The Secret for Caliper Piston Dust Seal Installation

Just a quick tip video on how to install dust boots on your brake caliper. Seems like nobody has any good information on this. This is a G60 VW upgrade but is relevant for most brake calipers out there.

[@NaturalEye.Pro1]

4 years later and this is the ONLY VIDEO ONLINE that shows this! Thank you so much for making this video!! You saved my life with this! I spent 2 hours trying to get this fixed on my own. Was just about to buy a new one and take it to the shop and then saw your video at the last second and had it fixed in 15 minutes. Again, thank you for making this video!!

[@donscott6720]

what lube are you using

[@markleeming1786]

I have been trying for an hour, maybe a headache does not help, now I have seen this video I know I am on the right track.

[@christophermccann1753]

I just love that this video is short and too the point and not dragged into a 20 minute video that talk about the weather or history of the car etc thanks mate

[@kingmonkey88]

I used this method. Once one part of the seal is seated. I used a wooden lollipop stick to go round and push the rest of the seal. Also once the seal has been tucked under into it's groove, I turn the piston and seal 360 degrees to make sure it's properly seated before pushing the piston in. If the seal is not properly seated then it will pop out when you turn it.

[@aretee3]

I was going crazy trying to figure this out. Must have spent over an hour, no results. Tried your formula and bingo! Thank you very much!!!

[@ip5232]

Hey man thank you for showing this and not wasting time with pointless comments or footage! Straight to the point and very self explanatory , like many, wish I would find it before!👍

[@ducatislag9910]

I was laughing a crying at the same time with how simple this is after struggling with mine for the last 90 minutes and resorting to the interwebs. Cheers Andrew!!

[@hardtopte72]

Man I struggled forever to do the caliper on my 92 Cressida. Used your trick and had it in 5 seconds. You are the man!!!!

[@hardtopte72]

@19771JAWS He: 1. Installed the seal onto the piston. 2. Pushed the seal down so the portion of the seal which seats into the caliper was not expanded by the piston. 3. Installed the seal seat portion into the caliper. 4. Pushed the piston through the remainder of the seal, seating the piston itself in the inner part of the seal. This is not common enough knowledge and was way easier than what most people try by installing the seal into the caliper and attempting to squeeze the piston through it.

[@woodbyron]

Great tip. I spent an hour trying to get that seal in on my Jeep. I knew there had to be a trick. Watched your video and got it in no problem. Thanks for posting.

[@MrBanacek]

Thank you Andrew for your great video. I tore the dust seal from a new set after playing hell trying to get it fitted properly. After viewing this video, it went on easily. Thank you again for taking the time to post on subject matter not out there, and helping your fellow DIY mechanic

[@geoffobrien1300]

Life saving, to the point and an amazing tip that is hardly shared elsewhere as you mentioned.. thanks !!

[@Chuyelamazingoh]

You sir are a life saver! Even tho my seal was much smaller and shorter than yours this trick still worked

[@recklessdrivinginsingapore]

I was fiddling with my piston rubber boot for well over an hour - and then, KZbin led me to your video. THANK YOU SIR! You are a LIFESAVER!

[@06stiguy63]

Awesome tip! None of the other caliper rebuild video's had a good/easy way of doing it. It's great that you can avoid any risk because there's no tools involved.

[@redbeak1453]

The best demonstration of all the you tubes channels. Worked on my Volvo 850 perfectly!! I tried pushing the piston in half way and then trying to push the seal in place with a blunt plastic handle. That didn't work. Your way is the best. Thank you.

[@michaelguzzi1]

No BS video, straight to the point 👌 Thank you very much!

[@impulse922]

Thank you! I was about to lose my mind trying the old air compressor method.

[@rumham8499]

Appreciate you taking the time to post this, tore my boot cleaning the rust off the last caliper and wasn’t happy about having to remove it from the brake line and replace the boot.

[@daveysmithRSA]

this was a great tip thank you... after ruining 2 boots trying to fit them on my Suzuki Grand Vitara I found this video... First seal took 15 minutes, second 5 minutes... replaced with calipers still on the vehicle. Hugely helpful thank you!

[@Marc_B.]

