There is no shortage of KZfaq videos that demonstrate how to rebuild a disk brake caliper. Most of them skip over the part that involves installing the dust boot because that would extend the video by a couple of hours and demonstrate just how little they actually understand about how to do this properly. Most of those videos contain one or more viewer comments that describe the technique of using low pressure shop air to help seat the boot. Rarely are those comments ever detailed enough to help someone visualize exactly how this is accomplished. This video however does an exceptional job of demonstrating this process and thus turning what would otherwise be a very difficult job in to one that just about anyone can do. This is a very well done video. Thank you very much for making and posting it.

It’s no wonder back street dealers hate you tube when you’ve got a guy like this showing you how easy it is.great stuff mate.

By far the best caliper refurb video on youtube...pure genius

On my BMW X5, We moved the piston out with the brake pedal before removing caliper, stopped it with a block of wood. THIS IS A GOOD VIDEO.

Man oh Man This is by Far the best Caliper rebuild video i have ever seen, i have just bought new calipers for my ford escape, wish i had seen this video before.

dude the trick with the foot pump is genius! I've been screaming at my stupid caliper for an hour now struggling to get the bloody thing back together, thanks :)

Fantastic! Blowing out the seal with compressed air is genius! Not even the Civic repair manual suggested this. All other instructions & videos I saw about getting the seal installed were hit & miss affairs, I will surely do it this way. I am in the process of rebuilding my Civic '95 front brakes & I will do it this way. Thanks for the genius trick.

Just rebuilt an old subaru caliper using this as reference. The valve stem + footpump to get the dust boot over the piston was a particularly good tip! I´m just a "youtube mechanic" and this repair was super easy following these instructions. Thanks!

This is the first video on this I found that shows a great way of getting the seal back right. Just put it in before the piston, then put the piston in and block it, and pump the seal back out with air, genius! I did this job myself for the first time yesterday and I really struggled with that seal. Now I know what to do next time. Thanks! 🙂👍🏻

Best video for replacing piston and specialty insert seals, too man

IT WORKED. Your method for seating the piston boot(s). Tried 3 other ways that failed. Yours took less than 2 minutes. Recap. Fit boot onto base of piston. With cylinder end of boot extending past piston. Leaves room to squeeze the boot. Grease the cylinder to accept the boot. ANGLE the Boot and piston in so most of the boot is in the cylinder grove. GENTLY work the rest of the boot into the grove with screwdriver. Went easy with all that grease and no piston to block the boot. THEN seat the piston into the cylinder. Press piston all the way in. Listen for the boot to drop into the piston grove. AWESOME. Thank you, Mitch

ive seen many tricks on how to install the rubber..well you got the most easy and the better work sir,tq very much

Wow, after trying a different method for 3 hours I found your video. I just finished my caliper paint and rebuild on my 06 S2000. Thank you so much!!!

Explanation and presentation is so clear well arranged. I as a layman do appreciate your effort.

Great trick there with the pump blowing the dust boot over the piston. Thanks for sharing.

Excellent video, thank you. I like that you did it with very basic tools. At 67 and a lifetime of DIY on cars, I learned from your lesson.

These are the precious secrets you cannot find in a book...The foot pump,the tyre valve,boot in first..Wonderful wonderful stuff! Dying to try it all out...Anybody with a seized caliper piston ??

this is exactly what i was looking for. google is so smart that it reads my mind & put it in front of me. excellent demo.

Great technique using the valve stem. I will be using it now. Thanks!! For those that may question why rebuild? In my case a caliper rebuild kit without piston (my piston is not pitted ok to use) is $4.99. A Wearever Remanufactured Friction Choice Brake Calipers are between $65.99 --$73.99. And you still have to remove & replace it. Also if you are driving that particular vehicle to parts store you have to lay out an additional ( but refundable ) core charge of $75.00 and go back for the refund.

That's a crafty approach with the foot pump! Well done video and very helpful on doing the brakes. Considering myself fortunate to have found your guide.Thanks.

Pumping out the cylinder sleeve is epic! I put the cylinder in the sleeve in a way that I can still put in the outer lip, but that way I can't make sure it fits perfectly as you did...nice

Just wanted to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I managed to test my caliper using the technique your shown on the video, Highly appreciate your help on this.... :)

wow man!!! now i can rebuilt my caliper!! you saved me a LOTS of money thanks so much!!!!

I ended up popping the piston out last night while changing brakes and wish I would have seen this last night. Going to try it out now! Thanks for the video!

thanks for taking the time to do this. we are learning from your life experience. thanking jesus as well, for you!

Thanks for sharing. Brilliant advice on getting the boot onto the piston with compressed air. Worked like a charm.

