I bought a pair of reman rear brake calipers from RockAuto. The left side looked good and everything was clean and straight... but the right caliper's piston had pitting and deformities all over it. Night and day between the two. I'm not sure if this was previously rusted and then just cleaned up, but I didn't feel comfortable using it.





But I am curious, is a brake piston with this much pitting still "clear" for use? Regardless if it's deemed perfectly functional, I'm still not going to use it on my car out of principle. Even my original calipers' pistons are completely smooth.

The only reason I'm even bothering to ask is because when I called RockAuto to try and replace it or swap it, I was denied from doing so by a demeaning ******* of a "shift manager".

Now I have to find another vendor to buy another reman caliper AND next day it to me so I can finish my brake job, or stick to reusing my original calipers.

 

Just a little rust pock marks. Man up.

 

I noticed something similar in a reman caliper I got for my Miata. I don't remember which part store I bought it from but it came in a box marked AJ Carbone. Been using it for a season now in my Spec Miata and it's working fine.

I think that rebuilder just started using cheap, craptastic pistons but it's working ok.

Personally, I'm an **** retentive old fart so I'd probably try and source another one from another part store or call Ray Crowe at Maly and see if it comes with a better quality piston. If I can, then I'd return it.

 

if you pull back the dust boot and there is no pitting its fine. the key sealing area is about a half inch down where you wont be able to see

 

There's absolutely no logic in using this when my original caliper's piston looks brand new in comparison.

This may be fine for you, but some of us hold higher quality standards.

I would love to return these and continue using my calipers, but said shift manager at RockAuto locked me out. Initially a customer service rep offered to send a replacement if I paid for shipping, which I agreed to... Before going through with it, I was advised to talk to the manager to see if I could be remediated with a better solution. Instead of offering to work out an alternative, my request gets denied entirely by this past pro mechanic who turned into a call center dictator. So now I have to pay a huge restocking fee and pay for return shipping just to get a refund. Who does that kind of ****? I don't think I'm even going to bother.

 

No offense Eric but buying parts at Rock Auto doesn't sound like "Higher quality standards".
It's a discount Auto parts place,so you get what you pay for.

 

I agree... I haven't been able to find a new set of RZ brakes for the rear, so I decided to keep the stock rear setup and just redo the lines, pads, and rotors. I wanted to do SOMETHING about the calipers as well, to cover all grounds... hence why this reman route sounded like a good idea.

The actual brand for the reman brakes is Centric. But you do get what you pay for in customer service when buying from a discount place.

 

I'd use it, its not going to cause any issues.

 

I would assume Centric inspects the parts before rebuilding and only uses parts that are in spec. They are a good company as far as I know(they own Stoptech and Power slot) and should have good quality control.

 

as long as there is no pitting on the sealing surface of the piston you are good.

if your OEM piston is good then swap them out..... or buy another piston. but in reality what your complaining about really doesn't matter. If you wanted new condition you should have bought new calipers.

 

very sorry to hear this Eric as I was the one who suggested Rock Auto and Centric to you. I didn't have any of those issues with the ones I received. I'm also really surprised to hear about the bad customer service issue with them as I've had nothing but great customer service from them. I'd maybe try to escalate higher or get in contact with someone else there. Mention that you'll be writing a negative experience review to all of the magazines that they sponsor such as Grassroots Motorsports etc.

I can't see the pictures currently, but as others have mentioned, if you want to swap out your piston for the one in the new caliper it's not that hard to do and then you'd still have the rest of the cleaned up caliper with new seals throughout.

 

File a claim through your credit card company and describe the scenario exactly as you did here. They should fight the charge and get you a refund. This is why I do nearly every purchase possible on my American Express. It is quite impressive how quickly a company changes its tune when the money is being pulled straight back from their account.

It is entirely possible it could be used without issue, but it is the company's responsibility to send good parts. Even if they are remanufactured.

 

Eric,
Use the OEM calipers that came with the car they are better than 95% of the calipers on other FDs.

NEVER buy remanufactured brakes. Hell a lot of the time reman master cylinders and slave cylinders etc... leak it's not worth the hassle and those parts brand new aren't that expensive.

Run a couple of autocrosses each year and turn in the results to Mazdacomp and you can start an account with them and get a decent discount on parts along with a new set of 99 brakes. I should also have a used set available at the end of the year.