mmcpeck

So I had to replace both calipers on my '92 Pickup, the pass side inside pistons were locked up in their bores and the caliper was basically useless.

Anyway when I pulled them both off, I noticed that the pass side had barely any rust on it, even though it was the seized one, and the driver side looked like it had sat in saltwater it was so rusted. I figured maybe the pass side had been replaced before and the driver side was original so it was just rusty after 17 years.

So anyway I replaced both, about 3 months ago, and I was under the truck yesterday looking at something else, and noticed that the driver side caliper is fully rusted over already, every inch of it, but the pass side looks brand new!!???

Is this some strange Toyota Pickup phenomenon or a total coincidence???

Kind of weird right? Has anybody else ever had this happen or noticed this?

shaeff

Leaking brake fluid on the driver's side? Brake fluid is very corrosive. I don't have this problem.

mmcpeck

I don't think it's brake fluid, the caliper is brand new and the bleader and line aren't leaking, plus the brakes work great and my master cylinder level isn't low.

It might just be a coincidence, but just seems weird that it rusted fully over that quickly, also concsidering the old one on that side was rusted so bad.

shaeff

Lots of things tend to rust out on the driver's side more quickly than the passenger side due to the salt line in the middle of the road. (think two-way traffic forcing lots of salt to the centerline). I was told by a body shop owner that's why the driver's side is most commonly rotted. Makes sense on my truck- driver's side bed is rusted a lot, and the passenger side isn't.

akaphilly

where did u get the calipers? i got some from autozone and they are rusty as hell

briholt

My passenger side is a re-manufacture and it's rusted over too. And here in seattle we don't use salt on our roads...

RustBucket

iTrader: (1)

You might consider painting them with a rust-resistant paint. Also the rubber boots surrounding the pistons can have disc brake grease applied to them which might act as a buffer to the salt and it can be cleaned and reapplied if it gets grody.

DIHOWARD

I recently had to replace both front calipers, the OEM calipers were pretty rusty. I figure while I have the chance with fresh calipers, I'll just paint them.

mmcpeck

The salt line thing would make sense, but the first time it has snowed here was two days ago, and I didn't drive in it, so the caliper has seen no salt as of yet.

I got the caliper's from a local auto parts store, not a chain. I can't remember the brand name, but I didn't remember recognizing it.

I probably should have painted them before I put them on, just didn't think rust would be that big of a problem with new caliper's. Even so, if they both had the same amount of rust, or rusted slowly at the same rate, I wouldn't even notice or care, but the fact that the driver side is fully, completely rusted already and the pass side still looks brand new, is really strange to me, especially since that's how the ones that came off were.

Just can't figure out why the driver side is rusting like that.

RustBucket

iTrader: (1)

Just brainstorming here but maybe the D/S caliper has electrical contact with something the P/S does not. I'm a little fuzzy on my chemistry but I've heard of connecting zinc or magnesium steel parts in a corrosive environment since oxidation will prefer the former, making it into a sacrificial part. I don't know if that makes sense with this situation though. Maybe try bolting a chunk of zinc to it

shaeff

Advance Auto. I'll check if mine are rusty later and report back. They've been on the truck for nearly 2 years now I think.

mmcpeck

I don't think there is anything electrical down there on a '92 that would cause any galvanic corrosion, if there was it would corrode all the metal on that side, the rotor is fine and was replaced at the same time.

Just very strange that it only happens on that one side. This driver side caliper looks like it's been on there for years already, you'd never think it was only 2 months old, pass side looks like it just came out of the box..

the 38 special

Wish they would.

I have wondered about the deicer they use. I have heard rumers though I have never checked it out myself that submit that they deicer is acidic.
If it is acidic it could promote the rust or at least help to strip the thin layer of oils on the outside of the caliper that remain from manufacturing.

the 38 special

Seattle, Seatac, Des Moines, Kent, Auburn (all cities of the greater Seattle area) do not salt. I believe the northern parts of Everett may salt a little, but it has been probably five years since I last spent any time in Everett.

