A recent project reminded me of this excellent thread. Arrived at the campground with a hot right rear brake. It'd happened before, and I dismantled both rear brakes, cleaned and lubricated with this Permatex 24125 Ceramic Lube
I really recommend the stuff. Buy a jar on Amazon Prime and save nearly half the auto supply price... Anyhow, hot again on another trip. This time I went with reman calipers, which come with a new
hardware kit, these pins, clips, and copper washers for the brake line
When we had the 1983 E350 chassis that used those slide pins, I found I could tap at about 45* with a drift pin right at those retaining bumps and they'd retreat into the bracket. Then I could drive them straight ahead like CD showed with the 3/8" extension. I couldn't work the bumps that way on the E450 rear calipers so I used CD's two-screw-driver approach. If I were going to do a lot of these I'd grind a pair of cheap HF screwdrivers to a chisel edge to help get them in place.
I'm adding this to provide a few "assembly tips" for those slide pins.
1. Of course, first lube the sliding surfaces and pins with that 24125. The auto supply stores sell little tear-off packages of "ceramic" lube, usually at the register. They're parked "enough for one axle" but on E450 it's more like "one brake" so get two.
2. If you forgot how the pin goes in, just remember that the BUMPS engage the Bracket, not the Caliper.
3. Parts must align perfectly. By that I mean the matching grooves the Pins go into.
4. Do the Lower Pin first, keeping the Upper from falling out by slipping the Drift Pin you used to drive the Pins out into the grooves temporarily.
5. Clamp a little 4" ViseGrip to the Pin to compress the end of the Pin where it enters the Groove! The tool will get in the way and it'll fall off as soon as you tap on the Pin, but all you need is help getting that first 1/8" - 1/4" into the Groove.
6. NOW tap the Pin partway in and repeat for the Upper.
7. Tap Pins till you have to stop with the Hammer and use that Drift to drive them down till the Bumps are against the Bracket. You'll hear and feel the difference. Check with your fingernail and you'll be able to tell the Bump is against the Bracket.
Above Steps took way longer to Write than to DO, and they took all the cuss-work out of the pins. With C-D's Two-Screw-Driver removal and the Vise-Grip-Install Pinch, those Pins aren't all that bad.
EDIT: And YES, the Rear Brake components like Pads and Caliper, are readily available. Autozone in Panama City FL (decent town but not a metropolis) had them in stock. Easy parts availability, even away from home, is a major Class C advantage.
