Ive had to have my offside rear brake re built twice now, as there claiming that when the hand brake and the foot brake are applied at the same time it pops the seals....

Anyone else had this problem?

Its quite hard to remember not to put the hand brake and foot brake on at the same time as its a natural instinct to do it when you stop!

 

not had this. but doesnt surprise me with hispec or "lospec" as they should be called.

 

they spent ages redesigning things when they had this issue first time around

how old is the caliper design?

 

i reckon ive had them for about 3-4 years

 

ask them if they will send you a new caliper as this one has known issues and see what they say

you are probably best off talking to the bossman himself rather than someone else as he'll probably ok'y it, but it's getting hold of him that's the issue

 

there sending me a new seal kit out that's cost me £35 again! but if it brakes again i will definatly give that a go.

 

As Dojj says, speak to either Jeff or Fiona.

The lads on the counter/phones are useless.

 

Stupid comment from Hi Spec re the brake and e/brake at same time not being allowed, piss poor excuse for a piss poor design imo.
If you get no joy pm me and I'll give you Geoffs home number.
tabetha

 

They ain't fit for purpose then. As the car handbook tells you to apply the handbrake while the foot brake is pressed. IIRC
only experience of hispec brakes ive had is poor. get rid if you can mate.

 

UPDATE-

Had the brake re built again, and guess what within an hour of driving low brake fluid light on and same brake leaking and i didt even touch the handbrake.

What shall i do know?

Does anyone think hi spec will replace it for me free of charge? i cant afford to keep getting it rebuilt :S

 

it is really annoying me now!

 

take them off and use some standard calipers mate and then ask for a refund if they don't work

 

Typical rubbish Hi Spec excuses.

i really am suprised the company is still in business.

 

Hi Spec are in the process of a redesign of this rear caliper as there was an issue with the positioning of the internal seals.
They have been at it for the better part of 5 months and not sure when they will complete the job as they are not known for their speed
A snail would leave them behind.

 

They've been at the redesign a LOT longer than 5 months, and a LOT longer than 5 years.
I've known Geoff around 20 years, even when all this was done in a garage at the rear of his house,(hence why I have his personal contact number/s).
Even for myself he, and his "mate" have done some shockingly shit work.
My 2wd 4 pot calipers were rebuilt, and fitted to a 2.0GL sierra mk1, with 283mm discs on a seperate disc/bell combo.
100 miles later I started getting a clonking noise and grabbing sensation when applying the brakes, when I stopped I found not only TWO leaking bleed nipples, 1 on each caliper but the outer most pad had worn down the initial bit of material, and the metal part of the pad was now GOUGING it's way through the bell and the bolts heads holding the disc and bell together, I still have them, and VERY willing to show if anyone wants to host them for me ?
The cure of course was to grind about 5mm from the centre most part of the outer pad each side, and to strip and re seal the 100 mile old calipers, after REMOVING BLASTING GRIT left in them by Geoff himself.
A few months later the discs warped, his fix was to skim one face in the lathe, take it out turn it the other way ans skim the other face, NO BACKFACING IN SIGHT.
I thank god I didn't have to do an emergency stop on the M25, M11, A11 on the way home in my 100 miles.
Like I say I have the bells/discs if anyone would like to see the damage, and make your own mind up.
tabetha

 

I have not had that many problems with Hi Spec it is just these rear calipers although I have read other stories with disc run out etc. If they think 0.012" is acceptable they are wrong!
The Billet 4's I use on a front conversion but I only use their calipers not any of the other parts as I prefer to ensure the rest is correct with no issues.
Their main problem seems to be the time it takes or them to get any “special” done and here is a case that proves the point, I started this back in early November 2010 and 5 months on and still waiting.
I took the rear calipers apart and made a drawing in AutoCad and it was then easy to see where the problems lay. I then took a trip to Hi Spec to point all of the issues out to Geoff. He accepted that there was a problem and had not though of the solutions I put forward so armed with a drawing of what I thought should be done went off to redesign them.

