lip seal v o ring

[Steve Ference]

Has anyone used both types of seal on their sleeved calipers?Do the o rings work as good as the makers say?What about on a race car, mine is driven HARD.

[Vettehead Mikey]

The o-ring type seals can be of benefit if you have problems with 'air pumping' into the calipers due to bearing problems or improperly machined rotors.

Some claim that they are also less prone to leakage for cars that are stored for (very) extended periods.

My car suffers from neither of the above and I use the standard V seals. I have two calipers that were last rebuilt in 1990 and the other two in 1997. No problems so far, FWIW.

[Steve Ference]

Thanks Mikey, i just bought brand new calipers (not rebuilt) with new grooved
rotors and all parts are replaced regulary.I just wondered if its worth the hassle of replacing the lip seals for o ring for no performance value

[GTR1999]

I have been using the lip seal calipers for 30 years. In my opinion the O rings are good if you have rotor runout issues and don't want to address them.
If you have rotor runout under .002" and spindle bearing endplay between .001-.002" you don't need O rings. If you store the car then bleed the brakes when you remove it from storage. If you store the car for more then 6 months then I can see the lip seals possibly taking a set but then a lot of seals may do the same. Long term, non-use is worse on the car,then dumping the clutch everytime you drive the car.

[lone73]

Steve,
I haven't used o-ring type seals but here is an interesting article that you might want to read before you change to an o-ring.

http://www.fastcorvette.com/CaliperSchool.htm

There are apparently some performance disadvantages to using the o-ring calipers. According to the article, pedal travel is increased and piston binding could be a problem. Very interesting read whether you agree or not.

I have never had a big problem with air pumping and I am running stock rebuilt calipers from a rather cheap local parts supplier (Autozone,). Up until a few months ago my car was a daily driver. I believe that's at least partly responsible for the lack of trouble I've experienced. Since your car appears to be raced, I probably would stick to the OEM style lip seal and just figure on doing a bit more maintenance as the trade-off for the performance advantage.

Good luck with it
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[wipeout]

Take the springs out of the calipers. No more air pumping, and no more drag from the brake pads.

[Steve Ference]

Thanks lone73, thats a great article,seems the original GM designers were right all along,think ill stick with the lip seals

[Steve Ference]

That sounds like a simple remedy to lots of brake woes, but why are the springs there for in the first place?

[Vettehead Mikey]

Originally Posted by Steve Ference

That sounds like a simple remedy to lots of brake woes, but why are the springs there for in the first place?

The springs keep the pads in very light contact against the rotor, as mentioned in the article. The resulting drag is the equivalent of less than 1HP, not worth worrying about.

Removing the springs to cure an air pumping situation is really a band-aid remedy, and does not address the root cause.

[Steve Ference]

Yes Mikey i agree, i dont think removing the springs is a good idea,sorry wipeout.