Thanks! Nice to see a tutorial with basic tools and usefull tips to do this kind of a fiddly job. The valve trick is something I definitely want to give it a go.

Just used your air pressure method using a bike hand pump. Worked like a charm after struggling with the other methods.

Nice idea with the foot pump swelling the seal...I love it.

excellent video ,and great skill in putting the dust boot and piston in to the bore. Thanks!!

Nice tricks i am 52 and learned something today.

Thank you for putting together and posting this video. It was nicely filmed and, as an engineer, I can say that your method was very well explained and technically sound/logical. I was fairly certain I could sort it out on my own but having your tips and techniques in mind allowed the job go far more quickly and easily (and without some potential pitfalls) that it likely would have otherwise. In short, it allowed me to rebuild the calipers for my wife's car and saved us several hundred dollars in new parts that were really quite unnecessary and I had fun doing it! Thanks again and I'd encourage your to post more videos like this one that so many folks can learn and benefit from.

Excellent! The two who left a thumbs down must have been a dealer service who didn't make an easy buck!!!

Managed to do the overhaul today, worked like a charm! Specialized lubrication paste for hydraulic braking parts, helped a lot also.

Wonderful job! Thank you :-) I had no idea how to get the rubber boot back on until I saw this. Much easier just to remove the piston and follow your method.

Thank you for creating this video. It's very detailed, giving me exactly what i need to rebuild mine.

Top Video. Quality job. Thanks for saving us the research and trouble.

I just wanted to thank you sir for that dust boot trick you used, it saved me a lot of work, clean and fast, never thought of that. Thank you again, I'll keep an eye on you, for sure I will learn something new :)

Great Video! Well done!! I had answers for all I needed in one video! May God bless you! Thank you very much!

Thank you sir! Don't listen to the no smile comments. It's who you are--and no one will mess with you as it's intimidating. I pushed the piston out directly with a 10 mm dia. wood dowel thinking I was short-circuiting the need for compressed air and the jerry-rigged valve. Imagine my chagrin when I saw the compressed air used again for advancing the seal/boot! Now I'm thinking of replacing the caliper altogether as I've not yet purchased the rebuild kit.

Hi, I'm doing caliper rebuild, ant search your video. Finally I successfully did it your style inserting caliper rubber boot by pumping it..much easier and safe time :) Thanks again for sharing

Thank you! I'm doing this on my boat trailer today. This was perfect!

Very Nice...especially the piston re-install steps..pretty slick. Thanks...

Like your idea of using a tyre valve. Genius.

Tak toto je parádny tutoriál, perfektné!!! Thanks

Your videos about the brake overhaul are really helpful! Nice tricks & perfect vids, keep up the good work! Greetings from Hungary!

If you have a sand blasting booth you can add to this job a rust removal and a paint job on the callipers, then you get virtually NEW callipers, did this on my land cruiser and they work great!

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. I found it very helpful. Cheers.

How you used air to put the boot onto the piston was like an epiphany to me. Thanks so much.

Thanks v much for the great tips. And all with such simple and economic tools...and no BS! Am about to try a 4 piston Landcruiser rebuild. Greetings from SW Australia!

i know how to rebuild them but i learned something new today that makes the job easier thank you keep on trucking....

Thank you x1000. I was ready to smash a window trying to fit the dust seal into place but then I tried your method of blowing the dust boot out. Used an air compressor instead. Trying to squeeze the dust seal in the caliper groove with a screwdriver is tighter than a nun! This job is almost impossible without an air compressor (or pressure system) of some sort. Liked and subbed!!

Very well done video, thanks for taking the time to film it and upload it! Cheers

I like the shredder valve idea

My Hero!!!! Thanks a million , You have made my day. Excellent!! Whizzkass

probably going to be using this when I get around to doing mine. Thanks for the vid mate

great video, i am doing my isuzu trooper calipers, and watching all the tips has been a great help. thank you

Thanks for the video, it's nice work, great tips for inserting de seal using the hand pump.

Appreciate the vid. Ur valve stem trick saved 3 of my caliper pistons!..Sadly i didnt search for this until after sacrificing my first one

Thanks for the vid brother you saved my ass today putting the pistons back in the caliper because I was lost!

thanks backstreet mr. mechanic. leaving that rust in the groove is a job wrecker - darn motorcycle dealers i think dont even bother stocking the repair parts, they just add up new calipers. a crying shame. well done hombre.

Great job, many thanks for the tutorial. Renzo Italy.

On my first attempt the seal split when pushing it out with the air. I don't know why. I had two and on the second go everything was perfect. Thank you for making this easy.

This was great: easy to follow and to understand. I’ll be using your help on a Honda Stepwagon (similar calipers) this coming weekend.

