Thread: Brake Caliper Pistons

I wouldnt bother for 2 reasons

1. you could easily turn up the SS pistons at a fraction of the cost.
2. if the piston wont rust because its stainless then the cylinder will anyway and you're back to square one with either slow pistons or leaks.

I just put stainless pistons in my front calipers. The piston bores were fine and the caliper itself wasn't that corroded. I drive and camp on the beach a lot, so it was the only choice. Once the pistons corrode, and you go to change pads, pushing the pistons back into the bore, the corroded piston surface rips up the seals, causing leaks. I'm hoping this won't happen with the stainless pistons. Just have to do the rears now. Does anyone know if the rear pistons are the same size as the fronts on a 02 Defender?

Jono

I just replaced the pistons in my rear brake calipers as one was siezed. For a 2002 defender, the piston is the same size as the front 46mm x 31mm. For what it is worth, the Britpart kit is rubbish. The pistons are OK, but the seals don't fit. I got two to fit, by pressing them in, which they advise against. The other two I just used the old seals. So now I am ordering the stainless pistons and the OEM seals from UK, as Australian suppliers want to rip my arms off!!!!

Cheers

Jono

Steve, I went for stainless for a couple reasons. #1 ease of buying: It is easier for me to buy parts from one place and pay for shipping once. Going by what they had available I went s/s because IMO I couldnt be sure of how good the chrome plating would be on the non-genuine pistons. #2 price: For the cost of a full set of s/s pistons with seals (EAC brand) to do my entire 110 (12 pistons) and also getting genuine LR seal kits, I figured it was worth that combo and still cheaper than buying kits in Oz. Dont even bother pricing genuine LR from your dealer. (I already did )

BTW Dave, let me know when youve finished turning up your S/S brake pistons.....good luck with that

I did the full set in stainless 4 or so years ago after only getting 12 months out of replacement steel ones, yes i do a lot of beach and scrub and try to clean as much as possible. Havent had an issue since fitting stainless. I to purchased from the UK[still waiting on zeus engineering to get back to me with a price!]

Originally Posted by redrovertdi

I did the full set in stainless 4 or so years ago after only getting 12 months out of replacement steel ones, yes i do a lot of beach and scrub and try to clean as much as possible. Havent had an issue since fitting stainless. I to purchased from the UK[still waiting on zeus engineering to get back to me with a price!]

Regarding the steel replacements you used, were they genuine LR replacement pistons? Im guessing not. At another guess, id say the genuine LR pistons are ok, but will be alot more $$$ than good quality EAC stainless steel.........

They were purchased from MR[and this is not a complaint against them or the product, if i had known how long they would last i would have tried to source stainless earlier/from them at the time], they just didnt last but i was doing a lot of beach work, it makes sense to go stainless in this application for what my car does.
Richard

Gotta get onto them rear calipers... leaky leaky
anyways- shear laziness here.
Would anyone care to share links for SS pistons and seals from UK
pm if you prefer

S