When I got my 20s I couldn't find any hub rings. I have a call in to tire rack and there having issues finding them as well. Its a 79.5 mm center? So no I haven't had hub rings on the car. I'm not going to put them back on til I get them either.

 

So they wasted $100 instead of $80. That's bad math on their part. The calipers have more of a history of failing than a fluid line. Oh well. Glad it fixed your issue.

 

The rear calipers have a history of failing?

 

Not that I'm aware of. But calipers in general will fail more than a line will. It's a moving part that succumbs to heat cycles every time you drive. If not properly lubed when changing pads and such or carelessly handled they can fail sooner than normal. They could also just simply go bad from poor quality. No idea what the reason is in the OP's situation, but logic aims for the moving part more than the stationary part.

 

I don't know how common it is, but my passenger caliper froze up too. The car is an '04 and had about 60,000 miles when it happened.

 

Caliper of this design have a history of failing. It's not usually the clamping part that fails, but the mechanics of how the caliper self-centers

Basically, the caliper bolts to two "sliders" that slide in and out of the intermediate bracket which supports the pads. The caliper actually floats as long as the sliders are well lubed.

All that prevents water from entering the sliders is a small rubber boot. It only takes a little bit of damage to tear the boot and if water gets in, it rusts and seizes.

Most often, it seized but allows the caliper to still work by pressing one pad in. Unfortunately, it won't let the caliper recenter itself, so the pad continues to press on the rotor even when you are not on the brakes, causing it to heat up, put abnormal wear on the rotor and damage the brakes.

A lot of cars have this design in their brakes. Usually the front brakes are up higher, so they are clear from most water, and get warmer so any water burns off quickly. Rear brakes tend to sit lower, and don't work as hard (staying cooler), so the rear brakes of this design are very prone to seizing...especially the lower siders

I've replaced 3 different calipers, on 3 different cars with this sort of brake design. Same issue. Boot tears, water gets in, slider rusts in place. I'm replacing my left rear caliper on my G35 because of this Sat actually. The bottom slider seized in place, causing the caliper to freeze. When i hit the brakes, only the inside pad pressed n the rotor. Over time, the outer pad wore away and the piston actually had to push the rotor and caliper over maybe 1/8" each time i hit the brakes...giving me a soft pedal, while heating the brake up to maybe 190* during normal driving, while the good brake on the other side was around 100 degrees. Fortunately, reman calipers from rockauto.com are ~$50..which is fairly cheap for a semi-loaded caliper (already bought new OEM pads and stop-tech rotors).


So, inspect your brakes and look for pad wear. If one side is more worn than the other, clean and lube the slider pins.

 

Very well put. I'm building a VW Ghia for my daughter. They came from the factory with front disc and fixed calipers. 2 piston design. They can also seize up if you forget to check brake pads regularly and replace them before the piston goes out too far and unseats from the inside of the bore. So routine maintenance should yield years of life from these calipers. Not sure why so many cars use the floating style caliper. It's proven inferior over fixed caliper designs. I guess it's another way for the repair shops to make a buck after a car is out of warranty from the manufacturer.