The last step in completely overhauling my brakes: rear calipers.

I've got the caliper completely apart and I'm having a lot of trouble reinstalling the retainer plate and snap ring (items 6 and 7). The challenge is that my snap ring pliers barely fit in the caliper bore deep enough to reach the final position of the snap ring, and I need to have another tool in the bore also to push down on the spring and get the retainer plate seated. And these are snap ring pliers that I went out and bought especially to fit into this bore. It is TIGHT.

I'd appreciate any tips from the pros here.

 

OMG, worst experience ever.

It helps to have one of those dentist pick kits. I used a 90 degree angle pick (shaped like an L), used the joint end to hold down the back of the snap ring. Once it got down far enough, I rolled the pick so that the pointy end starts to rotate into the groove and basically moved it towards the ends of the snap ring, alternating back and forth before any one side of the snap ring is actually inside the groove. You must make sure that the back end of the snap ring is inside the grove first because that's what gives the assembly balance against the end of your snap ring tool.

 

OK, so you didn't use snap ring pliers then? You just worked the ring from the back, snapping in the ends of the ring last?

I'll try that approach and see what happens. Thanks.

Dave

 

Nothing real constructive to add as it was more than a little while ago - the right set of circlip pliers makes all the difference. After fumbling with the three I had and trying to compress the spring simultaneously, borrowed a mate's pair and got it in.... on first attempt.

 

Did you use something else to compress the spring? Or just push with the snap ring pliers?

Dave

 

Remember needing two hands to assemble them, I suspect nothing more sophisticated than a screwdriver was used to press down....but that's probably because I'm a wimp and couldn't do it single handed while still retaining the clip in the pliers.

 

I used the pick and the pliers to compress everything. You have to be very careful and feel your way around. Once I got the first one (it took me 2 days of crazy contraptions before I just resorted to blind feeling around), the second one will take less than 10 minutes.

Definitely still not as bad as fuel filter change.

 

I rebuilt even worst caliper on Audi UrS before and had tool for that (which I used for FD caliper as well)

Buy long-nosed pliers at autozone and grind them down to make long-nosed retaining ring pliers. Also, you need piece of tube or socket or whatever that goes over screw but not thick so you can press on it and use pliers to install snap ring.

Painful, but after 4 calipers I feel expierenced

 

That's what I did, too (after buying expensive Craftsman circle clip pliers and finding out they didn't fit).