98 V70 brake front and rear brake calipers

[abscate]

A really big Vice Grip (tm) with sharp jaws will work on the flares, but flare is best.

I'm running Cardones both front and back on the 99 now. They were all ATE cores

[cn90]

As long as thew boot is intact, there should be no rust in the piston.

I overhauled my braking system a few years ago and posted the seal/boot DIY in forum.
It is an easy DIY.

[98v70dad]

A really big Vice Grip (tm) with sharp jaws will work on the flares, but flare is best.

I'm running Cardones both front and back on the 99 now. They were all ATE cores

Thanks. Cardone is what my local NAPA stocks I think. I priced them there a few years ago out of curiosity and a big part of the final cost was the shipping cost to send the cores back to Philadelphia if I remember right. I'll have to check around and see if anyone online sells them with a free way to return the cores.

When I checked for comments before I posted this thread it seems that Cardone gets mixed reviews - some people have had problems with them being defective right out of the box. I don't know of a better option though. There is nothing wrong with mine other than its time for new. The right front seems to have some unknown issue going on because I'm running volvo pads and that wheel is much much dustier than the other one. When I put on the new volvo pads the old ones were worn pretty evenly.

[98v70dad]

As long as thew boot is intact, there should be no rust in the piston.

I overhauled my braking system a few years ago and posted the seal/boot DIY in forum.
It is an easy DIY.

I know. I saved your instructions as a pdf to my computer because it looks like an easy job and your instructions are so good. However, at this point I would rather spend a few hundred dollars for the luxury of just bolting on the new parts instead of having to remove and overhaul the old calipers no matter how easy it is. A Saturday spent not working on the volvo is worth it to me. The one thing that would keep me from wanting to just buy the parts is if the available options are not very good quality.

[98v70dad]

Is there any rebuilt caliper brand that is the best value? I know that the cheapest (and probably the best) way to handle "fixing up" old calipers is to replace the seals, etc. but I'm looking for the quick solution since I cant have the car out of service for very long.... off with the old and on with the new in an afternoon .... Rebuilt calipers is what I would like to install unless it will cost a fortune or I would end up junky parts.

Any comments offered would be helpful. Thanks

[98v70dad]

edited my original post due to typos that change the meaning of the question and I accidently quoted myself ... sorry its pretty early.

[Ozark Lee]

The NAPAs have always worked fine for me. They are rebuilt OEM parts.

They really want the old ones back, I think the core charge was $10 or $15 more than the caliper on the last rear that I bought.

...Lee

[98v70dad]

The NAPAs have always worked fine for me. They are rebuilt OEM parts.

They really want the old ones back, I think the core charge was $10 or $15 more than the caliper on the last rear that I bought.

...Lee

Yeah, the core charge is pretty high and shipping to send them back to Philly adds quite a bit to the total price. I've never had any problem with a part from NAPA for any car I've owned. Unfortunately, in general, the aftermarket or non-OE parts for the volvo have been much lower quality than those I've bought for asian or american cars. I quickly learned not to buy aftermarket for the volvo without asking opinions about longevity here. I've owned the car 10 years now and EVERY aftermarket part I put in over the years has failed so its all OE again except for the windshield wiper reservoir cap. That part cost $1.50 and it looked like it was going to fail when I installed it yesterday. I bet it doesn't last more than a few years-I shouldn't have violated my OE only rule.

At this point I'm not sure what I'll do with the brakes since rebuilding the old ones myself would be easy and cheap and I am pretty frugal (tightwad). The down side is another weekend of free time eaten by the Volvo and probably two days out of service for my daily driver.

[scot850]

Most of the OE supplied calipers for 850/P80 are also re-manufactured units now.

Neil.

[kaneelschep]

I rebuild them all in a day and never did this job before. If I had known how easy it was, I would have done it to all my previous cars. its a world of difference.
Buying the whole set; pistons, rubbers, etc was really cheap compared to replacement calipers. spent under a 100 euro for all.
And all of the oroginal seals and pistons were rusted and broken.
Now I still have the original calipers, wich is worth something to me too.

Getting the piping off the rear calipers was actually the hardest part of all. Had to do the rear right while still attached to the car. That nut just did not come of and they are really easy to destroy. Even higher up it did not come loose. Didnt have anything to heat it up with.
Besides from that, it was easy.
But not as easy as just replacing them with refurbished ones of course