Awesome, I've been wanting to do that without removing the pistons, and brake bleeding, etc.!!

[@chilafouxtravis]

FINALLY!! TYVM!! There is 100 people asking the question but they all ASSUME the person is talking about how to push the piston back in while changing new brakes. When they really mean exactly what your video shows. Bravo!! Thanks

[@d1o2n4]

The caliper pistons have been sitting on the bench with everything ready to go for a few weeks. This one stumped me a bit. Cheers Edit: the seal is not as long as the one on the video so slips off easier. Will keep trying!

[@geoff6454]

Excellent video. Pretty easy, just make sure it’s all in and then push the piston in square. It’s sort of common sense but when you’re frustrated and everything is slippy, I’m not sure many of us would come up with this technique. We’d all just keep trying to stuff it in. Thank you.

[@kwitwerikok8o863]

You're right about getting the piston square. The first time I tried, and it knocked the inner seal to the back of the bore.

[@dartology]

Absolute legend Andrew. Thank you for your helpful tip. It saved my brake refurb job.

[@flycorvus]

I love these kind of videos. The point of KZbin. Thank you, Andrew!

[@luiscifuentes5245]

I know the video is 3 years old, but it was a blessing for me today. I used this trick to put the dust seal on a brake piston for a Suzuki GN250. Thank you!

[@andrewlewis4253]

Whoa, I owned a GN250 20 years ago!

[@lukeqstafford]

man i was banging my head against a wall for half an hour trying to get that boot on -- THANK YOU. it still took me another 10 minutes to get it seated properly ('13 Elantra) but I never would have got it without this tip.

[@stuspencer3687]

This method worked perfectly when I rebuilt the front calipers on my 280ZX. Thanks for the great video.

[@user-pm9ti7gp7o]

Fantastic. Excellent video. I changed one thing. I held the seal in place with a cable tie instead of using a slippery greasy hand. Well done that man. Saves so much effort and time

[@racerxr2]

Nice one for this tip, managed to get one in with the piston in the caliper but the other one wasn't having any of it. Pulled it back out and used this trick and it worked perfectly!

[@neileveritt7132]

I have been struggling with this all day . Thank you mate well done I will give this a go.

[@bigstrsusk]

Give this man a medal! Doing it this way, this was a LOT easier than I expected

[@geordiemoody3341]

Oh my god that was so much Easier than anything I tried, this has helped me so much and saved a seal thanks mate

[@jayheffelfinger3237]

You are a genius! Thank you for making a video that actually is helpful. All other videos on KZbin are inferior. Thanks again.

[@andrewlewis4253]

I'm stoked this vid is helping people.

[@abiniz]

Thank you for the video buddy! It helped ease the pain of installing the seal :) Much appreciated

[@dejv1111]

Děkuji Vám! Přesně toto jsem hledal!!! Jste snad jediný z anglicky mluvících, který to ukazuje. Ještě jsem neprohledal rusky mluvící mechaniky, ti jsou také šikovní, ale jsem rád, že jsem narazil na Vás! Rychlé a bez keců. Dobrá práce!😊🎉

[@grassyfieldz4578]

Great tip I got someone to hold the piston slightly in the air while i got the seal in place worked perfectly.

[@gamer78full]

Yes!!! Really nice tip, saved me from a really bad headache.

[@michaelbray6010]

This saved me from a nightmare! Thanks - it worked so easily. The only trouble I had was that the seal wanted to pop back out in the hardest to reach spot. I found that holding the caliper body so that the piston was vertical helped to see that the seal was seated ALL the way around. Do not push that piston in if there is any hint of the dust boot not being sealed all the way around.

[@bobl1636]

Worked great on a 1975 harley front disk, extremely fast install....thanks

[@kucingrockmix9716]

Subscribed!. Im stuck for few hour replacing that dust seal. When i watch this video, it only took 4 minute to install it. Tq very much for this tutorial..

[@tkatnokia95]

I damaged a new seal boot before I figured out this same method. Only in my case the parts were much more used and rusty. I used old piston, new piston seal and old dust seal but they all mixed nicely. Thanks for the video.

