Avid Juicy 3

I know, I know, not the right forum for this- but:

Since PJ shamed me into putting my MTB back together I have run into a problem.

I need to change the pads in the rear disc brake, as they are cained.

The pistons are standing out too far to get the new pads in however,

Could anyone help?

tyre lever or some other implement that will not damage the pistons, gently push the pistons back in.

Tried that- these pistons are not for moving!

I did that which you suggested both with the old pads in, and afterward.

I am beginning to suspect that I will have to bleed the buggers to get the pistons to retract....

Mind you I might be being a bit "rear gunner" with the pressure I am applying- should I just give hem a good shove do you think?

pistons need a bit of go to get going. Get a crowbar :)

Try and open the fluid resevoir and then do it, incase there is an airlock.

Fluid brakes, be it cars, bikes or motorbikes are very tetchy.

Keep fiddling boy !

I usually drain the brakes when replacing the pads

Bleed 'em. Only answer most of the time.

Avids like force. Tell the brake you hate it then give it a good hard shove.
Seriously you should be able to change the juicy's pads without bleeding.

I think the problem may stem from the time that my bro pulled the brake on when the rear wheel was temporarily absent- I levered the pads back out again with a flat bladed screwdriver, but I don't think they have ever gone back in as far as they should.

I might treat them to a bleed just to reset the system, as it were.

Now has anyone in the London area got an Avid bleeding kit that they would be cool with me borrowing?

No. But I need to buy one.
Or you can buy one and I'll borrow yours?

Where are you based Object?

On the interweb?
I work west, live east.

I may as well buy one/order one today- good to have in the toolbox.

I'm in deepest SE8 if you want to borrow it.

Heh. I reckon I'll just add one to my next shopping list. Cheers though.

bump, if only to mention that once again lfgss utfs delivers.

after a simple enough front pads replacement, the rear pads swap on my juicy 3's are a right pain - can get them in ok but they're binding on the rotor. I put the old pads back in & used them to lever the pistons as far back as possible... I guess there's too much fluid in the hose, so I have to drain a bit out? looks a nasty job...

juicy's are a bit of a PITA without a bleed kit (or homemade version).

What'll be happening is your pushing the pistons back in, but there is likely a bit more air in teh resivoir than there used to be, so now its slowly winding them back out and rubbing against disc.

I have Juicy 5's. The other day I took rear wheel out to fit a rack, bike upside down. Brakes front and rear were spot on. On putting the rear wheel back in, found that disc wasn't slotting between pads at all, no space. Opened pads out ever so slightly with a flat head screw driver and slotted disc in ok. Afterwards however the rear brake was hard on, no give. I loosened the nut on the lever end ever so slightly and lost a very small amount of brake fluid, which eased the brake issue, but now there is a touch too much movement at lever end, until pads engage with disc.

I've tried adjustment at lever end. Is it a case of bleeding and re filling you think? Cheers

adjustment at lever end? How? if you lost fluid then you need more, either a full bleed or maybe just a minimal topup if you can.

It's likely that the lever got pulled (even just a little bit) while the disc was out, that's enough to close up the gap. Could you have pushed the pads back just a bit further with the screwdriver? I think 5s auto-adjust to allow for pad wear.

yeah - I learnt two things earlier from threads I found on the Singletrack forum - you're not supposed to turn the bike upside down to take the rear out (I did) and you're not supposed to pull the lever with the disc not between the pads (I did)

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bleeding-avid-juicy-5

*le sigh.....

I'd not worry about the 'not turning the bike upside down' I do that all the time to transport it, with no probs, but the squeezing the lever thing is a tedious bastard to fix. Top them up if you can with DOT 5.1 or 4 brake fluid, that might be enough to get rid of the spongy feeling.

Flipping a bike with Juicys shouldn't cause any problems but in my experience even storing a Juicy equipped bike vertically for short periods can mess them up.

Juicys are horrid horrid brakes and the bleed kits Avid supplies are fucking abysmal.

If you have Juicys/an Avid bleed kit my advice would be to find some very small zipties and put them around the tube where it attaches to the syringe and to the brass threaded bit, without doing this you'll never get the required vacuum.

In my opinion Juicys always feel like they are shy a bit of fluid, no matter how much time I spend bleeding them and trying to squeeze more fluid into the system I've never been able to get rid of that feeling.

Next time, buy something with a fecking bleed nipple.

thanks for the ziptie tip MV, my gf's bike has juicys, I've got a bleed kit but have been putting off doing a bleed as, it's not my bike and, the brakes seem to be okish.

Flipping a bike with Juicys shouldn't cause any problems but in my experience even storing a Juicy equipped bike vertically for short periods can mess them up.
.

If they're being a pest when your bike's vertical just bleed the lever off the bars, at a weird angle, kinda with the lever blade pointing in the air but try a few odd ones, that'll do it. When you take the syringe off make sure you've got a bit of pressure on it so it's overflowing, oil coming out means no air going in.

Also, adjusting the little grub screw on the inside of the lever blade will set the reach of the lever, they can work their way in over time. Most people riding round town or riding XC run their levers further from the bar than if you were riding DH or something when arm pump might be an issue.

Oh, and try to avoid prying your pistons apart, use the head of a spanner, whatever size suits, 12 or 13? Remove the caliper and push them back with equal pressure over the whole piston. They're too fragile to go mad with screw drivers, plus people who are into this kind or screwdriver business are often not shy of trying it with their new brake pads in there, not good. If they still won't go back try spray some lube on them, or brake fluid as well as cracking open the bleed plug a touch at the lever end. If it's too hard to do it in your hand take the whole brake off and do it on a flat surface. If you're thinking about bleeding it anyway you're way more likely to do a decent job if the brake is removed from the bike anyway.