Those are the cities I know from experience do not salt.

Last winter I watched four or five (?) trucks slide down my hill into the bank and one went over the other side. At least three times that many tried each day and just slid down the hill.

To say the least, most Seattle folks just are not prepared for decent amounts of snow - it usually comes in maybe a few inches and the roads clear within a day or two.



I think the biggest issue was that the city took nearly a week to begin to do ANYTHING once the snow fell. The forcast was out a week in advance, and stated that there absolutely positively will be lots and lots of f***ing snow compared to what Seattle is used to (out of respect to the states that see a ****ton of snow). Apparently city officials were on vaca for two weeks?...

mmcpeck

I understand that this discussion has turned to whether or not Seattle uses salt or not, and that's fine, I personally don't care when other discussions start on a thread, but just to reiterate, these caliper's have seen zero salt since they were put on, so salt has no bearing on the rust, and I would assume that if they did see salt I would see equal amounts of rust on each caliper.

I'm about ready to pull the driver side caliper off and take it back. I've never seen a caliper rust so badly this fast.

the 38 special

Yeah, my fault. Back to on topic -

I was thinking the battery - battery acid and such somehow making its way down - unlikely even if the battery was on the drivers side.

You replaced the right, but just cleaned off the left - correct?
if thats the case, I would say it is because the left was bare metal and the right had a thin film of oil on it so it does not rust during shipping and while sitting on the shelf at the store. No one wants to buy rusty parts.
Spray some WD 40 on it this time..?
WD will dry and leave a film. Dont drive it till it dries or it will collect all sorts of dirt.

Thats the best possible cause I have for you so far.

Mic09dcsm

Just sand the rust off and paint them, do we really need to have a dissertation?

mmcpeck

My question wasn't as to the fix for the problem, I don't think I'd need to post to figure out how to get rust off . The point of the post was the cause of the problem.

I replaced both sides with brand new caliper's and rotor's. Driver side rotor and caliper are rusty, passenger side rotor and caliper look brand new.

Rotor's I don't care about, they rust, they are made from cheap metal in India or somewhere. But I've owned cars/trucks with close to 200K miles on them and the caliper's have had no rust on them. This driver side one looks like it's been driven in salt for years or dunked in salt water, neither of which is the case.

If they were both doing it, I'd just be like whatever guess they were cheap caliper's. But it is only the driver side, pass side is so clean it could have been put on today. And that is exactly how it was when I pulled the old ones off, driver side was horrible and passeneger side had almost no rust on it at all. I just thought maybe the PO had changed out the pass side caliper before, but apparently the driver side is prone (for some reason) to rusting 100 times fatser.

The point of my post was to find out if anybody knew why, or had seen it before, as it may be some strange reason on 3rd Gen Yota pickups.

I don't know maybe since it always gets driven with just me in it, on the driver side obviously. Maybe I am heavier than I think and for some reason the driver side gets more crap thrown at it???? Maybe the cure is for me to go on a diet???

Hopefully not though, I like beer way too much for that, hahaha.

the 38 special

Both of mine on my v6 89 just had a think film of gook on the outside and no rust.. replaced them and those did not rust either.
It did look like the two I took off were both from different plants - possibly even different versions or revisions.
The two I replaced them with seemed identical in every way and came from Napa (yes autozone and schucks parts are different than the napa parts - Dealer said they would order from their parts house, which was the napa warehouse I bought them from lol).

I am going with his idea, one was coated in something and the other was not, some sort of manufacturing defect or a different manufacturing process due to possibly being manufactured at a different location.


Was fun to think about - thnx for sharing the odd phenomenon.

abecedarian

Other thing to think of...
the drivers side may be getting hotter than the passenger side, for reasons unknown... sticking sliders maybe?... and the heat may accelerate the oxidation.