For any tracked vehicles, the condition of a brake caliper's seals and dust boots are crucial to a brake's safe and effective performance. This is an often overlooked part of track prep but it should be needless to explain why these are absolutely crucial as a bad seal can easily write off a vehicle on street or track. We typically recommend a caliper rebuild every 3 years on heavily tracked vehicles (5+ events per year). Generally the condition of the dust boots can be visible on Porsche calipers when the brake pads are slightly worn as the pistons will be sticking out slightly.
To do a rebuild we change the dust boot and the inner piston seals on these OEM Brembo calipers. We usually use the kits from Girodisc as they are well priced and have proven to be reliable on track. They carry seals for many popular applications like Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Audi/Lamborghini, etc. Better cooling and not running brake pads down to minimum thickness should in theory help reduce the wear and tear on these seals.
Typical Cost
For a set of 4 calipers on Porsche GT cars (6 piston front, 4 piston rear) you can expect to start around $1500 to rebuild all 4 calipers including brake fluid. Pricing will vary slightly depending on if a vehicle is centerlock and what brake fluid is to be used. It's a good time to change pads and rotors since the caliper will be removed and time/labour costs can be saved.
Other Applications
Another popular application that we regularly have to rebuild are the Honda Civic Type R Brembo calipers (FL5/FK8 4 piston). These front calipers go through a lot of abuse as can be seen by the discolouration on the paint finish. The rear calipers don't do too much so it's less of a concern.