[@mikeingraham611]

You saved me from going absolutely nuts!!! Thank you

[@Olive-oilien]

Amazing! This just simplified the most vexing part of rebuilding calipers. Thank you!!

[@steviefresh4602]

Thanks man. Just scored a set of dual piston calipers for my sn95 Mustang, which will be a solid upgrade compared to stock single piston, but came with torn boots. Scouring the internet for tips on replacing it. Glad I found this vid. I'll be getting to it asap now

[@andrewlewis4253]

Sweet. Let us know how it goes.

[@user-dq5pk6km6r]

Thank you Andrew! You're a life saver! A real Prince!

[@stevehelm9965]

Excellent tip! Worked like charm. This trick is not in the Subaru maintenance manual. Fast and safe for the seal.

[@stevenlee9064]

Hey Andrew. I did my first brake rebuild and found your way to be very effective. The hardest part of my rebuild was getting the second piston out. Thank you.

[@Mechanicalcircus]

steven lee air compressor it’ll shoot that thing out like a rocket 👍🏻

[@duncanrock2249]

@@Mechanicalcircus and keep fingers in front of the piston when blowing out.lol

[@edwardtinoko618]

I put the other piston back in without the seals to block air leak to allow other piston to pop out.

[@oldchev2850]

You can put a piece of timber between the pistons and the caliper. One piston will always come out easier but when it hits the timber, the other piston will get all the pressure and it will catch up. Just reduce the size of the timber until they are virtually out that you can just pull them out by hand. This is on a bench with an air hose duster in the inlet. Sometimes pistons can be really corroded and jammed. In this case air pressure won’t cut it and you’ll have to use the hydraulic pressure of the vehicle. Use the timber idea and definitely keep fingers away. Air pressure behind the pistons will hurt your fingers but hydraulic pressure will crush them. When they’re nearly out, remove the caliper from the car, drain as much brake fluid as you can and use the air method to finish.

[@al8023]

Thanks for this great tip! I can attest that this method works better and faster than trying to force the boot in with a tool or screwdriver. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@andrewlewis4253]

Glad to be of service.

[@kentmorgan7742]

Thank you, so much, saved my sanity after two hours fighting - scared of piercing the boot - but thanks to you, it's now seated. Thanks

[@andrewlewis4253]

We're all going to be boot experts soon. This little video is getting alot of traction. I hope nobody every damages a boot ever again, then my job here is done.

[@kentmorgan7742]

Pretty sure I will have more challenges for you - every time I approach a car with spanner in hand, it's an experiment.

[@Lemuis]

You sir, deserve an award! Worked on a BMW E46. Thanks!

[@andrewlewis4253]

Cookies!

[@Uross73]

I used to destroy at least 2sets of dust seals each time doing this. It helped big time. Thanks!

[@andrewlewis4253]

Ha ha! Saving money and frustration. That's what youtube was supposed to be made for. Very glad you were helped by this.

[@bwhip]

Of course, I found this video after I rebuilt my caliper.

[@texaskidzuk]

Me too !!!😑

[@andreihogea3254]

Same

[@azizii614]

Lucky me, just disassembled my caliper.

[@raftonpounder6696]

And I used a vice to squeeze my piston in! I have probably wrecked it.

[@mattcm32]

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!! This pro tip just improved the rest of my afternoon significantly!!

[@xplore7359]

Legend! Been probably 10 years since I rebuilt calipers and I was struggling with this!

[@metalhalide4043]

Great Job!!, one of the rare videos showing the correct assembly grease for caliper piston installation. Most are advising to use brake fluid on here which is "100% incorrect" and will have a very difficult time to get the piston past the pressure seal.

[@andrewlewis4253]

Sil-glyde for the win on EVERYTHING

[@laineyfarr9295]

I’m gonna have to pick some of this up. I got one front caliper rebuild, was a total pita using brake fluid. Hopefully my other one will go faster.

[@metalhalide4043]

@@laineyfarr9295 Never use brake fluid for assembly, piston should go into bore with hand pressure only with correct assembly grease/fluid..

[@jjs211u]

Great tip, so easy and works like a charm.

