Front disc Breaks binding.

Hi there,

my front disc breaks are binding. Tried to let some break fluid out to let them release to no avail. Any other ideas to stop them Binding up?

Cheers

Hello Coleyflower

There’s nothing very special about the braking on a Hiace compared to another vehicle and the fix for a Hiace is going to be the same as a fix elsewhere.

In my experience worn or unserviced brakes are more likely to bind, plus old brake fluid containing more water is more likely to expand when it gets hot and this can bring the pads on to the disk. That being said I’ve seen plenty of old brakes work fine.

The ‘thing’ that sets the calliper and pads off from the disk when you release the pedal is not the pedal spring or the booster spring, but is the reset in the deformation of the seal in the calliper. That’s it.

Binding can easily be exacerbated by the calliper not sliding on the guide pins or the pads not sliding (back) on their guides and it can be wear or damage that contributes to this.

Unfortunately the only real way to fix this is to service the brakes, maybe replace the pads and possibly the fluid, sliders etc or these could recover with cleaning and correct lube.

It’s also well worth trying to lube under the rubber seals on the calliper pistons and see if these free up. If they are sticky then it’s likely you need a calliper rebuild. This isn’t expensive but can be a pain to do.

Last thing I’d say is that on 4WD models the hub has to come off to replace the disk, if this is worn or out and then you need to get into resetting the bearing pre-load. Nissan hubs are usually a bit easier to set than Toyota, but the hubs etc are quite similar.

Hope this helps and see what others say.