marlinspike

Well, looking at it, I'd say the boot is torn because somebody tore it. The rubber is all still good, but it has a clean cut in it. Last time I had the brakes done I took it to a shop (when I do rotors I have a shop do it because the wheel bearings have to be repacked with grease when you do rotors) and I noticed one of the brake pad retention pins was missing its keeper pin. My guess is they also cut the boot by accident and just left it.

The Guy

i did it on my s13 when my right rear caliper decided to commit suicide. It was ugly. No problems at all.

TiredToyotaDrvr

x2... its OK to replace just one caliper so long as the opposite caliper is working properly. They may be suggesting doing them in pairs as a preventative thing, which isnt an awful idea... but not entirely necessary.

Pads/Rotors MUST be done by the axle... or you end up with some wacky-action shit.

marlinspike

I ended up buying a pair, in part because I found a website selling the same exact rebuilt calipers (from the same reputable rebuilder) for just about half the price. That and...they are almost 25 years old after all.

White Devil

Smart. Everything Ive heard and done with calipers and rotors is you want even wear evenly. If you replace one, shave one, etc... you should do the other to match. You CAN get away with one if there hasn't been much time inbetween, but thats usually based on miles and time spent on the car.

1automd

You should always replace calipers in pairs. Also you should replace your brake hoses because you will find that it is the inner lining of the brake hose that came apart (due to not keeping the brake fluid flushed every 30k i do mine every 20K and using BG high per fluid) and the particles got in the caliper and caused the piston to bind up. The reason for replacing both calipers is 1) They have both been on for the same length of time and it also has trash building up in it.2) No matter what some may think you WILL have un-even braking because the new caliper "square cut seal" is worn and with the trash in it it will not release the piston so the old caliper is dragging all the time so it will run hotter than the new one so when you go to brake the cooler brake will stop better intern causing a pull but not so much on a normall stop but when you need to make a fast/hard stop. I am a Master ASE certified Tech. with Over 25 years in the industry and have seen all kinds of half ass repairs made by so called MECHANICS (never doing more than home wrenching) that give there opinion about a repair and have no theory to back it up and some one like yourself takes there advice and ends up costing you more in the long run when it would have been more cost effective to do it right the first time. If you can find them (they are available) you can find kits for those calipers and rebuild them. It is a very simple job and you are doing the same thing that the remanufacturer is doing. If you have any further questions or comments feel free to contact me , askbobby@bobbyoakleyautomoitve.com

marlinspike

Mercedes does sell the rebuild kit, but that's $50 and rebuilt calipers from a reputable company were $68.xx after core exchange, so I figured I'd go with pre-rebuilt.

So you think I should do the hoses too? I figured given that the brakes didn't stick prior to my replacing the pads, and that when I replaced the pads I managed to pop a part that surround the piston off (I think I put the piston too far back in) that I was the sole cause. I'll note that I told a shop an MB shop a couple of years ago that I wanted to change the brake lines and they said there was no need to after looking at them.

Fluid has def been changed every 30k. The car does about 7k miles per year and the longest it has ever gone between fluid changes has been 2 years 2 months (which is this current time, and I'm about to have them flushed, but over these past 2 years I've only done ~10k miles).

White Devil

If theyre not stainless, Id do 'em, FTW. Yes, they cost more, but will last a long time and you wouldnt have to worry about them for quite a while.

http://www.performanceproducts4benz....1-chassis.html

marlinspike

I remember asking StopTech about going to stainless lines on my car (and yes, they did sell them for my car at the time), and StopTech basically told me to save my money because on my car it won't make a difference. IIRC they cited the short length and the material used by MB for the stock lines.

Fabrik8

That's true. The line expansion is dictated by the line diameter and the fluid pressure, and the overall change in volume depends on length. So if you have a small amount of expansion over a short line, it's nothing like the change in volume from the same amount of expansion over a long line. So if you want to replace your lines, do it because your old ones are old and not because you're looking for a performance enhancement.