Although they may seem minor to you, your car’s brakes are potent by themselves. Let’s face it, and those brakes must simultaneously produce enough friction to stop your vehicle at an instant. The automobile has thousands of metals, plastic, rubber, glass, fuel, oil, fluids, and meaty human flesh. It would be best to worry about brake calipers replacement costs every once in a while because of all this power and strain.
Few things are more dangerous than driving a car that can not slow down as the brakes fail. At the very least, if you have poorly functioning brake calipers, you won’t be able to stop as quickly or force your car to swerve. As a result, even if your brakes work well 99.99% of the time, you must pay close attention to how they are doing. So, what is the cost of replacing brake calipers on your car?
Caliper Replacement Cost
XLT version of the Ford F-150
Almost all calipers available today are remanufactured, meaning they have been reconstructed to a high standard. It costs about $80 for remanufactured front calipers. Be sure to read any warranties that come with the products before purchasing. New high-performance rear calipers sell for above $100 per unit, while rear calipers cost about 70 dollars.
Toyota Camry
Also available are remanufactured front calipers, which may come with a warranty. The price for economy calipers is approximately $50, while higher quality calipers are $60 to $75. There are more options with rear calipers, but they are more expensive. Therefore, they are less likely to be replaced because of failure. The cheapest rear brake calipers cost around $70, while the best ones are priced between $95 and $125.
KIA Forte
Remanufactured calipers for the KIA are priced more narrowly than the Camry. Front calipers are usually priced between $60 and $90. It appears that fewer rear calipers need to be replaced when remanufactured. Costs for these are between $85 and $100 per caliper.
Honda Pilot
Both the front and rear remanufactured calipers for the Honda Pilot are similar in price. The front calipers start at $85 and go up to $110. Calipers for the rear cost between $90 and $110. Remanufactured replacement calipers are generally priced at around $80 for front calipers and about $90 for rear calipers. Buy the best brake calipers you can afford with a good warranty. Make sure you don’t cut corners on brake calipers since not stopping your vehicle when it’s needed can cost you much more.
How do brake calipers work?
Replacing brake calipers will be expensive, regardless of how necessary the repair is. Still, let’s put that aside for now and see what brake calipers are and how they operate. Your car’s entire braking system consists of a few key components, particularly the part located around the wheels. A brake pad is what slows and stops your car when it’s speeding up. After that, there are the brake discs or brake rotors, as they’re sometimes called. A brake pad rubs against a disc, which causes friction.
Both brake pads are present on either side of the disc plate (or rotor). In particular, the friction pads are oriented in the direction of the discs. If you press the brake pedal, the brake pads will be clamped against the disc through hydraulic force or electrical brake-by-wire. Your car’s kinetic energy is converted into thermal energy by this intense frictional force, thus slowing down the movement of its wheels. However, brake pads cannot press down on discs by themselves.
They are held in place by brake calipers. Looking at a car’s brakes, it’s evident that its disc is shaped like a plate. Then, a somewhat crescent-shaped contraption may be seen on the side of the brake discs. The brake caliper clamps the brake pads against the rotors by applying pressure. Pressing on the brake pedal increases the pressure in the calipers’ pistons. As a result, the brake pads can be squeezed onto the rotors with great force.
When should you replace your brake calipers?
It seems odd that you should have to worry about brake caliper replacement costs when they’re so important. Brake calipers are put to a lot of strain and stress every day as they work tirelessly to keep you and your passengers safe. The following section will discuss what causes them to wear out and replace them. Right now, however, we have some good news. It won’t be necessary to replace them often, even if you eventually need to.
Read More: How Much Do Wheel Bearings Cost? A Detailed Guide About Wheel Bearing
Even if the timeframe for brake calipers is unfortunately not infinite, the calipers are designed to last for a long time. The average lifespan of these devices will be the same as that of cars. Generally, brake calipers are expected to last between 75,000 miles and over 100,000 miles in the real world. With the average car, this translates to about ten years. This is just an estimate and does not factor in several important aspects.
Several factors to consider
Exactly how many variables cause you to wake up at night worrying about brake calipers replacement cost? There are several factors to consider. Your driving habits, such as how calmly or aggressively you use your brakes, are one indicator. The road you’ll be driving on also has a lot to do with how smooth or rough it is and the environment that your poor brakes will be exposed to. The temperature and humidity determine how quickly brake calipers age and wear.
The common denominator responsible for wearing down your brake calipers persists, however. The brakes on your car are surrounded by a lot of heat, as we’ve seen so far. Under normal braking conditions, the brake pads and discs and the calipers themselves will experience a temperature rise of over 300°F. When you lift your foot from the brake pedal, the surrounding air quickly cools the calipers. Each time you brake, the heat-up and cooling cycles repeat a thousand times.
After some time, your brake calipers can start to rust.
Within and outside, the brake calipers can become corrupted when this process continues. Water kicked up and absorbed from the road can cause this oxidation or moisture in the air. As a result, the water boils and becomes steam. It is caused by the heat-up and cooling cycles mentioned earlier. Add to that the endless cycles in which that water boils, condenses, and re-boils over and over again in your brakes as a result of years of driving. It is this process that causes corrosion.
Corrosion will cause a rough surface to appear along with the calipers’ pistons or cylinder walls. The brake piston seals are subjected to highly abrasive wear as they slide in and out among all the rust. This may cause uneven braking performances from your point of view. However, once it has penetrated the inner walls, the rust can worsen. A piston can become stuck behind thick rust in the cylinder chambers, causing the whole system to stop moving, or clamping, entirely.
FAQs
- Can brake calipers be replaced for less than $100?
The cost of front brake calipers ranges between $85 and $110. Calipers for the rear cost between $90 and $110 each. Prices typically range from about $80 for front calipers to about $90 for rear calipers for remanufactured replacement calipers.
- Is caliper replacement required in pairs?
It is rarely necessary to replace calipers when they are rebuilt. You may suffer brake imbalance if just one caliper is replaced.
