont go smoothly, it pisses you off.

uberstang1

This +1

Z28KLR

Go to autozone or wherever and rent the tool, it will save you hours of frustration. Some people manage to get away with simply turning the piston in a c/w direction, but in my own experience on both my Mustang and on the wife's van the pistons required compression effort along with turning. And btw, don't bother with that gay little square universal p.o.s. that snaps on to a ratchet, comepletely worthless.

uberstang1

I just used needle nose pliers to twist the piston, works wonders.

WhiteFoxGT

I've had one of these for like 5 years now... screw doin it any way else (pun intended)

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....&group_ID=1682

Brute03

i used a vise grip to turn the piston and my palm to push it in - a little awkard but it does the trick