Their point of not applying the handbrake while the foot brake is depressed is nonsense as you have no choice when driving a car on the road.
I know why there is this problem, it is due to the port design, if there is pressure in the cylinder the seal gets extruded into the port and then gets cut when the pressure is released. This is a relatively easy fix just relieve the port which is the recommended answer when a seal transitions a port.
The leak is due to the position of the two seals and when the handbrake is released the two seals over lap thus they can not seal correctly and cause the leak.
It does get very very frustrating waiting and would not mind so much if they could give a definitive date but one just gets a series of the same old lame excuses once heard repeated over the course of months start to make you wonder just what the true story is.

 

will hi spec be replacing rear calipers when this is resolved??

 

I only posted here as it was relevant to the problems we were having with the same caliper, so thought it appropriate to let you know what the situation is or hopefully soon to be was.
As it stands Hi Spec have said they have tested the modified calipers and are going to replace the calipers with the modified ones once they have been manufactured.
One thing I find interesting, they knew of the problems last year so why they took the option to rebuild a faulty design seems a little strange.

You may want to give them a call to see if they will replace yours.

 

Guess what.... nearside rear brake is now leaking, this will be the 4th rebuild ive had on rear callipers now. absolute joke!!!!!

 

Throw them in the bin, buy some AP's instead of that pikey lo-spec shit. Fit & forget!

 

Call him and say the problems again and say you want it fixed or there coming off

I had an issue with compbrake over fittings and pipes and this went on for 5weeks until I said if it not sorted you can have the lot back

Get rid of them

 

just get rid of the showers of shit mate.!

 

Not for you then mate

 

don't think anyone will be there crimbo day mate

but just simply ask for a refund and then get an actual single caliper for the foot brake and a spot caliper for the handbrake

 

i was really looking forward to gettin a lovely shiny set of hispec brakes.........till i read this

 

I sent mine back with out trying then after reading the reviews. Went for brembos in the end

 

I dont know what to do, its only the rear ones that are a problem because of the handbrake. I cant really afford to change them at the moment. do you think if i kick up enough fuss they will replace them free of charge. It really is getting ridiculous now. the rebuild kit is £40 then its costing me another £40 in labour and this will be the fouth time now!

 

It's not a question of could, it's should. If not take them to the small claims court. It is the only way to make fuckwits like this listen. To be honest I would give them the whole lot back and buy a set of AP fronts & stick to standard rears.

If anyone is considering buying a set, you must be off your head!

 

Il give them a ring when office is open ask to speak to managing director and explain situation, the brakes cost nearly £3000 and ive only done about 4000-5000 miles on them!!

 

OH MY FUCKING DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :shoc ked:

i'm sure you would have been able to buy a top end make of stoppers for that price, even with the added cossie tax that some suppliers add to them

 

i hope you got both front and rear brakes for 3k !

 

This is a joke, you have had to have them rebuilt 4 times at the cost of £80 a time, thats fucking scandalous if you ask me, you already paid £3,000 for something that in theory should work as described straight out of the box...

I'd of rebuilt them once to give them the benefit of the doubt then i woulda thrown them down on the counter and demanded a refund the 2nd time, no way would i let it happen 4 times!

Hope you can resolve this but ffs don't get them rebuilt again, do you have all the documentation and receipts from when you got them rebuilt, if so get them all together for when you go down to the offices!

Ginge

 

£3G for hi spec brakes? and theyve the cheek to charge you £40 each time the fall apart?

 

yeah front and backs for that

 

This was for front and backs supplied and fitted by my local tuning company..

 

if i paid three grand for brakes i would be wanting them to do the job extremely well.
i am led to believe the rears dont do too much braking, why not try reylands conversion?

 

if its a supply and fit then take it back to the local tuner. its their problem to chase it up as your contract of sale is with them. i cant believe the cheek of them to keep charging you to repair after charging you £3G for something thats clearly not fit for the purpose.

 

its more down to principal now, i dont really want to have to spend more money on something at ive already paid for

 

yeah thats true, my tuner is a also a very good friend so il give him a ring and see if he can help me out

 

£3000!!!!! Jesus fucking Christ Serious question, why did you buy Lo-specs instead of Ap's at that price?