Hello I read on a post last week were some one was talking about the 88 slider boots and another person mentioned there were two sizes? I havent noticed that on all the rebuilt calipers that I have purchased in the past. They all looked the same. The only thing I have noticed is the boots from TFS are not the same size as what is on the rebuilt calipers. I have purchased mainly from calipers on line , but have bought a few from local parts stores and one set was from a company that purchased old hard to find parts then sold them. So I do not have a set of originals to compare.

Is that true that they are different front to back? At one time I found a source that had the boots but I would have had to purchase 2000 of them. I have been thinking lately of purchasing a case of them, but if they are different sizes then I will hold off buying a case.


Thanks,
Steve W
NE Grand Rapids, MI
88 Coupe

All 16 boots on the 88's calipers front and rear are the same. I soaked mine in Varsol for a bit while cleaning them and they swelled up and got soft. Left them to dry overnight and they shrunk back to normal size. They'd probably melt in lacquer thinner. Make sure to use the proper grease and that the boots are properly seated. I didn't find it easy to do.

Edited for auto correct

[This message has been edited by Reallybig (edited 09-23-2012).]

I have some used OE ones and a few of TFS replacements. TFS ones are not correct and usually pull away from their gruves. But they are better than a torn or missing one until you can locate a good one. I have purchased old 88 calipers here in the mall just for the slider boots. If you want a TFS one PM me your address and I will send you one for comparison.

Use denatured alcohol to clean the old one up. It will not ruin them. I cleaned one with gas once. It almost doubled in size!!

[This message has been edited by josef644 (edited 09-23-2012).]

In the previous thread, someone posted that the inner and outer boots were different sizes, but I don't believe that is true as stated above.

Many have stated that some non-OE boots "don't fit" as if slightly oversized or some other physical difference.

I posted in the previous thread questioning whether the inner and outer boots are really different. I just did my front brakes using the original boots and I could not tell any difference between inner and outer, but I still had a very difficult time getting boots back on after soaking them in "simple green" (soap). I had one boot that was particularly difficult, but I finally got it to stay in the groove (so far).

quote Originally posted by josef644: I have some used OE ones and a few of TFS replacements. TFS ones are not correct and usually pull away from their gruves. But they are better than a torn or missing one until you can locate a good one. I have purchased old 88 calipers here in the mall just for the slider boots. If you want a TFS one PM me your address and I will send you one for comparison. Use denatured alcohol to clean the old one up. It will not ruin them. I cleaned one with gas once. It almost doubled in size!!

Thank you for the offer but I have some of the useless TFS boots. I did a post 4-5-6 years ago about TFS boots but didnt get any positive response. I did find a source back then but it required about a $300 - $400 dollar investment and I didnt have the funds( well the wife was not warm to the idea and she said "what are you going to do with 2000 of those things?" where are you going to put them? Not in my house. End of story.

[This message has been edited by solotwo (edited 09-23-2012).]

You both are correct. TFS boots do not stay in the grooves. Some will claim they are great etc work fantastic to which I reply DONKEY POOP! They are worthless in my opinion. I'll use old ratty boots before I use TFS boots. I find with the TFS boots I have to redo the process about once a year. I have used Calipers On Line rebuilt calipers and who ever they use as a source for their boots, they work! I asked Mark once but he didnt know anything about the boots. If I run into some money I am going to find the source or a source to make the proper boots for 88's. But then again one could argue that 88 brakes could use improvement so why not pursue that angle and invest your capital in finding and selling a better caliper that would fit with little or no modification.

Such is the dilemma for us 88 owners.

Well here it is almost a year later and a different vehicle (87GT) with 88 rear brakes and the same problem. I just gave up. All I have left are Fiero Store boots. Between the POS boots from the Fiero Store and a real poor design from GM. I quit.

[This message has been edited by solotwo (edited 08-04-2013).]