greasing of caliper pins and the hubs for corrosion

[jackcramerr]

So today as I had the car up on axel stands, I did brake oil flush.

Now what I did last time I removed the wheels was that I had used copper grease on 3 of the 4 hubs (where the wheel meets and the center hub). 

The one I didn't grease; wheel was stuck and I had to hit the tyre with my hand a few times. There was lots of salt. The wheel on the back side was corroded and when I cleaned it, the salt like substance wa's the alloy itself. This alloy did not have any paint pealing last year and not it had started from the center.

The other 3 came off easily and no sign of corrosion. They were clean.

So from that I had a few questions and conclusions:

 

1. Greasing the wheel and  hub protects the alloy from corrosion and saves the alloy.

2. Alloy doesn't get stuck

3. Do we need wheel caps ? I was wondering if I leave them open I can always clean them and also water / rain can clean it  which will slow down corrosion?

4. This time I cleaned all the 4 wheel cap/ center area  and used hermite paint. Going to see if that fixes it.

 

I also did brake caliper pins greasing and replaced brake pads and did brake flush:

I used createc. Used Pagid Dot5.1. Lexus brake pads.

1. One of the pins didn't had any grease left. but no sign of corrosion and was clean.

2. All the others had grease

So question here is, this job is very tiring.  Does it need to be done every year ? Is there no fix to it?

brake pads still had life in them but wanted to get everything done.

 

[Shahpor]

Yep, I have been told before to put copper grease between the wheel and the hub to prevent galvanic corrosion.

Although all my alloys are rusted on the surface.  I even had a flat tyre a couple of weeks back, so took it to the tyre shop which took the wheel off and found corrosion along the inner lip.  It turns out that the rust had made the surface on the inner lip uneven, so the tyre couldn't seal properly.  Never seen alloys rust as badly as the ones on these IS's.

If 3 of the pins had grease, but not the 4th, is the rubber seal on that one intact between the calliper and the slider?

As for doing it every year, it does appear to need doing regularly.  If you service your own car, then yes, it is a pain.  However, if a garage does the job, it shouldn't be a big deal to also get them to grease them for you.

[is200 Newbie]

Greasing the pins is an annual job - no way round it I am afraid as they do need doing - leave them and they will corrode and seize over time. I do mine every 6 months and use the Toyota rubber grease on them as this lubricates the pins and does not attack the rubber dust seals on the callipers.

Once you do them a few times it doesn't take as long to do all 4 corners

[jackcramerr]

I didn't check the rubber seals. Does Toyota / Lexus sell them ? I would like OE part here.

 

is200 Newbie

Wow... every 6 months... DIY or garage ? Sounds costly/a lot of work.

 

[is200 Newbie]

I have never replaced the seals on the calipers - have been fortunate to (with the 2 lexus cars I have had) get the pins oiled as soon as I got them although I have replaced two calipers on this one - too far gone when I bought the car but no problems since. I have heard of people buying seals from "Bigred" brakes but never done it myself.

I usually clean and re-grease the pins approx. every 6 months - I do them when changing the engine oil as I do this on a 6 monthly basis as I don't do a lot of miles and what I do is in general short runs. I don't find cleaning the pins takes that long - would quite easily finish all 4 corners in an hour.

Also - there is an anti rattle rubber washer on one pin on the front callipers (think its the top one?) I have in the past bought these from lexus but they, for what they are, very expensive. Since I have used the rubber grease on the pins the rubber parts have remained tight around the metal components. I put up a "how To" on this last year or the year before - think you can find it on the first page of the forum.

An indie garage can easily do this for you no problem but would charge around £80 - I would rather know that the pins are done properly as a replacement caliper is in excess of £350 so for the sake of around 10 minutes work on each caliper cleaning and re-greasing then I think its worth it.

Also while I am in the wheel arch I also spray WD40 onto all the moving parts (suspension/rubbers etc) have always done it, don't know if it has any effect on the but have had no issue so will keep doing it. I want to give the arches a good clean this year after the winter (a bit OCD I know !!) but they are caked in salt etc...

[Shahpor]

I don't think you can buy the rubber seals from Lexus.  As far as I know, they sell the entire calliper only since there are no part numbers for the individual parts.

This pic shows the components:

 

Also, as stated at the bottom, you need the white, glycol grease when re-inserting the pins.

[Cracksta]

I use Castrol red grease in my previous cars when lubing the pins, i'll be using those again when i change my pads and will give it a good clean/lube.

[madasahatter]

As Newbie says twice a year isnt much of a chore. An hour taking your time tops, did mine when i bought it. Did them 2 weeks ago when doing parking brake.

Will do them again around june time, skodas are the same. A bain but saves a lot of cash in the long run, and copper grease a must on back of wheels.

[johnatg]

You can get the rubber parts for the brake calipers from various sources - eg www.brakeparts.co.uk  . A front set, which consists of the rubber seals, the little ring for the top pin, a bleed screw cap and caliper seal and boot with a circlip for the caliper boot for £10.66 + postage (per side). They sell all other parts for the brakes (including exchange calipers) - a useful place to know - I've used them many times - always excellent products and service (usual disclaimer!)