the_tool_man
Full Access Member
Pulled the wheels off to redo the plastidip and paint the calipers red today.
Old plastidip coming off
It actually did some damage to the lugnut covers when it came off, which was surprising
The first time I plastidipped my rims I didn’t take the wheels off the truck. Taking them off and laying them down makes the plasti go on MUCH better as it’s much less likely to run
While the rims were drying I took a wire brush to the calipers to get them ready for the caliper paint. I noticed this rotor was looking a little concerning
I bought the Tahoe less than 6 months ago and it has brand new tires, so I’ve kind of assumed the brakes and rotors were fairly new as well. This was my first excuse to get the wheels off and actually take a look. The brake pads didn’t look too worn down and I couldn’t feel any sort of gouge in the rotor, but you can see that lighter colored ring on it. I’m going to keep an eye on it, but ultimately the truck brakes just fine without any symptoms of a bad rotor/bad brake pads so I’m not too worried at the moment.
Painting the calipers was actually kind of a pain in the ass since the paint didn’t want to stick to 3 out of the 4. One or two still have some spots the paint wouldn’t fill in properly but they’re out of sight. This is probably the one that turned out the best:
I used glossifier on the plastidip this time. It’s kind of hard to get an even coat since you can’t see it going on like the black plasti but overall it didn’t turn out too bad
And while in the course of doing all this, I may have discovered the cause of my squeaky suspension:
Looks like my next small project will be replacing this bushing
I've tried the brush-on caliper paint before. Even with a good cleaning, it's hard to get good results with the caliper mounted. Next time you pull the calipers to replace the pads, give the calipers a good cleaning with brake cleaner. If your experience is like mine, much of the red paint will come off, too. Once they're really clean, mask off the brake line, pistons, seals, etc. and use the aerosol spray. Or, you could unhook the lines and do the calipers on the workbench. If you go that route, it's a good time to replace the rubber lines with braided stainless ones, too. Duplicolor makes a nice caliper painting kit. The paint is heat cured, so when you bed the new brake pads, it should harden the paint, too.
