My father always told me to purchase quality tools because cheap tools will often fail when you really need them, and then you are left with a broken tool, a job not done and often a set of busted knuckles... or worse. That philosophy also extended to having the right tool for the job. Whether it's woodworking, auto repair or gardening, having the proper tools for the job makes a big difference.
This point was driven home, yet again, this past weekend at Summit Point. Due to various factors in my burn-the-candle-at-both-ends lifestyle, I didn't get the brake pad swap done prior to leaving home for the track. No worries I figured, I'm bringing my tools with me and can do the swap at the track. It typically only takes me 20 minutes or so to do a brake pad swap and I've done it at the track before with no drama. Now, I've been using one of those universal cube style caliper tools which fit on a 3/8 ratchet turns the rear caliper piston to retract the piston into the caliper. While it got the job done, it did leave me thinking there must be a better way.
On Saturday, the pad swap on the right side of the car went as usual - no problem - 10 minutes and I was putting the wheels back on the car. Then I started the left side of the car. First up, the rear caliper... and the universal cube tool didn't work. It turned the piston alright, but the piston didn't retract. I spent more than 30 minutes fooling around with the damn caliper, yet as much as I turned it to retract the piston, it wouldn't clear my track pads which are quite a bit thicker than the street pads they were replacing. Brian Shafranek took pity on me (after first laughing at me) and loaned me his brake caliper tool which both turns the caliper and pushes it in at the same time. 2 minutes later, the piston was fully retracted, I was putting the caliper back on the car and thinking that I would never use the universal caliper cube thingy again now that I had been enlightened. This tool would make brake pad swaps even easier.
A quick session with Google yielded numerous options for acquiring a brake caliper tool set of my own. It just goes to show, having the right tool for the job makes all the difference. Now I'm wondering what other specialty tools I don't know I should have. As usual, I suppose I'll find out the hard way...
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ReplyDeleteIt's a slippery slope, Rick. I got one of the rear caliper tools years ago at Carlisle thinking I may need it some day. Turns out I did, and it worked. But I have a number of tools in my tool box that looked like a great solution to a problem I might encounter some day, but haven't run across yet.
ReplyDeleteMy goal before I die is to use every tool I own at least once. And with luck, for what it was intended (speciality inside snap ring pliers used for keeping papers together doesn't count, though it does work).
Thanks Rick, nice write up. I too need to get one of these tools and also get comfortable with doing my own brakes. Until now I have really not had the need to, but that has changed.
ReplyDeleteI received the link you sent about the tool and I plan on grabbing one.
Glad you finally got it figured out..
Ken
Just got back on here after a while of not visiting.
ReplyDeleteThe tool does make the rear brake change much easier, even though I have done pretty well on several occasions with channel locks.