I like your technique putting the rubber boots first then piston with a pressure. I have a trouble putting it. I use to use other technique by putting the rubber boot to piston then fit in the caliper. Sometimes lucky takes a few minutes.. sometimes takes an hour :) Thanks for the nice tips and please make a smile to a camera (scaring me Lol)

Great video, I was stuck at the part ref, getting the rubber boot on, but your foot pump tip is a great idea.

The "slightly rougher" - but equally effective - way to get the piston out is to stick a metal rod that fits through the hose-hole loosely, in - caliper in a vise - and give it a whack with a hammer. That works when the piston is genuinely stuck solid & no amount of air will budge it - it will hammer out easily. If you (cough) don't have a new seal to hand, you can let the old seal sit in some atf for a few minutes - ATF contains good stuff for seals, the seal will emerge newly flexible, not swollen & nice & supple. Give it a good clean with tissue & she's good to go. Usually the groove the seal & dust boot sit into will be mangy, the piston will be mangy but the caliper itself will be pretty mint inside(grooves aside). You can give the piston a good twirl inside some sandpaper & it usually comes up clean as a whistle & clean the grooves as well - they need to be spotless.. You can then re-assemble the lot, it will still be tight as factory, it will function perfectly for years more & you don't have to go shopping.. Also, if you have rust building up in your calipers, your fluids no good - it's absorbed water. Clean fluid does not allow rust to develop, water in the fluid does - so drain ALL the fluid & start again with fresh. One of them vacuum oil-suckers is the best brake bleeder ever invented - use a bit of rubber hose on the end of the hard sucker hose, pop it over the nipple & let it suck - no dicking about pedaliing pedals, no helper required & it will bleed the hardest to bleed system going in 5 minutes flat. Fellow Paddy btw.. enjoyed the vid.. :-)

Brilliant video!! Really good demo and full of great tips. Thank you so much, please keep up you good work, awesome.

Nice presentation, however, I find the alternative way to push the piston in order to replace the new seal kit and so on. Leave the caliper on the car by using wire to hold it, then put the strong plastic bag to hold caliper or using a rug under caliper to catch brake fluid. Then you can slowly push the brake padel and watch the piston come out slow and stop brake padel. For these people who don't have special tools, this way is easy to see piston come out. When you push the brake panel, you have to be patience. After installing the rebuild caliper, you have to bleed brakes.

great video mate you have some great little tricks that i wouldnt have thought of simple tricks but great ones thanks

You did a great job. Thank you for making this Video.

Mate.....thank a bunch for this video. Beautifully done.

clever process, excellent outcome. Thanks!

I have been struggling with similar brake seal. This tyre pump trick is brilliant .. I’ll try this tomorrow ... thanks for a great And helpful vid.

Thanks for the simple but useful information !!!

Excellent work and illustrated

Good process. Clever use of air pump and valve stem. Good that you used new piston. Suggestion: To ease removal of rust from seal groves use Naval Jelly. If rust is light and you have time you can use 50/50 water/white vinegar and soak overnight. Naval jelly is faster and better though. It will not harm the critical surfaces.

Thanks, my friend, your tutorial helped me a lot.

You are the Man! Thanks Brother not to many good detail videos out there..

Excellent thanks for your detailed instructions!

Excellent video! Really helpful! Thank you 👍

Thanks for the insights. Loved the walk through.

Car on stands doing the same job... excellent tutorials. many thanks.😉

Excellent video. Thank you so much for doing this.

I'm doing this right now and its a pain, thanks for the tip. I was on the way quitting... the f*cking rubber wont move. Great info, many thanks man!

Beautifully done.

Well done young sir!

Excellent work, thank you very much.

Thank you sir for sharing great ideas with us.

Great video, most helpful. Thanks!

You sir are the man :) i was struggling putting the rubber seal on the piston, because on the japanese cars the seal is hold by a metal ring hence you cannot put the seal while moving the piston inside. You should put the seal first and then somehow snug the piston in, however some seals have very small center holes, so its crazy hard to do :) but using air to do this seems to make it an easy job.

Sir that was a fantastic valve idea and job , thank you for the informative video..

Very straightforward, thank you!

Amigo Buen trabajo buen vídeo el mejor que he visto sobre el caliper gracias por ponerlo en youtube Saludos.

Thank you for this video, it was very helpful!

Great video man.... you should post some more..... 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

I learned some things today. thanks!!!

WOW. When the video started I thought Bruce Willis will be fixing calipers :)

thank you for the tip never would have thought to use a valve stem. i didnt know this was how to get the rubber boot back together i got to this point and was puzzled everything was already apart...lol

best explaned video ever many thanks for taking the time to do it