retracting the rear brake caliper

[black2.7t]

can i retract rear brake caliper piston without the clamp tool on a b6 a4? Can i just loosen the brake bleed screw and relive the pressure and screw in the caliper with hand? and be fine?

[old guy]

It can be done but it takes a bit of force. It helps to have a "Cube of Death" available at any Automotive parts supply. You do not need to open the bleeder screw.






.

[Kwarner]

Renting the tool is free from Autozone. Save yourself the headache.

[BARRY]

i've had issues with rear calipers of many cars before. some need a little work with the cube and clamping force at the same time. i don't have the nice dealer tool that clamps and turns, so when just the cube doesn't work i do two steps. use the cube...turn turn turn until you realize the turning isn't turning the piston inwards. remove cube take your c-caliper vise and clamp down a few turns to put some pressure. remove the c-clamp vise then use the cube again with a VERY strong hand, forcing the piston inwards while turning. if this doesn't work, use the vice again...this procedure always works eventually. sometimes it'll take 30 minutes but it will eventually work.

[CoreyRS]

x10 rent the tool from autozone, the little cube part didn't fit on mine

[boostedAvant]

I just did rears on mine, after trying to retract it for a while and cursing, I just rented the damn tool. As Tyler said "You know what a good trick is, having the right tool for the fucking job" I believe those were close to his exact words.

[black2.7t]

other than him not replacing the caliper with the broken boot, heres how to do it with the "cube of death"

[Cheffy]

This was a great video and saved my husband a lot of frustration. Thanks!

[walky_talky20]

other than him not replacing the caliper with the broken boot

Yeah, big no no there. The failed boot means the piston is rusty. Then he's using his tool to twist and force it back through the caliper seal. Chances of that caliper eventually sticking on and burning up those nice new pads and rotor is pretty high.

[DiertyEuroSpec]

As Tyler said "You know what a good trick is, having the right tool for the fucking job" I believe those were close to his exact words.

Amen and also the method that BARRY suggested helped me out..Sometimes it needs some more pressure then whats being applied to back in as opposed to just spinning.

[Charles.waite]

I'll throw in my plug for the MetalNerd Retractor tool I bought. Saved me hours of frustration (once I read the manual and started using it correctly that is ).

http://www.metalnerd.com/cat08.htm

$45 VERY well spent.

[woofster]

Although I'm aware of the rear brake piston design, for some reason I've always been able to do it simply with a standard C-clamp. The pressure of the clamp provides enough friction to rotate the piston as it rotates with the cup of the C-clamp.

[old guy]

Although I'm aware of the rear brake piston design, for some reason I've always been able to do it simply with a standard C-clamp. The pressure of the clamp provides enough friction to rotate the piston as it rotates with the cup of the C-clamp.

Wow. You were lucky that you didn't destroy the caliper. You must have a rusted up pivot ball in your C-clamp pad.

[Myst420]

Its always SOO much easier with the right tool. I've never used the cube, but this is what I use:

[walky_talky20]

^I use the same kit. It works a treat.

[DiertyEuroSpec]

Its always SOO much easier with the right tool. I've never used the cube, but this is what I use:

Look familiar...same kit

[S4bmwslayer]

Its always SOO much easier with the right tool. I've never used the cube, but this is what I use:

That didn't work for me. I noticed that it was not rotating the piston. I used the strange cube device that was a pain in the ass but at least it worked.

[customa4]

Did you have you're ebrake engaged?

[Myst420]

The only way that kit didn't work is if you had the wrong attachment on. That kit works for just about every make and model. You have to use the small round one with 2 pins that match up to the caliper.



Edit: custom, good point. I didn't think about that.


Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

[customa4]

Lol the only reason I mention it is because I had the same kit and it wasn't working. I even went out of my way to go buy the cube and try with that. No go. After that I realized something wasn't right and let the ebrake go. Put the original kit with the proper attachment back on and everything went smooth as butter.

[S4bmwslayer]

i've had issues with rear calipers of many cars before. some need a little work with the cube and clamping force at the same time. i don't have the nice dealer tool that clamps and turns, so when just the cube doesn't work i do two steps. use the cube...turn turn turn until you realize the turning isn't turning the piston inwards. remove cube take your c-caliper vise and clamp down a few turns to put some pressure. remove the c-clamp vise then use the cube again with a VERY strong hand, forcing the piston inwards while turning. if this doesn't work, use the vice again...this procedure always works eventually. sometimes it'll take 30 minutes but it will eventually work.

This is exactly correct! Took me about 30 minutes on each rear caliper using the "cube of death" and the tool that I rented from AutoZone. (BTW: I bought two cubes just to make sure one of them worked and I am glad I did because only one fit.)

[LordO]

This is exactly correct! Took me about 30 minutes on each rear caliper using the "cube of death" and the tool that I rented from AutoZone. (BTW: I bought two cubes just to make sure one of them worked and I am glad I did because only one fit.)

I found it is easier with 90* needle nose and c clamp. Apply light pressure to the piston with the c clamp, turn the piston in using the needle nose points in the little notches that would engage the CoD (Cube of Death), apply a little more pressure with the c clamp, turn in with needle nose, repeat until finished.