Getting stubborn drift pins to flush (or sunk)

[donkmeister]

Bit of a novice, borderline stupid question...

I've drifted my fair share of calliper pins over the years and never had any issue with getting them out or replacing them. I like to replace with new where possible; they're generally cheap so why not.

Today, I was replacing brakes on a Mercedes and found the new pins came up short after I gently pushed them home with some water pump pliers (ETA not tapping them in... I said tapping previously, I'm tired ). I pushed them back out, and had a dig around the holes to make sure there wasn't some debris, and compared with the old ones the pins were the right length. So, back in they went. Still short. I pushed one back out, reversed it and found the head would go into the hole just fine.

Due to wires, sensors etc I couldn't directly hit the pins. I then found every drift I own was too long to go behind the calliper and leave room to swing a hammer. So I ended up using a short 3/8 socket extension as a chunky drift. and a few taps from a clubhammer had it fully seated. Did that with the other 3 and all appears well.

Clearly that isn't best practice! Do I just need shorter drifts or is there a more eloquent solution to getting pins in properly?

Edited by donkmeister on Saturday 4th September 20:01

[mudster]

Can you unbolt the caliper, turn it round on the flexi, put caliper over the disc and tap the pins in from the front?

[23.7]

Are you sure the pins are right?

I've had a fitting kit from ECP for my merc that just didn't.

[donkmeister]

mudster said:

Can you unbolt the caliper, turn it round on the flexi, put caliper over the disc and tap the pins in from the front?

Probably not - there's not a lot of movement in the calliper even with the pads and disc off the car, so with disc and pads fitted it would be unlikely.