135i Rear Caliper Rebuild - Who is Using What?

[Ginger_Extract]

Hey All, my front caliper pistons shattered last year and I used the Racing Brake rebuild kit (with mixed results). Now my rear caliper pistons are shot and the brakes are dragging. Who is using what as far as rear caliper rebuild stuff?

I thought about using RB for the rears, but after some digging, this appears to be an issue without resolution:

http://forums.racingbrake.com/showth...p?t=939&page=3

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by Ginger_Extract

Hey All, my front caliper pistons shattered last year and I used the Racing Brake rebuild kit (with mixed results). Now my rear caliper pistons are shot and the brakes are dragging. Who is using what as far as rear caliper rebuild stuff?

I thought about using RB for the rears, but after some digging, this appears to be an issue without resolution:

http://forums.racingbrake.com/showth...p?t=939&page=3

Yeah not sure. Was going to do RB kit for front and rear on my car, but held off when I saw that thread a couple months ago.

Don't want to be the guinea pig on whether their chrome plating has actually fixed the leak issue or not.

[jafo1701]

I would do the rear racing brake kit and maybe get a bbk for the fronts. Get the Hi temp dust boots for the rear. I did the front and rear, and the fronts still frequently need rebuilds as even with the hi temp dust boots I'm completely disintegrating them on the track. The pistons are pretty high quality no issues there. A few years back I had the leaking pressure seals, got some aftermarket ones and no leaking since. I'm sure racing brake has fixed the leaking seal issues though. Instead of another rebuild the next time I'll just get a BBK for the fronts. That should help mitigate the heat issue and hopefully not require me to rebuild my front Calipers after every few track events. I also run a LSD in the rear, which really helps with the heat issue on the rear Calipers as the E diff is not in use as much or at all now. I run Carbotech XP 12s for the fronts and XP10s on the rear.

[dcaron9999]

Did the RB SS caliper front and rear rebuild last year with high temp dust boot option. Rears still look good.

Some of the front silicone blue dust boots have disintegrated as well. But this is in line with anyone that races or laps their car a fait bit. Most racers choose to do not even bother with dust boots because their cars dont really need them ( not exposed to extreme cold or dirty environments).

In my case, there are no RB SS piston leaks to speak of, after two seasons of lapping and one Candian winter. My 135i gets very little exposure to winter, and sits in my heated garage most of the time from November to April.

I visually inspect my calipers and brake pads on a very frequent basis, and clean and lube them up a couple of times per season (April to October). This is proportional to the abuse I expose my brakes to, related to number of track sessions...

My Performance Friction endurance PF-08 brake pads have been holding up beyond my expectations. Into my second season with them, but my 135i is seeing less track this year.

Cooling ducts are helping, and oddly enough, stickier tires have helped with prevention of brake fade and constant braking throught entire sessions. I tend to brake harder and for shorter distances now with more grip under me. Dont under estimate the importance of tire grip in the total equation, and brake performance. The less tire grip and performance, the more you drag your brakes (brake too early and for a longer period). This is where you overheat your brake pads and brake fluid, especially without cooling ducts attached to your dust shields and pointing to the center of your brake rotor ...

Im still resisting the BBK route and expenses for now. Im surviving on stock calipers with the RB SS pistons, hign temp range brake pads, and custom cooling ducts. Im not planning to rebuild my calipers again, even replace the dust boots each season, unless I run into sticky pistons, etc....