Did you know that caliper seals are the difference between life and death?

[jsmoke]

Talk about hanging by a thread. So these seals obviously keep the fluid from escaping but they also contract(I think) when the fluid pressure is released allowing the piston to retreat.

If all 4 seals went bad I assume you'd have no brakes?

If the only the public knew how their life was hanging by a few rubber seals everyday.

 

[sovietspybob]

Weird post, but if the seals failed in one of your callipers you'd still have the other circuit to activate 2 brakes then you'd also have your parking brake if worst comes to worst

 

[Maccapacca]

Stop smoking the J

 

[Haggisman]

Talk about hanging by a thread. So these seals obviously keep the fluid from escaping but they also contract(I think) when the fluid pressure is released allowing the piston to retreat.

If all 4 seals went bad I assume you'd have no brakes?

If the only the public knew how their life was hanging by a few rubber seals everyday.

The general public don't give a **** about the 4 big bits of rubber that are in clear view every time they get in the car, they certainly aren't going to care about some tiny ones which are completely hidden from view...

Weird post, but if the seals failed in one of your callipers you'd still have the other circuit to activate 2 brakes then you'd also have your parking brake if worst comes to worst

Interested in how this works with an electronic handbrake - do they still allow you to engage when the car is in motion?

I experienced a caliper seal failure on an old Primera... luckily it was in the work car park. Unluckily it was on a hill! Gently pushed the pedal to slow down as I reached the bottom, foot went to the floor, car kept moving towards the fence . Managed to stop in time by pulling the handbrake, but was not a fun moment

 

[tom_e]

They'd have to completely disappear from the calliper seat to leave you with no brakes what so ever, the more likely situation is that they get mankey and pushed out against the piston due to corrosion in the seal seat and therefore you start to get binding brakes.

 

[sigma]

Imagine if all your tyres burst at motorway speeds! Or your steering rack snaps or a drive shaft breaks, or your fuel tank sets on fire, or your vents shut, doors lock and you suffocate.

 

[2004typer]

Talking about hanging by a thread - I remember years ago my clutch cable snapping on my first car - a Fiat Uno.

Was cruising along at about 35mph at the time, and on the approach to a set of traffic lights.

Luckily the lights changed so was able to continue through, and slowly come to a stop a bit further down the road, and then cut the engine by the ignition at the last minute.

Had only been driving a couple of months as well so really tested me.

I could have yanked the car out of gear at the point it snapped, but might have potentially come to a standstill right in the middle of a busy junction once momentum had run out, so figured this wasn't the best option.

 

[UnworthyBean]

Interested in how this works with an electronic handbrake - do they still allow you to engage when the car is in motion?

Think most of them will still let you activate it either by holding it or pressing it again after a warning. Never tried it (obviously) so not sure if this slams the brakes on or gradually applies them. Hopefully I'll never find out

 

[bainbridge]

Talk about hanging by a thread. So these seals obviously keep the fluid from escaping but they also contract(I think) when the fluid pressure is released allowing the piston to retreat.

If all 4 seals went bad I assume you'd have no brakes?

If the only the public knew how their life was hanging by a few rubber seals everyday.

Hydraulic brakes are designed to give gradual loss of pressure when a part fails, rather than catastrophic failure, so hopefully the driver can pull over if something goes wrong with the brakes.

 

[jpaul]

despite the system redundancy, the material looks interesting , seems it's good up to 145C
... I'd imagined you might need higher, brake fluid alone, can, after all, be more than 100C

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/document.asp?DocID=TECH00147

EPDM

While NBR and FKM have similar chemical resistance, EPDM is completely different. It is incompatible with petroleum (oil and gasoline), but it is compatible with alcohols (ethanol, methanol, and nitromethane), water, coolants (both ethylene and propylene glycol), and glycol-based brake fluid. Of all three rubber types, EPDM is the only one that should be considered for use anywhere in a braking system. (Of course there have to be exceptions -- the Citroen and Rolls-Royce high-pressure brake/suspension systems that use green hydraulic oil must avoid EPDM and should use FKM instead.)

 

[ezekial]

Lol I enjoy the drama in this post

 

[mrgubby]

Just try and not think of the tiny bit of rubber in your tyre valve that's holding all the air in...