96 Volvo 850 comments on ATE rear calipers?

Post by **JimBee** » 23 Aug 2017, 21:26

I have a couple of newish ATE rear calipers for the 850 wagon. I think they came off a 97 850. They have a little surface rust but have been stored in a dry area. The pads look brand new and the caliper bodies had almost no rust when I pulled them last summer.

The rubber boots look new.

Has anyone used this brand or know the quality rating?

Apart from some lube on the slide pins, any other prep recommended before I install them?

Post by **tryingbe** » 23 Aug 2017, 22:09

I'm pretty sure ATE is who makes the stock calipers.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 23 Aug 2017, 22:43

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=81876

Post by **scot850** » 23 Aug 2017, 22:51

ATE are the OEM for Volvo. If they look that good they should be good. You could try pushing the piston(s) out with some compressed air to see if they are free to move. If they are you are good to go.

I always clean the rust off and use caliper paint while they are accessible and then they last well.

Neil.

Post by **JimBee** » 24 Aug 2017, 06:53

Helpful suggestions. Glad to know they're quality parts. Thanks! Now to paint or not to paint, that is the question. Life is short, but I'd like the calipers to last so I guess the time to prep and coat them would be well spent.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 24 Aug 2017, 09:14

The thing is that the most important area to prevent rust is where the pads
slide in the body of the caliper and I'm not sure that paint helps there. The
rest of the painting is cosmetic in my opinion. I put a coating of high temp
caliper grease in the slide area.
Most modern calipers have "hardware" shields made from tin or stainless in that
area, these do not.
Look at the pictures in my thread and you'll see frozen pads due to
rust. Rust in our area is really not that bad and I've said several times that
the rate of reaction goes up with increased temp, so dragging pads accelerate
the process and it is a positive feedback process. I came to the conclusion that
the flex hoses were partially blocked causing the drag and recently changed
the hoses. A clue is that they do not bleed properly.

Post by **JimBee** » 25 Aug 2017, 10:10

Pete, thanks for the insights. Maybe pulling the pads yearly to regrease the slide areas would help. I might consider doing that, plus the theory about pads dragging due to hose constriction is interesting.

Post by **misha** » 25 Aug 2017, 12:39

Yearly re-greasing of the sliders is NOT necessary.
Every time you replace rear pads you re-grease pins and that's it.

Post by **scot850** » 25 Aug 2017, 15:51

On the rear calipers I agree you should not need to check frequently, but here where we do a wheel change twice a year for winter, it takes little time to take a quick look to see if everything is good and pads are wearing evenly. To me it is less of an issue over servicing that the normal Volvo owner who never looks at them and wonder why their breaks are crap. Parking brakes are a great example of owners thinking they are a fit and forget item.

Neil.

PeteB · Post by **PeteB** » 26 Aug 2017, 17:12

misha wrote: ↑25 Aug 2017, 12:39 Yearly re-greasing of the sliders is NOT necessary.
Every time you replace rear pads you re-grease pins and that's it.

That may work for you but not for our 850.

There are no slide "pins" on the rear since they are dual piston.

You are very lucky if you don't have to inspect them yearly.