[@paulknowles9727]

Thanks so much for the vid. I've just been trying to do this on my 2005 fiat ducato double piston caliper. I did actually try this method before I found the vid, but then thoughts I'd check to see if there was a method. After seeing the vid it convinced me to give it another go and Viola. It worked. :D

[@zachmiller9175]

Oh man I love you I'm over here with 2 picks losing my mind thank you

[@JayKay-ht8rg]

zach miller lol!! I know THAT feeling.

[@andrewlewis4253]

I'm so very glad this helped you and all these other people chiming-in.

[@cr2fabrication]

Dude! Best tip ever!!! The real tip is how you push the seal on so it stretches. Thanks, you're awesome!

[@andrewlewis4253]

Its the little things that'll get ya.

[@mst3kpimp]

oh ya took me 3 trys but this worked on my altima, thanks dude

[@jptrainor]

Indeed, for this style of boot this is the only way the boot will go in because the piston holds the boot in the groove. The boot has to be seated in the groove before inserting the piston, and the boot will only come out of the groove if the piston is removed. If you try to insert the piston first, and then install the boot it simply will not fit. As I found out, today, while struggling to install the boot on rear brake caliper that used a similar boot design. A mid repair coffee break, and this video, saved me from continued frustration and hours of futile fiddling. Thanks!

[@levihendo]

was trying with air compressor, thought must be a better way! Here it is! Legend 👌

[@georgeselley9162]

Tried it. Works like a charm. Thanks.

[@indielol8914]

Thanks for the upload! Need to reseat mine and that tip is def better than using a flathead like some others have recommended 😅

[@kawakebs]

Thank you soooooooooo much for your video. You just saved me hours and hours of utter frustration.

[@ThePwak007]

I've been struggling for days trying to get the lip of the seal into the groove of the caliper! I'm going to try this method today and I'll be back with results!

[@teezjoint2]

Short and straight to the point. Really helped me. Thank you

[@alexanderpittman3849]

Easily the best and most concise video of this on youtube 👍🏻 top notch

[@koolad2617]

Thanks for this tip bro, the best one I've seen so far.... Can you do one for the rear caliper, that would be great

[@andrewlewis4253]

Kool A!D Rears are the same. I replaced mine with brand new MK4 aluminum calipers so no rebuild required. I've been thinking of doing quick tips for all kinds of VW stuff.

[@ilonakajava234]

Thanks. I have not tried this job in a very long time. I will try out your method and report back here.

[@ilonakajava234]

Thanks again! I easily completed this job. On my bosch calipers there is no way I would have installed the dust seal without your tip. There is totally no way it would go in the groove with the piston in place.

[@alporroing]

Dude freeking fantastic. Been fighting a dana on a e350 and thought of YT and here you are

[@nbpt1000]

I have been researching this and you have found and shown the best way to do it. It takes effort to make a video and keep it brief and to the point. I appreciate that. Thanks! As a side note all I have read says to lubricate with brake fluid. Silicone grease should not come in contact with the brake fluid. Not sure exactly why but several sources clearly say not to use it.

[@andrewlewis4253]

There shouldn't be any silicone lube in contact with brake fluid, its all on the outside of the pressure chamber. Residual will be just fine. Been doing this for a while and never had an issue. Do NOT use brake fluid and don't let brake fluid touch your dust seals!!!

[@jamesbryan88]

Use Castrol red rubber grease for the inner seal, it's ok to use with brake fluid as it breaks down to mix with the fluid without issues.

[@andrewlewis4253]

@@jamesbryan88 Good find. That appears to be a vegetable oil-based lube with some bentonite mixed in. Looks like a good alternative to Sil-Glyde. Really any lube that isn't petroleum-based should work fine. It really blows me away that people still think brake fluid is a good lubricant! Not only does it attack rubber (aggressively depending on the type) but it is not designed to lubricate. For those folks out there who think it's a good idea to lubricate rubber or EPDM with brake fluid, I say DO IT and let us know how that shit works out for you.

[@jamesbryan88]

@@andrewlewis4253 Yeah brake fluid really is a poor lubricant!

[@kernowforester2349]

Boot or weather seal rather than main seal. I used the same method by trial and error. It took a bit of fiddling to get the boot seal in, but got there.

