Sep 29, 2015  Avid® Juicy Caliper Brake Bleed Service. This article will discuss bleeding of the Avid® Juicy disc caliper brakes. For caliper adjustment and housing length adjustments see Avid Hydraulic Caliper Brake Installation & Hose Length Changes. Download Avid juicy 7 brakes manual. Follow him into the Dungeons and find out what he s up to. 01 Update Program C Documents and Settings HP Owner Local Settings Temp 32 2780 3968 79. The m8 is a great phone that unfortunately is made by HTC. BB5 Disc Brake Pads. Stay up to date. Stories; Athletes.

1. Avid Juicy 5 Manual
2. Avid Juicy Ultimate

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Avid Juicy 5 Manual

• My front ultimate had to be sent in to Avid to have theseals replaced, took them over two weeks to do it, LBS called them a few times to be told it was on the bench and would be done that day and it wasn't, my adivce would be avoid sending it back, if you cant do it see if your LBS can. If you do end up sending it in make sure you keep on at them to get it done
• I should clarify I'm looking for feedback on doing the caliper service myself. I don't think I'll be sending them off. If it comes down to it I'd rather drop £50 on a new brake and get it next day.
• When I had car calipers stick out, its usually 'cause the seals have dried out. Take the pads out, and carefully put a small amount of brakefluid on the piston thats sticking out, and then just (Carefully again) work the piston in and out a few times.
  Mind you, most pistons will stick a bit, and I dont really see it as anything to worry about, you'll get slightly uneven pad wear, and thats it.

  My Pics !
  Whadda ya mean I dont believe in god?
  I talk to him everyday....
• Update on this. Turns out the piston was only stuck out because that's where it 'auto-adjusted' to. The real problem is the OTHER piston!
  I pushed both pistons back flush with the caliper. When I pull the lever one piston moves more than the other, so when both pads hit the rotor they are not centred in the caliper.
  I tried servicing the caliper as best I could but I don't have an air compressor which you apparently need to get the pistons out.
  I got on to the shop I bought them from but they're saying that I need to pay them for a service. My view is that the brakes have only done about 350 miles and this should be covered under warranty.
  Do Juicys need such frequent servicing? Nothing in the manual about it.
• My Juicy 7's have done about 450 miles this year and I've had no problems like you've described, only just vaguely considering new pads in the rear.
  I thought bar the odd bleed Avid Juicys were supposed to be fit and forget (within reason).

  It's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.
  I've bought a new bike....ouch - result
  Can I buy a new bike?...No - no result
• I've recently serviced my hope mini's and you don't need an air compressor to get pistons out you just need a bike pump just be careful as air is more explosive than oil when released under pressure and they do fly out at quite a rapid rate!

  http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1994177/
  http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/4459322/
  http://cornwallmtb.kk5.org/
• Yeah I tried my bike pump but they wouldn't budge. As I can't complete the service I've ended up sending them off so we'll see what happens.
• my LBS used GT85 on mine and they were fine (but people have said the seal expand so be careful - yes they are a good LBS!!!)
  take out all the braking surfaces/pads/disks etc, soak the piston in either one and just push the piston back in (very carefully the first time, i think i cracked the caliper doing it) and then push it out with the brake lever and work it back and ofrth over and over (its boring) untill when you squeeze the lever both pistons move equally
  if they re really dead you can get new pistons from CRC for naff all, and i think fitting is pretty simple tbh (not done it personally)
  clean everything off really well and replace all the bits et voila...
  I'm pretty sure it was just travelling home for Xmas with all the road salt spray that did mine .....

  We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
  - @ddraver

• Update on this. Turns out the piston was only stuck out because that's where it 'auto-adjusted' to. The real problem is the OTHER piston!
  I pushed both pistons back flush with the caliper. When I pull the lever one piston moves more than the other, so when both pads hit the rotor they are not centred in the caliper.
  I tried servicing the caliper as best I could but I don't have an air compressor which you apparently need to get the pistons out.
  I got on to the shop I bought them from but they're saying that I need to pay them for a service. My view is that the brakes have only done about 350 miles and this should be covered under warranty.
  Do Juicys need such frequent servicing? Nothing in the manual about it.

  You can push the piston out using your brake lever; remove the caliper from its fixing, clamp the none seized piston in as far as you can (I used two small spanners, one of which needs to fit through the caliper, and a couple of small clamps). Then pump the brake lever several times and the piston will come out just beyond the seal. Then dismantle the caliper and pull the said piston out by hand. I would only recommend this if you are replacing the piston seal, or at least that's what I did. If you need to to remove both pistons you'll have to remove each piston separately reassembling, bleeding and then dismantling again in between which makes it a hassle to do two at once but usually only one would seize at once unless your unlucky.
  Always try to get the piston moving back and forth first using the method described in a previous post first as this is easier - doesn't require dismantling or bleeding. There is a technical manual available on the net somewhere that I found:
  http://www.cycleslambert.com/download.p ... Manual.pdf
  My experience is that they do need a bit of maintenance if you ride mainly off road where its wet and muddy. I had one piston seize in the same way as you describe over the course of about 250 miles but I guess I could have cleaned them better/ more regularly. As a last resort I renewed the piston seal.

