When you do a brake job on your vehicle be sure to check the wheel cylinders and brake calipers for leakage and rust. The wheel cylinder is much easier to check than the caliper because in order to check the caliper you will need to remove it from the wheel, while the wheel cylinder can be checked in place, most of the time, just by gently moving the rubber boot and checking to see that no brake fluid comes out. It should be dry.
The caliper, especially the front one should be replaced if it shows signs of sticking or rust when you are doing a brake job. I normally replace mine after 50,000 miles simply due to the heat that the caliper has to deal with. After replacing the caliper along with the brake pads the brakes operate trouble free for at least 50,000 more miles. Of course, the miles you get out a set of brakes depends on your driving and the amount of stop and go traffic that you have to contend with, either way you want your brakes to last as long as possible before you have to do another brake job.
Rebuilding the wheel cylinder, or caliper will require that you hone the cylinder walls before you re-assemble, that is an important step because rust or pitting may have occurred in the cylinder that will need to be removed. If after you hone the cylinder or caliper and notice that it is still pitted inside replace it. To smooth out a deep pitted area will require too much metal to be removed from the cylinder wall so it is better to replace the cylinder of caliper than take a chance on brake failure.
Auto parts stores carry rebuild kits for both the wheel cylinders and calipers. The rebuild kit consists of all replacement rubber parts and springs as needed to complete the job.
Doing a brake job yourself sounds easy and may, or may not, save you money, but if you don't feel comfortable rebuilding your wheel cylinder or caliper you will either have to have it done by a trained mechanic or replace it with a new one.
In an area where there is a lot of snow and ice it would be best to just replace the wheel cylinder, and especially the caliper because the cylinder may be pitted from the temperature changes and the moisture in the weather and the pitting will be difficult to hone down and still provide a good seal for the piston.
Bob Crane is the author of http://www.americanwrenches.com - a site that helps many find tools they need for their projects.
