Changing a Front Brake Caliper Another Day

Winter is Upon Us

The last of winter is upon us. And it is making sure of going out with a bang, or should I say a
blanket of thick wet snow. Today was supposed to be clear and sunny, but the only glimmer of
Spring was in the middle of the night when I woke up and saw a star shining through my window.
We planned to seize the break in weather to work on my Xterra but instead found seized pistons
just as the snow began to fall again. So here we begin on how to change a front brake caliper…

Truck without 4×4 and a Seized Brake Caliper

I am supposed to leave in a couple of days to make it for a course a couple 100 kms’ away…but
what isn’t a couple hundred away from here. The 4×4 had stopped engaging in my 2005 Nissan Xterra
and making it up over the pass back to the city is close to impossible with the amount of snow
that has fallen unless chaining the tires. Even will the graters working the iced up slush on
winding roads, slick 18% gradient hills and steep banks make me queasy on the best of days. But lately the ABS, traction control and hill decent lights have all lit up in a fault on top of the lack of all wheel drive. So with some research we deemed the problem to be the wheel speed sensors, as the 4×4 would engage intermittently and often after we reset them with a Nissan hack,

similar to spinning around on your left foot while you tap your head and rub your tummy.

Well in order to access the wire connection, we had to remove the calipers,
and wouldn’t you know it, one of them was seized. We attempted to push the piston out but the
less seized one won and dumped quite a bit of brake fluid out.

Another Broken Xterra Steps up to Bat

So here we are, driving my partners 2008 Xterra (yes we both have one) over the mountain pass to the city to buy a pair of calipers.

His Xterra has an appointment at the mechanics in a couple of weeks to get a new exhaust
header, one of the flanges on the right side apparently cracked in a dramatic fashion.

We’ve already come to an agreement that eventually one Xterra will supplement the other with
parts (most likely mine at the rate things are going).

Traversing the Great Range for a Brake Caliper

Over the mountain pass we go, sporting earmuffs with the windows cracked and a CO2 detector
in the car. Trees wizzing past us, drooping under the weight of a million feathery snowflakes,
banks of snow pushing us into the centre of a 1 1/2 lane dirt road, of which the potholes
have been filled with the good white stuff, thanks winter. With Merle Haggard blasting so we
can hear it over our 3M earmuffs and the open headers, similar to the bombers at the local speedways, we sip our coffee and laugh at how ridiculous all of this is. But what is life without a few
hiccups and a continuation test of what life hands out to us.

NAPA in The Big City

Stopping at NAPA for some calipers and Home Depot to replenish the 2×4 stock, our total time in the city was probably less than an hour with fuelling up, quick trip. Our entire day is about to be driving on the road.

The streams have turned to rivers, raging around the snow capped rocks as we carve our way
through the hills, the weather lightening near the city. The snow is seemingly rattling off the
evergreen branches as we rumble past. Frozen lakes crack and separate for the country roads
to take us home to where we belong.

Getting Back Late

Our entire day consisted of driving. We were exhausted when we got back, mostly in part due to the extremely loud ride of a raw 4 litre gas engine firing 3 feet in front of us the whole way, but we managed. It’s comical how we get ourselves into this mess sometimes…but I’m just happy we have
each other to figure it out together.

We replaced the calipers the next day, stay tuned to find out how!