Hi All Again!
I am now working on the rear brake of the 1987 trail boss 4x4 and am having a lot of trouble removing the retaining pins that hold the brake pads. Not a very good design IMHO.

The piston has been compressed to maximize room to work on the pins and penetrating oil has been soaking away for a about a day. I am a little concerned to use heat because the brake functions fine and I don't want to damage the seals.

Any tips or suggestions?

Thanks

 

How I got frozen pins out was to use a small needle nose vice grips to clamp on the pins in between the pads and work it back and forth until I had enough pin exposed on the outside to where I could finish pulling them out. Some gave me problems,but can't think of any that I couldn't eventually get out.If needed, seals for the old 87 and 88 that used the same rear caliper are getting rare as hens teeth and about as expensive for what they are.New OEM Polaris Square Ring NOS | eBay POLARIS OEM NOS PURE ATV SQUARE RING 5410499 | eBay

 

Worked like a charm on one of the pins! The other one is more stubborn so more pb blaster and waiting.

Are you suggesting I pick up a seal now and have it in my back pocket? Heck this caliper and seal is 30 years old.

Thanks again!!!

 

After 30 years I would think the seals would need replacing.

 

Yea, I guess it wouldn't hurt to replace the seal. Also, I just got the other pin out. That was tough and time consuming but I did like you said and eventually worked it out.

So two questions:
1) Would anti-seize be effective in preventing this retention pin hassle again?
2) Off the brake topic, is Dexron/Mercon a good substitute for type F tranny fluid for the front hubs? If not, what would be better or best?

Thanks again!

 

Anti seize would help on pins. Don't use transmission fluid in the hubs if you can get the Polaris fluid. Demand Drive Plus replaced Type F years ago and lubricates better.

 

Got it, I polished up the pins and will use anti seize when they are installed.
Polaris demand drive plus oil has been ordered!

Thanks again!

 

Hi OPT,
Rear Brake caliper update and another question

Turns out the previous owner installed a 1993 (or newer) rear brake caliper on this 1987 trail boss. I was able to identify it by going through exploded view diagrams of various years and identified the caliper. It appears that for the Trail Boss, 1993 was the first year there was a brake light switch on the actual caliper and that's what is installed on my atv.

Does it use the same piston seal that you highlighted above?

Thanks Again

 

One seal is the same as the one used on the 87,the other seal has a different part number.OEM Rear Brake Square Ring 1991-1993 Polaris Big Boss Trail Boss Blazer 5410518 | eBay
New OEM Polaris Square Ring NOS | eBay

 

Awesome! Thanks again!