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brake lever rebuilds, worn bushings

1816 Views 16 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Cleared2land, Mar 8, 2022

mack_turtle

Discussion Starter · Jan 30, 2022

yes, this is rather obscure!

I have TRP Slate T4 brakes. they've been performing fantastically for a long time. easy to bleed, minimal drama. with all this use, the plastic bushings in the levers are really showing their age. I can feel the action give when I pull them and they rattle like crazy when I'm not on the brakes.

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So far as I can tell, TRP does not make these bushings available to consumers. I'd love to give these brakes a refresh, but I don't know how in the world to source such a small, odd part.

if it's not an option, who makes fully serviceable brakes that do not end up in a landfill as soon as something goes wrong?

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the-one1

· #2 · Jan 30, 2022

Fully serviceable with bearings in the levers? Hope is one of them.

Redlands R&C

· #3 · Jan 30, 2022

I did this once,but with an old pair of canti/moto brake levers. I honestly hit up the local Ace Hardware/true value and just dug around in the nylon bushings bin and was able to find ones that worked great. Might be worth a shot? The lever just needs to pivot, it is one of the lesser complicated parts in that assembly.
Otherwise, Hope has been mentioned, and the older Avid Codes had bearings as well. (I also rebuilt some 2008 Codes, they need to go on a bike again)

Reactions: 1

mack_turtle

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 30, 2022

I'll try the local ACE, they seem to have all kinds of oddball hardwhere when I need it.

Otherwise, I can keep riding these until they get to be too much and go the Hope route some day.

wschruba

· #5 · Jan 30, 2022

Send Tektro an email. Failing that, measure the size of the pivot...assuming the bushing isn't flanged (not a deal breaker, btw), you can buy them from McMaster or Grainger. If it has a flange, get a separate washer in the same material with appropriate diameters. Outer is more important than inner, since you can just punch the rest of it out using a hole punch.

mack_turtle

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 30, 2022

wschruba said:
Send Tektro an email.

I already did. the last time I asked them about replacement seals for the lever, they said, essentially, to throw my brakes in the trash because everything is for one-time use and disposable and mine are more than a few years old and therefore no good.

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Redlands R&C

· #7 · Jan 30, 2022

Might also consider (although far less ideal) buying a new shimano master cylinder/lever assembly and run it with the tektro caliper? Better to toss away part of the system rather than the whole system.

mack_turtle

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 30, 2022

I went to ACE and found these. the white ones didn't quite fit in the lever body and were too thin to be modified. the spacer of the black ones was the perfect diameter, but the flange on the end was too thick. so I sanded them down to about half thickness and installed, then cut the spacers to so they don't stick out. brakes feel CRISP now.

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mack_turtle

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jan 30, 2022

Redlands R&C said:
Might also consider (although far less ideal) buying a new shimano master cylinder/lever assembly and run it with the tektro caliper? Better to toss away part of the system rather than the whole system.

I went looking for these with my last Shimano brakes and could not find them. Shimano told me they don't exist separately. I found a few sketchy off-brand ones on ebay and such, but I don't trust those. where did you see Shimano master cylinder assemblies for sale? or did you just mean a Shimano brake lever, meaning the whole thing?

Redlands R&C

· #10 · Jan 30, 2022

I think the higher end models might have replaceable brake lever/master cylinder, but it has been a few years since I looked. I know at one point they were, because a few people would run the XTR Race lever assembly with the Saint/Zee 4 piston calipers. But with supply chain issues and all that who knows.

I'm glad the hardware store idea worked out! It sounds like what I had to do with the older moto/canti ones I did, a little bit of sanding/trimming, but they were snug indeed and once bolted in you couldn't see it anyway. How do yours look? Is it a satisfactory feeling or did it accomplish what you were hoping for?

mack_turtle

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jan 31, 2022

2

Redlands R&C said:
How do yours look? Is it a satisfactory feeling or did it accomplish what you were hoping for?

certainly nothing to look at, but they feel snug and no longer rattling. no one will ever notice how ugly it looks unless they look really close.

before:

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after:

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ha! certainly doesn't look different, but the rattling sound is definitely gone.

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Redlands R&C

· #12 · Jan 31, 2022

That.
Is.
Hideous!
How can you even be seen in public with such an eyesore! Of course this is sarcasm. More important is less rattle (good) and solid feel in your hands (very good!) and it sounds like you got it with ~$5 worth of hardware store bits, my favorite!

Reactions: 1

mack_turtle

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 31, 2022

update: TRP has these bushing for $3 a pair plus shipping. I like my DIY solution, but it's nice to know that I can get the OEM ones cheap.

Reactions: 1

noapathy

· #14 · Feb 1, 2022

mack_turtle said:
update: TRP has these bushing for $3 a pair plus shipping. I like my DIY solution, but it's nice to know that I can get the OEM ones cheap.

Is that on their site somewhere or from their email response?

mack_turtle

Discussion Starter · #15 · Feb 1, 2022

noapathy said:
Is that on their site somewhere or from their email response?

Email response. I couldn't find it on their site, either.

TheBossOfBread

· #16 · Mar 8, 2022

mack_turtle said:
I already did. the last time I asked them about replacement seals for the lever, they said, essentially, to throw my brakes in the trash because everything is for one-time use and disposable and mine are more than a few years old and therefore no good.

Not what happened in my case. They told me seals were $9.99 each for the calliper and are half price if they fail outside the warranty period. They're $9.99 if you want to buy spares etc.

Cleared2land

· #17 · Mar 8, 2022

Nice job Mack!
Necessity is the mother of invention.

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