What happened to brake caliper repair kits

[TallPaul]

matt 2LT said:

i got some from brakeparts.co.uk for my kitcar (sierra calipers) and i think they were 7 quid a corner.

I've used them too, very good and seem to have repair kits for virtually every car.

[thinfourth2]

Aww rollocks

Thats the other side siezed

Turned up to work with a nice blue brakes discs and my own cloud of smoke

So off to brakeparts.co.uk

[Piersman2]

I've just this wekeend replaced to rear calipers on my 2000 Range Rover.

I got the calipers from a mate who happens to be the manager of a local car parts warehouse, basically £48 each exchange basis. Pads £15.

I asked him about caliper repair kits, his said that they stopped selling them a while back as customers said they were too "fiddly" and preferred to just swap out the calipers.

So you can probably put it down to garages not being bothered enough to "fiddle" around with kits when they can just swap out a caliper in 10 mins flat. And with labour rates the way they are you can't really argue with the economic justification in that. Cheaper to buy re-furbs than pay a grease monkey an hours labour to dick around with repair kits.

Problem is that doesn't help people who want to save a few quid and have the time and inclination to play around with repair kits.

[empty750]

I thought caliper rebuild kits were a thing of the past. Like others have said on here it's an example of this throwaway 'green' society we live in. I notice scrap yards are getting few a far between now too. Thanks to this thread i tried www.biggred.co.uk. Really good to deal with and had what i wanted. A couple of old mk3 golf gti rear caliper rebuild kits and 2 x dust shields for a civic type r all for ££33 inc vat. Sorted. I would highly recommend them.

[OldDuffer]

Bigg Red might have been cheap, but are very dear now. Almost always the priciest place to buy. Usually double. Go there if you can't get what you want anywhere else, but AutoFren or Frenkit are always far cheaper, with a far wider range, and supply them anyway. If you've any a bit off-the-beaten, definitley Frenkit.

Wanted £46 a corner for my Santana Spec Land Rover

Edited by OldDuffer on Sunday 13th May 12:13

[harrycovert]

I have a similar problem .Want to replace the just seals in a Girling Mk 2b servo
Options are exchange replacement £450, Repair kit sp2228 £140.
Had the car 40 years done it several times only need to replace the 5 tiny seals
A lot of expense for a few bits