# Fiber Washers for old Side Pull Calipers



## SirMike1983 (Aug 28, 2017)

I recently bought a bag of 50 red, fiber washers from England. The purpose here is to replenish my brake parts stock. One thing that tends to happen with old side pull calipers on 3-speeds is that they develop a lot of play and flex. People sometimes try to gorilla down on the bolt and nut to force the caliper tight. This often just buggers up the screw head and the flex remains.

What often is the cause of the flex is simple wear. The fastest wearing part of caliper core is the rubber or fiber washer that acts as a buffer between the caliper arms. I fixed two sets of Schwinn-built calipers this season with exactly this problem - excessive brake flex caused by a worn buffer washer. The answer was simply a new fiber washer and a couple drops of light oil. Then tighten down the bolt, and the flex is gone. The brakes are tight and respond well. The  same would work for a Raleigh or Phillips pattern caliper (the Schwinn-built of the 1930s-50s is a copy of a Phillips or Hercules style caliper). 

So here are the washers from England. A vernier shows the M8 size is pretty close to what I want. I finally gave up and bought the new washers because my old stock was out. These new washers are usually used in the electrical industry because they can serve as an insulating buffer. The hardness is a little harder than the old stock English washers, but about the same as the Schwinn-built (note - not the same as "Schwinn-approved" Weinmann). The size is closer slightly to the English caliper, but should work for both. They're relatively smooth and take oil fine. 






These are available on eBay in a variety of sizes, but can be costly as washers go (was about $12 for a bag of 50 shipped from England to me).


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