front calipiers
 

W126 300SD

does any one know if these are "floating calipers?" one piston moves as the inner one moves along with the caliper. i have been told both so i would like to confirm this. thanks

ned

If you have Teves(ATE) or Bendix they are fixed

If you have Gerling they are floating.

That is what the 126 manual says, My 300SDL has Bendix

Performance products shows, 81-86 SD or SDL. Front Bendix or ATE. Rear Bendix or Girling. Same with fastlane.

Dave

i probably have a seized piston then. thanks for info.

Have you seen Girling calipers on many MB's all three of mine have ATE's and I must say they are easy to work on and very trouble free if you use ATE pads.......
William Rogers......

I'm not familiar with your model, so can't comment on what is standard fitting.

A floating caliper only has one piston. When this piston pushes the brake pad against the disc, its action moves the sliding part of the caliper so that the brake pad fixed to the caliper presses against the other side of the disk.

A fixed caliper has two pistons and each piston is responsible for pushing a brake pad against the disk.

When a floating caliper siezes, it is usually the sliding part of the caliper that stops sliding. You then only get the pad on the piston side pressing on the disk and you get vastly reduced braking effort. If the piston has siezed, you get no braking effort at all.

On a fixed caliper, if one piston siezes, you get reduced braking effort. It is very unlikely that both pistons would sieze at the same time. If neither piston moves, it is usually a problem elsewhere in the system.