[@jsnyara]

This trick worked great for me. Thanks buddy!

[@andrewlewis4253]

firebirdjimbo Sweet

[@supot707]

you make the most difficult part turns into the easy part, Thank you.

[@Dnasty1]

Dude I dunno why it didn’t occur to me to slide it own the piston. Good job very smart bravo.

[@st.michaelthearchangel7774]

Going to try this right now. Thank you!

[@HyoomanBean]

Many thanks. Excellent useful advice.

[@superLostspartan]

You make it look so easy.

[@senpairojo9079]

Thank you so much for this it works great. Sadly only discovered after a trip to the hospital after getting a screwdriver loged far into my hand

[@jacobbanner9200]

Hope you're healing up well dude!

[@senpairojo9079]

@@jacobbanner9200 thank you ! Yeah its healing up nicely was doing engine mounts today. Can't wait to get my cat back on the road

[@TheTaker31]

Also what many don't show or talk about is a metal clips/ring that goes around that putter seal to keep it in place

[@emelianenkov]

This would’ve helped me like 10 hours ago lmao. Thanks for the video!

[@hamedmahmoud9770]

thank you very much ,,, finally now i can install it properly after i saw u video ,,, again thanks a lot :)

[@ValueAudio]

Slip the boot onto the piston from the BACK of the piston. It saves you from having to pull it out of the front groove with each effort. Also thinking it would help one didn't grease the outside of the boot - it would be easier to grasp the outside of the boot if it wasn't so lubed - where it serves no purpose to grease it anyway. Thank you for the tip! Hope it works for me.

[@angelaleclair5369]

I literally just did this to my car....this video helped lots. Thank u, but what a pain in the ass to get the seal on lol

[@billymoore580]

Would you do the same thing on a caliper with the style piston you have to turn in when compress them in?

[@Krispy1011]

Good video - you are so right - every video doing this and the person doing this says its really hard to do and next thing you know on the video the person says - its in and you never really see how it was done - thx!

[@andrebeisland3549]

I wish I saw this before I tore the seal apart! 😫

[@AshHalls]

I just did the same

[@plaxsax]

You're a bloody genius mate! Easy when you know how!

[@shanetravis2550]

Cool you saved me a lot of money my garage tired to charge me a shit load of money to replace Maine on the A4 Audi

[@scottthompson6713]

Great video, very helpful

[@mortenvinter3630]

Aha! Now I understand this. I sawed off end of a plastic cup, to make open end diameter fit the metal in the seal. Then I placed the cup over the piston and used my piston compressor tool. Works ok but the cup has to fit. I will try your trick on the other side.

[@tkrdg7885]

The most smart way and the way supposed to be.

[@Trounceautomotive]

You could also use the blow in meathod. Thats not the easiest meathod to master but with a bit of practice it is by far the fastest meathod. Or if you rebuild a lot of calipers, then keep the used press in hard dust boots in a few different sizes. Clean them up and cut all the soft rubber off. Carfully pull the new soft boot (the ones that don't use a retaining ring) onto the hard boot (one that is a bit bigger then the piston). Fit the outer lip of the boot inthe caliper, uou can get your fingers into the caliper body to fully seat the boot lip. Then install your piston about half way then remove the hard boot. Finish pushing the piston the rest of the way in, and your done with that caliper.

[@lucasgusi]

You sir... Are a hero. Thanks!

[@andymiller1694]

Great method. But I found that holding the seal from sliding off of the piston was next to impossible. So I put a ziptie around the seal to hold it. Worked great.

[@BobRoss-hp3ol]

Quick and to the point. Amazing

[@MrAcc45]

That's so true..... spent to whole day struggling to get the seal in flush.... then tried this method. within a minute all was done.... damnit. This is THE way as shown in the video.... start frm the front, move it to the back so that the seal stretches, let it hang out a bit. I normally put the bottom one in first as that's the part thats tucked under and hidden.

[@Kamotor1980]

Thank you mister! Works very well 👍

[@KooAla-kj4bb]

LEGENDARY VIDEO🤟

[@arthurfricchione8119]

Great tip thanks for sharing 👍👍👍