  MTB
  2007 Specialized Stumpy Elite
  199? Kona Explosif Shock Mtb
  ROAD
  2008 Jamis Zenith Pro
  2008 Ribble 7005 Audax
• This is doing my nut in. Got the brake back today and it's the same! Both pistons move but the outboard piston only moves a fraction as much as the inboard one. Plus the beautifully bled brake I sent away is now a spongy mess.
  Frustrating.
• This is not advice for the original poster as I'm sure you've sorted it now after all these years!
  I had a similar problem after changing the pads and leaving it in the shed for about a year, pads wouldn't retract and were sticky, discs rubbed and pads wouldn't move equally. As others like myself search forums to cure snags I thought I'd post what I did:
  I took the pads out and with a big flat blade screwdriver pushed one piston fully back in caliper, whilst holding it back, squeeze lever carefully so the other piston comes out, not too much but enough to put a smear of vaseline on it. Then push this back in with screw driver and hold the other one back again and cycle the vaselined one in and out with the lever and screw driver a few times. repeat on other piston.
  Then put pads back in and I got a wooden clothes peg from the washing line, took it apart and you have 2 wedge shaped bits of wood, stick one straight down between the pads and one in from the side between the pads so they are spread equally and square and the wedge doesn't tilt the pads.
  So 2 wedges in each brake, leave overnight.
  Next day remove wedges, put wheels on, squeeze levers quickly 5-6 times then hold, go riding and eat cake.
  Worked a treat.

Hydraulic Caliper Rebuild

Written by Erik Osborn Tuesday, 15 March 2011 00:00

Repair & Tech Info - Featured Tech Articles

Put the Hammer Down: Lessons Learned on Hydraulic Disk Brake Pad Replacement & Rebuild

This summer I had to rebuild and bleed one of the calipers on my Avid Juicy 7s. I thought I’d share both the story of the screw up that got me there, as well as some tips for the rebuild process, in particular a great work-around if you don’t have the air compressor required to remove the pistons according to Avid’s rebuild instructions.

First the story. Avid provides very clear and simple instructions for replacing brake pads: push the pistons back, remove the old pads, click in the new ones. No where does it say you need a hammer, so when I found myself reaching for one, I really should have known better. For some reason my new pads weren’t clicking in, and a thought a little love tap might be just the thing to drive them home. Bad idea. The pistons are made of a hard brittle material, and few taps was all it took to break one off.

I’ve been working on bikes as an amateur mechanic for about 20 years. Pretty much everything I’ve learned has been from breaking something, like when I was 17 and I cross-threaded the BB shell on my first mountain bike when I tried to screw the left cup into the right side. The take home message: if it seems like you are applying more force than you should (and especially if little shards of threads are falling out), stop, you are probably doing something wrong. Too bad that after 20 years I had’t learned this lesson yet.

I’ve been running hydraulics for about 10 years, but have always left anything beyond a simple pad replacement to the pros. Now, with my mechanic-esteem at an all time low, I needed a chance at redemption, and decided it was time to learn how to fix my brakes myself.

Honestly, the most difficult part of the rebuild was summoning the courage to e-mail the story of my foolishness to the entire Bikeman team list. Hard as it was, I knew my teammates would have the answers I needed. They clued me in that the original problem with the pistons not retracting was most likely too much fluid in the system. Probably a result of the last bleed that had done at a local shop. The lesson here is that if you follow Avid’s instructions of rocking a screwdriver back & forth between the old brake pads, and the pistons still won’t retract enough to get the new pads in, put the hammer down! and instead open the bleed screw to let a little fluid out.

They also told me that the broken piston was fixable. I would need two Avid kits for this job: the caliper rebuild kit and a bleed kit (Avid makes dozens of rebuild kits, so order carefully for your system). Another valuable resource was SRAM’s excellent service site, which has tech manuals for all SRAM products going back several years. The caliper kit contains everything needed to replace all the parts in caliper - bolts w/ loctite, seals, pistons - except the two caliper body-halves. No instructions, though, so I had to turn to the Avid Technical Manual (2009 version for Juicy 7s).

These instructions were easy to follow, until I got to the step requiring an air compressor, which I don’t have. The air compressor is needed to push the pistons out. You don’t want to try to grab or pry the pistons with tools because they are brittle and you will break them and/or scratch the piston bore in the caliper body which would compromise smooth operation and the seal.

So for the compressor step I figured out a simple work-around using a floor pump, inflation needle, a couple rubber or cork stoppers, some metal bars, and clamps. See photo.

The metal bars were from my scrap can. I cut them to length and drilled a hole in the center of one for the inflation needle. I also drilled one of the corks to accept the needle snugly. I inserted the needle though the bar and the cork, and clamped the cork and caliper together with the two bars. Then I gradually pressurized the caliper with the floor pump until the piston popped out. Warning: the piston may extend slowly, but when it finally pops out it will fly like a bullet and spray hydraulic fluid. Cover the caliper with a rag before you start to pressurize to keep things contained. Also, if you aren't wearing them already, safety glasses are not a bad idea at this point either. Another note: for outer caliper body, you will need a second stopper so you can plug both holes. I’m convinced that this work-around is better than the compressor idea anyway. It seems like you’d risk damaging the threads with the compressor barb, and you have better control of the process with a floor pump and everything clamped together.

After the rebuild, I had to bleed the brake. Once again I found Avid’s kit easy to use and the instructions easy to follow. This kit does come with instructions, as well as spacers for a wide range of brake models (Juicy, Code, and Elixir). A bike stand is very helpful, as is a loop of old bike tube to hold the brake lever in.

So, that was it. A couple hours in the basement and my pride was restored and my bike was back in action. And I'll save the hammer for carpentry projects.

Avid Juicy Ultimate