Brake caliper wind back tool

[JimD]

I had to put new brake pads and rotors on the rear of my daughters 2001 beetle yesterday. Knowing what a pain wind back pistons are, I decided to buy a low cost wind back tool set off Amazon. It worked so well I had to post about it. It almost makes me look forward to the next set of rear pads I have to do on one of my Fiats... almost. In the past I have tried making a tool to fit the slot and then buying one of those cube tools. It was always a battle to keep these tool engaged and still twist while juggling the wrench and caliper.

This new wind back tool was worth every penny I spent on it. It pushes and twists at the same time which is the key to getting the pistons screwed back into the caliper. The head that holds the individual discs is magnetic, which is awesome. The whole set is much more robust than I was expecting for the price.

One other note of no importance to anyone but myself. I hate working on this beetle. VW does all kinds of crazy things that seem way more complicated than necessary. I did find one positive in this job: You can remove the rear rotors without pulling the caliper support bracket. It's a little thing, but a few less rusty bolts to deal with.

 

[kmead]

I also have a similar unit and it does make the job nearly mundane.

Mine eventually sheared the pin that attaches the head to the screw mechanism which requires that I install a new roll pin.

You think VW is bad wait until you have to deal with a Toyota which has been driven through 14 Michigan winters. You will dream of the VW that has been driven through 17 winters and wish you were working on that Beetle over the Toyoleta. Seriously

 

[JimD]

I must say I was very surprised when everything came off the beetle pretty easily. Only one caliper bolt was truly stuck and needed persuasion. Even the little screws that hold the rotor to the hub backed out with a twist of a screw driver. I figured that was the kiss of death when it happened, but everything went fine.

I have never owned a Toyota, although the MR2 almost had me buying one on a few occasions.

 

[Rod Midkiff]

I just baught something VERY simular from Harbor freight to do the rear breaks with the wife on her X. We had to use a wrench to get more leverage on that little handle (ended up twisting the handle off) and had to weld a nut on the shaft to finish the job.

 

[JimD]

There is an HF near my house, so I looked at that HF set. It had fewer pieces and was more expensive, so I went with the generic set on Amazon. Now I am ready to tackle a left hand twist in piston, although I have no idea what car has that set up.

 

[Rod Midkiff]

I went to HF when I NEEDED the tool so waiting was not in the game plan.

 

[JimD]

I went to HF when I NEEDED the tool so waiting was not in the game plan.

Rod, I was kinda thinking that exact circumstance may be HF's reason for the high price on this brake tool. The brake kit is the kind of tool that people may not realize they need till they run into their first wind back caliper, or for someone that is dealing with a wind back caliper that wont wind back easily. So they will pay the price to get the tool NOW.

I had the luxury of lead time on this job. I knew my daughter was going to be out in Cali for Comic-Con this week, so I had time to order the tool and wait.

 

[ianlawson]

........and then buying one of those cube tools. It was always a battle to keep these tool engaged and still twist while juggling the wrench and caliper.

Hey Jim, been there, done that!!
I found that PLENTY of the "worst swearing in the world" eventually seemed to help! But I was pleased that my next-door neighbours were out of town at the time!!

cheers (not many at that time) IanL - NZ