Caliper is a part of the disc braking system. Some other vehicles have pistons on the front brakes. (Pistons are located inside of the caliper). Its duty is to decelerate the vehicle wheels, producing friction on the rotor. The brake caliper is like a pin in the wheel rotor to stop the wheel when the brakes are moved. Inside each caliper, there are two metal surfaces, called brake pads.
Caliper is one of the most significant components inside each vehicle. Anyway, nowadays, most vehicles have brake discs, at least for the front wheels. However, most vehicles and trucks use brake discs.
In the braking system, the wheel discs get attached to the metal discs or rotor and spin along with them. Caliper’s duty is to decelerate the wheels, producing friction on the rotors.
The boat-shaped brake pads are at the external part of the rotors (to the front), and the entrance brake pads are at the internal part (toward the vehicle). When you press on the brake, the brake liquid produces a hydraulic pressure on the pistons and forced the pads upon the rotor.
The brake pads have high friction surfaces and act as decelerators or even stoppers of the vehicle. When the rotor works slower, the wheel also does so, as they are attached.
Brake Caliper types
There are two different calipers:
- Floating calipers
- Fixed calipers
Floating calipers move depending on the rotor and they have 2 pistons at the entrance part of the rotor. This piston pressures the caliper at the time of braking and produces friction from the brake pads to the two sides of the rotor.
The fixed calipers cannot move, as there are pistons around them. Usually, the fixed calipers are preferred, because of their functionality. However, the floating ones are more expensive. Some of the fixed calipers with high functionality have two or more pairs of pistons that have circulated the rotor. Some of them approximately have six pairs.
How to maintain or repair the brake caliper
In general, each vehicle has a lot of components that have a specific useful life. So, whenever the time is passed, they should be altered. The brake caliper is the one. However, the caliper is well-manufactured and stabilized, but some elements may destroy them. The caliper can function for more than 100.000 miles in modern vehicles.
You should take the caliper servicing seriously, as the braking system is one of the main components of a vehicle. You should make sure of the immunity of all the vehicle systems and attempt to change the component as soon as it is no longer useful.