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Brake caliper guide pins

Jamesey

Well Known Member
Not mentioned in the destructions as far as I can see, anyone put lube on the brake calliper guide pins, and if so, what did you use??
 
Not mentioned in the destructions as far as I can see, anyone put lube on the brake calliper guide pins, and if so, what did you use??
I use the same silicone base brake lub that I use on my car. Autozone, etc. carries it.
 
Me too

Brake Caliper Lube from auto parts store
I put it on the guide pins and between the puke and pad plate.
Works good.
 
Lube

I think it helps to lube the pins so they slide smoothly and between the pad plate and puck, it is sticky and seems to help the parts keep from vibrating. At least that is my thoughts and it has worked well for me, so I keep doing it. Others may say it's not needed. To each their own. My brakes work great and don't make noise.
 
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Brake Caliper Pins

For the record, in 14 years I have never used lube when changing brake liners and have never had an issue with the caliper alignment. Probably doesn't hurt as long as you don't get it near the liners.
 
I've not done mine yet (still in the packaging) but I had assumed there would be dust seals on the pins.

If there are no dust seals then the downside will be dust/grit sticking to the lube and causing extra wear (especially when using grass runways).

Here in the uk it is probably still preferable to leaving them open to the moisture as I think the extra wear would probably be less problem than the corrosion.

I'll have to check with my inspector to see if my thinking is correct.
 
A slightly different setup, my Sky Arrow has Marc Ignegno brakes where the caliper is fixed and the rotor floats on pins.

I had one brake dragging, and it was due to corrosion on the pins causing them to bind:

7425315314_30508a879c_z.jpg


This can also lead to uneven brake wear.

It's now my habit to very lightly apply disc brake lube on the pins with a q-tip, more or less monthly.

In short, I think a tiny bit of lube on any brake part that's designed to slide is a good idea.
 
Most maintenance organisations and engineers (UK based mechanics...) use copper grease on the brake calliper torque pins and a smear on the piston/brake lining back plate contact area.

It will prevent corrosion and stops components sticking to each other that you don't want stuck together....
 
Lube wasn't called out in the KAI or MATCO documents so I have never used it. After 5 years and 550 hours everything seems OK.
 
Interesting, I've not heard of that before.
Another aviation related 'google shopping' search is in order for tonight I think :D

Thanks.

Don't use graphite lube. Graphite and Aluminum don't get along. The brake castings are Aluminum (as well as the primary structure of the rest of the airplane).

That's why many shops don't allow pencils in their shops or at a minimum in the sheet metal areas. If someone were to make a pencil line on an Aluminum sheet the grarphite could etch away the aluminum over the years resulting in a detectible score line or even a crack. Every military spec for dry film lubricants prohibits the use of graphite. Imagine being an aircraft structural design engineer tasked with assembling graphite carbon fiber wings or tail to an aluminum fuselage. Not only do the materials hate each other (opposite ends of the galvanic chart) but one has a positive coefficient of resistivity and the other a negative coefficient of resistivity. And one shrinks and swells with temperature while the other stays stiff and firm. One flight from a hot tropical airport to 30,000 feet with lightning about makes all-metal aircraft look wonderful.

Back to the brakes. Instead of graphite dry lube consider a Teflon or silicon dry lube. Like PB Blaster TFE, Dry film lube Silicon or even my current favorite, NanoPro M/T military-spec grade dry lube based on nano technology - - available at Autozone.

Jim
 
Don't use graphite lube? Graphite and Aluminum don't get along.

Hello Jim (jliltd) -
You stated above in this thread "Don't use graphite lube. Graphite and Aluminum don't get along......" OOPS - I didn't know that.

I used Permatex 80078 Aluminum Anti-Seize (which contains graphite) on some of my 6/32 and 8/32 stainless steel fasteners on my inspection covers to prevent galling. Sounds like this was a bad idea - because the graphite in it will attack the aluminum covers??? If so - sounds like I better be cleaning it off - somehow.....

I learn something here every day. Thank you, all - for your knowledge sharing.
 
I used Permatex 80078 Aluminum Anti-Seize (which contains graphite) on some of my 6/32 and 8/32 stainless steel fasteners on my inspection covers to prevent galling.
I'm replacing the stainless screws on mine with cad plated steel. The stainless screw heads are like butter and I got tired of them getting chewed up. I use either a little dab of Boelube (stick, not paste which gets messy at anything above room temperature) or beeswax on the threads... not much, just a bit.
 
Here is what MATCO Mfg told me about their brake guide pins (as used on the RV-12): "The sleeve is stainless and the bushing is brass. No lubricant is generally used. If you do, we recommend a dry graphite powder like you use in a lock so as not to draw contaminants to the site."
 
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