I just got 2 rear calipers for my 03 from Advance Auto Parts. I noticed that the piston that comes out of the replacements has a hollow cylinder unlike the rear OEM caliper that has the solid cylinder with indentions around the outside that twists back in.

Is this normal or did I get the wrong one? I would prefer this type because like the front, it would be easier to depress the piston back in to the caliper.

Thanks,
Matt

 

If it fits just as the old one, I'd use it. I hate the solid cylinder with the indents, you have to twist the cylinder to push it back into the housing which is a bad design and why so many of our rear calipers seize. The front calipers are just as you describe - hollow and can be pushed back with a clamp.

 

Agreed, I really dont like the rear caliper design.

 

The piston is part of the parking brake, it's mechanically operated inside. I can't imagine how it could work with a hollow piston.

 

Go look at your front calipers. They are that design with the hollow piston.

 

Yes, they are just like the front and I like that. I was just making sure it was a correct replacement since it is different from the OEM rear design. I plan on doing the work this evening, so I presume Ill have a better idea after taking a closer look.

 

+1
the front calipers are tied into the parking brake?? , i dont think so please elaborate
keep us posted if they work or not, not sure they will

i replaced rear calipers 3 times and the were all the PITA kind where u need a caliper compresser tool, or awkward time with a c-clamp.

 

Wait..what?

A hollow piston on a caliper has nothing to do with a parking brake. Again..go look at front calipers, the pistons are hollow. Same design with the aftermarket the OP was asking about. A picture is below in case that helps.

 

So I stopped by Advance Auto before trying the calipers out on my car. I found out the calipers I got were for the 6th gen - the build date on my 2003 is May of 2002 and I bought calipers for an 03, which were actually for the 04+ because of the 2003 build date. So I returned them and ordered the correct ones. Hopefully they work correctly and don't leak. Ive read some negative reviews about reman'd calipers.

 

i rebuilt the front calipers, no one said they werent hollow, but the back are not, maybe your wording was confusing. the end of the day the op had the wrong calipers.

thats what I thought, glad u didnt waste ur time opening them up and attempting the install
its just our design of calipers, parking brakes incorporated into them make then vulnerable to easy failure w water and seizing. other makes had this design also and they had similar complaints.

 

After swapping out for the correct calipers, the install went smoothly. Pretty dirty brake fluid came out when I bled the brakes afterwards. After driving on them, they seem to be working - kind of.

My ebrake is now super easy to pull - like there is no resistance when pulling it up. After parking on an incline, I found out it also is not working. I checked the cables and they are connected to the caliper and I tightened the nut on the ebrake handle. Tightening the nut helped a little, its harder to pull now, but it still doesnt apply enough pressure onto the caliper to hold the car.

Any thoughts?

 

Took a look at the rear calipers last night. Everything was connected correctly. The ebrake mechanism on one of them isnt working. The other one is holding strong. So Im going to swap out the bad reman'd one with a replacement from advanced.