Finding individual brake parts for an older car
Older vehicles often lack individual replacement parts like caliper pistons, forcing owners to buy entire component assemblies instead. This practice drives up repair costs and makes routine maintenance significantly more expensive than replacing a single worn piece.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- This comes up 16.5× more often in r/AskMechanics than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Purchasing a brand new or remanufactured brake caliper set instead of replacing the individual piston.Did this help you?
- 2Replacing the rotors along with the brake padsDid this help you?
- 3Watching YouTube tutorial videosDid this help you?
- 4Pre-buying parts and tools ahead of timeDid this help you?
- 5Spraying rusted hardware with penetrating oil in advanceDid this help you?
- 6Having access to another car or backup transportationDid this help you?
- 7Pushing the piston out using the brake pedal, replacing both inner and outer rubber seals, cleaning, lubricating with brake fluid-compatible mounting paste, pushing the piston back in, unclamping the hose, and bleeding the air.Did this help you?
- 8Looking up torque specs on enthusiast forums like Mercedes CLA forums.Did this help you?
- 9replacing individual brake linesDid this help you?
- 10considering whether to junk the car or continue investing in repairsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“She asked me to change her rear brakes pads. I’m not gonna lie. I have all the tools, but I’ve never really changed rotors or did more than break pads and oil. Any advice?”source ↗
“Hey guys was changing the pads and discs on my CLA45s and noticed this tear in the piston.”source ↗
“Anyone have any idea if you can change this without removing the piston on these Brembo callipers ?”source ↗
“I am also really struggling to find torque figures for re assembling all this where could be a good place to look ?”source ↗
“Hi all, my mechanic sent me this photo saying one of my front brake caliper piston needs to be replaced, but he couldn't find the piston alone as it's an decade-old car so he would need to purchase a brand new brake caliper set instead.”source ↗
“My car (2014 Honda CRV) is about due for brakes and new brake pads, I've never done brakes before, but there's a DIY garage near me that offers a lift and access to their tools.”source ↗
“Looking to learn some basics about car maintenance and save some money, how long should I expect to take to do the job for the first time? Should I just do one axel at first?”source ↗
“I live in the midwest and I'm sure everything is pretty rusted, do people normally buy new hardware to replace the old rusted stuff, or use the same bolts and screws?”source ↗
“The driver side where I didnt expect any trouble is tight on the rotor and outer brake pad side.”source ↗
“I can barely push the pad in.”source ↗
“Driver side outter brake pad will not slide in and allow rotor to spin freely..”source ↗
“Anyone have any idea if you can change this without removing the piston on these Brembo callipers ?”source ↗
“I am also really struggling to find torque figures for re assembling all this where could be a good place to look ?”source ↗
“a couple weeks ago i had to replace 3 leaking brake lines. now i have to assume there may be issues with the 4th. It seems as if the brakes cease up now and i can even sometimes hear it make the familair sound of brakes squeaking even when the brakes arent being engagedwhile driving. i did also see a new but small puddle under one of the brakes”source ↗
“I'm close to junking this car because its old and not worth much, so right now i need to know what all could be the issue going in here and any potential for more work needing to be done in the future.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5Why do my car's brake rotors keep warping over and over?
- 5Mechanic refused to fix rusted control arm and subframe
- 2How to change rear brake pads with an electronic parking brake
- 2Can I reuse old brake pads on new rotors?
- 21How to tell if brake pads and rotors actually need replacing
- 10Can you replace just the bushings on a sway bar link?