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i lost my shop manual. i just need to know if i need any special tools. i've never done rear disc before and any help would be greatly appreciated. thanx guys keep flying.
The only special tool you may want is the tool to turn the pistons back into the calipers, but it's not really needed. I just do the same thing I think most of us do and just use a pair of needle nose pliers to turn them back in. When you do the brakes make sure you clean up the caliper sliders and lube them with a high-temp grease to keep everything free and moving.

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Unless you're the lead dog, the view never changes.
Alright, here it is from the top (just did this weekend before last). You will understand a lot of this much better after you get the caliper apart. Obtain your rear caliper rebuild kits (seals and boots), new guide pins and brake hardware kit (they have the 4 new guide pin boots and bolts in them). I got all my parts from Autozone.

Remove the rear caliper from the car. You will want to soak the guide pin bolts and hollow brake line banjo fitting bolt with PB blaster. Remove the caliper and lock it in a bench vise with the piston up and the
outboard caliper hook facing you. I used aluminum jaw inserts to avoid damage, but copper or an old towel will work. Be careful not to clamp onto the bleeder fitting, e-brake lever or do any other unintended damage with the vise.

Find a suitable tool for removing the piston. Ford has a special tool for this. But I used a small spanner that I ground down to fit (It hooks into the slots on the piston face for the anti-rotation pin on the back of the pad. Sometimes needlenose pliers won't get it and don't even think about a drift and hammer! (You'll tear the piston face up and possibly damage the cylinder) The piston unscrews off the actuator shaft to the left (standard thread). You can just unscrew it with the boot attached and then pull it free from the boot. Next remove the old piston boot with a small screwdriver working your way around the lip (outside edge, it's an externally flanged lip) prying it up as you go around.
Next remove the old piston seal (it looks like a flat o-ring that fits in a recess in
the cylinder bore.

Now comes the fun part. The actuator rod comes up through a caged or fingered spring retaining housing (piston return spring). The spring is about the size of a small engine valve spring and just as beefy. The
cage has several fingers that fit into a recess in the bottom of the cylinder. It is held down with an internal retaining ring. You will have to restrain this spring retainer before removing the retaining
ring. Once again, Ford has a special tool to do this and I don't. I used a big c-clamp and an appropriately sized deep well socket. I've purchased caliper compressor since then (for standard disc calipers) that should work better for this (when I do the passenger side).

Compress the housing with the socket.
Standard retaining ring pliers won't clear to get in there. So use a small screwdriver to pop the retaining ring out one side at a time. Once it's out, slowly release the clamp. You will now be able to remove the
spring cage, return spring, actuator rod, thrust washer, anti-rotation plate and e-brake link. Note the order they come out in for reassembly. Remove the old o-ring from the actuator rod.

Next, turn the caliper in the vise for access to the e-brake lever and return spring. Use vise-grips to release the spring from the lever. Remove the spring / lever retaining post (you'll need to soak it with PB Blaster too). Now the lever and shaft assembly will slide out of the caliper body.

Pry out the old shaft seal. Clean the caliper body and all parts thoroughly with brake cleaner. Note that the e-brake link (between the bottom of the piston actuator rod and e-brake shaft is lubricated with clear silicone grease, so you will need some (check with the Ford dealer) for reassembly).

Drive in the new e-brake shaft seal. Lube the e-brake shaft cup with silicone grease. Reassemble the e-brake lever / shaft assembly, spring and post. Lock the caliper body back in the vise, cylinder up as
before. Install a new o-ring on the actuator rod. Lubricate the lower end cup with silicone grease and o-ring with clean brake fluid. Stick the e-brake link into the rod bottom cup allowing the grease to hold it centered. Insert the link and rod into the lower rod bore making sure the e-brake link goes into the e-brake shaft recess.

Once the actuator rod is seated, reinstall the anti-rotation washer making sure that the raised pin drops into the hole in the bottom of the recess. Next install the thrust washer, spring and retaining cage.
Using the clamp and socket, compress the spring / cage assembly. Be careful that everything is lined up correctly or you will catch one or two of the fingers in the retaining ring groove and bend them up. If
you do, remove the cage, straighten it and try again.

Once you get it properly seated and compressed. Work the retaining ring back in by pushing the rear of the ring into the groove and then using two screwdrivers (one to keep it from rotating), snap the tips back in. Be careful and be patient, it's a
PITA, but can be done.

Next, install the new piston seal (lubricated with clean brake fluid) in the cylinder recess. Then install the new boot on the piston. Next plug the line fitting connection and fill the cylinder with clean brake fluid, about 3/4 full.

Very carefully thread the piston onto the shaft and turn it in until it is well within the seal area. Then turn the caliper in the vise, so the vent fitting is up. Crack open the vent fitting and continue to turn the caliper in until it bottoms out, letting the air escape. Close off the vent. Then back out piston until the anti-rotation slots are lined up for the pin on the brake pad.

