Grease for caliper pins ensures that the pistons move smoothly to facilitate vehicle slowing down or stoppage. You will find brake calipers both in the drum brakes and disc brakes.
How the brake caliper works.
The caliper moves in response to pressure on the brake pedal. The caliper receives pressurized brake fluid through the brake hose or brake line from the master cylinder.
Pistons connect the caliper to the brake pads and as the pressure reaches the calipers they push the pistons outwards. Afterwards this pushes the brake pad against the brake rotors.
Further, the brake caliper ensures that the brake rotors remain in alignment with the brake pads. This is for effective braking. This is possible thanks to brake caliper pins or bushings.
They control the movement of calipers and ensure the maintenance of a parallel position of the brake pads to the brake rotors. Misalignment is one of the reasons why the car produces a squeaking sound.
Additionally, misalignment also causes the issue of uneven wear for brake pads.
Types of brake grease.
The type of vehicle brake set-up determines the number of caliper pins. In fact, there are some brakes that have multiple pistons which help to enhance the car’s braking capacity.
Understanding the set-up will help you know where to apply and not to apply the brake lubricant.
a] Mineral Oil-Based Grease.
Firstly, mineral oil-based grease formula gets support from petroleum products. In fact, their additives give them better viscosity and temperature resistance.
This type of brake lubricant is not for high rotation and high temperature applications. This disqualifies it from the being a great fit for brake calipers.
b] Synthetic brake grease.
It is a creation that offers a variety of different components. The grease has varying viscosity and temperature ranges. Additionally, it has moisture resistance and additives that improve it’s high temperature performance.
c] Silicone grease.
Thirdly, we have the silicone grease which is the most viscous of them all. Additionally, the silicone grease is able to withstand extreme temperatures.
In fact, it can withstand a variety of temperature ranges. This gives you a wide range of choices when you’re shopping for silicone grease.
How to choose the right grease for caliper pins.
Knowing how to apply brake pad grease is essential. But a step that comes before grease application is choosing the right grease for caliper pins.
The following are some of the things to consider when choosing the right grease for caliper pins.
a] Viscosity.
This is how thick the lubricant is and it affects the way it flows out of the container and on the caliper pin’s surface.
Additionally, viscosity also affects the ability to protect the caliper pins against friction. The higher the viscosity the better.
b] Water resistance.
Water resistance helps to prevent the process of rusting. It acts as a barrier between the metallic parts and the atmosphere.
Look out for brake grease that has high water resistance. Additionally, it helps to protect against corrosion.
c] Compatibility.
Some brake lubricants may have components that are not compatible with you brake set-up. For example, ester-based lubricants and PAO are bad for plastic parts of the brake.
d] Classification.
There are two classifications of brake grease. They are either All-Purpose or Multi-purpose. Therefore, ensure that you look at the container before making a decision.
Because they are different when it comes to temperature resistance. All-purpose has a higher operating temperature than multi-purpose.
In fact, all-purpose brake lube is generally better at performance than the multi-purpose.
e] Temperature.
The brake pad abutment clips help the pads with brake rotor surface contact by ensuring they remain in alignment. Further, the alignment has to be maintained even with the effects of high temperature like expansion.
The caliper pins are able to resist temperature thanks to the type of lubricant you use. Otherwise if you use a low temperature brake lube, it will brake down in extreme temperature.
Brake caliper pins grease reviews.
In this section we are going to explore some the types of grease for your caliper pins. A common recommendation is for you to use brake lubricant that has high temperature resistance.
Therefore, lets analyze some suitable brands of grease for caliper pins.
a] Mission automobile silicone paste waterproof dielectric grease.
The first thing you note is that this product has a high viscosity. Which helps with friction temperature resistance.
Further, this grease also offers dust resistance. It is favorable for use on all types of surfaces and materials. Additionally it can be used across a variety of places including automobiles and industrial purposes.
b] Parmatex Ultra disc brake caliper lube.
This grease has high temperature resistance to ensure that it remains on surfaces for a prolonged time. Non-melting capabilities for this grease give it dominance over the others.
Additionally, it is able to offer consistency during cold and heat. Therefore, it does not change it’s form and operating characteristics.
This ensures that you do not keep lubricating the brake calipers from time to time.
c] CRC brake and caliper synthetic grease.
It is able to work very well with all types of materials and brake components. This is thanks to the molybdenum, PTFE, and graphite blend that it is made from.
Additionally, it is well known for offering a long lasting lubrication. This is because it does not change form hence offering high levels of consistency.
d] Versachem synthetic caliper grease.
It is a good fit for brake noise dampening because it contains the anti-squeal compound. Additionally, it contains sear-stable thickener for temperature resistance.
The compounds that make up this synthetic caliper grease ensure that it offers consistency despite the temperature changes. Further, it can be used on multiple surfaces like the valves, spark plug boots, bushings and battery terminals.
e] Napa sil-glyde lubricating compound.
This is a silicone based lubricating compound. It is very effective on all types of materials as it remains on the surface without any changes.
Since it is silicone, it has a number of advantages that include;
- Extreme heat and cold temperature resistance.
- Anti-squeal compound for noise damping.
- Corrosion, oxidation and rust resistance.
Vehicle brake system parts.
It is essential for us to venture into the brake system parts in order to understand which parts should get grease. The two types of brake set-ups are either drum brakes or disc brakes.
- Brake shim.
It helps to reduce the vibrations as it is strategically found between the brake pad and the caliper.
- Brake pedal.
You usually find it inside the vehicle cabin and drivers use it to activate the braking system to either slow down or to stop.
- Anti-Lock Brake Sensor.
This is the sensor that prevents the wheels from seizing once you hit the emergency brake during an abrupt stop.
- Brake rotors and drum shoes.
Their function is to press against the disc brake disc as well as the drum when the calipers and wheel cylinders contract.
- Master cylinder.
It houses the brake fluid and it converts it into hydraulic pressure which it transfers to the calipers. This helps with stopping and slowing down.