Use a thin piece of flat ended wood to tap the piston bottom bottom seal into place working around the lip until it seals all the way around. Reintall and bleed as usual. Hope this helps.

You also need to do a search here on the board for "rear brake caliper". Someone had posted a scan of the Chiltons IPB for the rear caliper and it will help you. IMHO, unless you are really good at improvising and a severely determined (or demented, maybe?) DIYer, just save yourself the major PITA and buy a set of rebuilt calipers.

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87 TC, T-5 swap, billet quadrant / adj. cable, solid state IVR, fog light relay mod, PST suspension, KYB-AGX fronts, Gas-A-Just rears, K&N, bypassed BCS, med. red, 90's wing, 181K+ Mi's., daily driver, feeding on ricers!

[This message has been edited by Nitro_X (edited 02-03-2004).]
Nitro_X, Could you have this moved to the Technical Articles or FAQ's page. This should not be lost. I will be doing my brakes in the next month or so and I will want to have this close at hand.
Nitro very nice detailed response. [Image: smile.gif] Also does any one know what the caliper bolts are supposed to be tourqued to? Usally I just tighten them but 2 days ago one of my calipers vibrated loose. This is the 2nd time it's happened. So does ony on know the tourqe spes.?
Wow! Now thats a response worthy of Encyclopedia Turbonica! Gonna print this one out for reference.
Quote:Originally posted by redturbo:
Nitro very nice detailed response. [Image: smile.gif] Also does any one know what the caliper bolts are supposed to be tourqued to? Usally I just tighten them but 2 days ago one of my calipers vibrated loose. This is the 2nd time it's happened. So does ony on know the tourqe spes.?

I always use a little bit of blue loctite on the caliper retaining bolts because I've had that happen a time or two myself.

And I have to agree that was a nice detailed response by Nitro, but I just want to add something. If your calipers are not leaking, and it pistons turn back in easily, DO NOT TAKE THEM APART! The are working fine, don't mess with them. 90% of the rear brake problems with these cars are casued by siezed or sticking caliper pins. I take my rear brakes apart every 6 months to lube the pins and inspect the bads for abnormal wear. Cheap insurance.

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Unless you're the lead dog, the view never changes.

[This message has been edited by Urban Redneck (edited 02-04-2004).]
Urban Redneck is absolutely right: DO NOT MESS WITH YOUR REAR CALIPERS UNLESS YOU ARE SURE THAT'S THE PROBLEM.

In my case, the drivers side emergency brake shaft was sticking in the bore and keeping the e-brake locked on (read my previous rear brake post, it wasn't the cable). The passenger's side also sticks some, but I just pried the lever back out and haven't set the brake since then. You have to completely dismantle the caliper to get to the e-brake parts.

I torque the caliper frame (what the guide pins go into) to axle bolts to 55 ft./lbs. and as U.R. pointed out, use Blue Loctite (#242) on the threads (after cleaning the old Loctite off with a wire brush).

Another valid point U.R. made is nine times out of ten, the problem is sticking guide pins. In extreme cases they will hold the caliper in to the point of eating the rear disc (ask me how I know). The boots on the pins fail, letting all the grease wash out, then the pins stick. I pull the rear guide pins about once every 18 months, but I'm going to start doing it yearly, because I had one stuck this time (bad, had to use PB Blaster, a propane torch and impact wrench to get it free). Sometimes they just break off in the bore, and drilling them out is a major PITA (50/50 chance of ruining the frame).

The frame was obsolete from Ford for the passenger side and $345 for the driver's side. I bought a whole 87 TC for $550 to get the caliper frames. Once again, do a search here on the board archives for more info. Some folks are apparently using silicone dielectric grease on the pins. I still use Valvoline Durablend with moly. The important thing is to inspect the pin boots and replace them, clean and relube the pins / bores at the first sign of cracking or holes.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I'll try to clean thst long post up and take some pics when I do the passenger's side. Then maybe someone will want to put it in the tech articles.

Boothe

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87 TC, T-5 swap, billet quadrant / adj. cable, solid state IVR, fog light relay mod, PST suspension, KYB-AGX fronts, Gas-A-Just rears, K&N, bypassed BCS, med. red, 90's wing, 181K+ Mi's., daily driver, feeding on ricers!
FYI,
I found that the early 90's lincoln rear caliper bracket is an exact replacement. I'm not up on generation info as in 92 to 95 or whatever, maybe someone can answer that for me. But I found I Think a 94 continental in a yard and it turned out the braket was an exact fit on my 88.
Now, this rusted, 175k mile lincoln (with groovy leather in perfect shape...damn) had NO guide pins frozen, yet the pads were worn to a minimum so they've been there a while. Huh.
$345 for a bracket? Sounds to me like there were trying to seel you a loaded caliper assembly, which did come with the bracket. I bought two brand new brackets not all that long ago, I seem to remember them being only about $35-45 CND or so. I still hev my brackets in the boxes, I'll see if I can find them and post the part numbers for you.

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Unless you're the lead dog, the view never changes.
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