Dasbet Brake Caliper Wind Back tool – Product Review
June 25, 2022
We’ve been spending a lot of time up close and personal with brakes recently having replaced the rear discs, pads and calipers as well as the front discs and pads on our Volvo 940 Turbo. It’s a fairly simple process and one that we will be producing a series of how to articles for in the near future, but if you don’t have the right kit, specifically a caliper wind back tool, then it will be exponentially more difficult and time consuming – and therefore more frustrating – than it needs to be.
When it comes to installing new anchors we’ve historically used whatever was to hand to push the pistons back into the calipers to accommodate the new thicker discs and pads so that everything can be easily fitted back on to the car. Our go-to has habitually been a couple of G-clamps and while this does work, it’s not exactly ideal and is more of a workaround than an actual solution. We’re always careful but a tool not designed for the job can potentially damage those all important brakes. With this in mind we thought we would invest in a proper caliper wind back tool this time around and so we stumped up the twenty quid and ordered the Dasbet kit.
Get your Dasbet brake caliper wind back tool here.
The Product
A simple bit of kit the Dasbet caliper wind back tool, in essence, is a thrust bolt and a bunch of different sized adapters to fit various pistons inside of a brake caliper. Dasbet aren’t pushing the limits of innovation here but it doesn’t need to be a complicated affair. With two different retaining plates to make fitting to most caliper types a doddle the kit also comes comes with both a left hand and right hand thrust bolt, all neatly stored in a plastic carry case. Operation is simply a case of fitting the tool onto the brake caliper using the relevant plates and then turning the thrust bolt to push the piston back without damaging it.
The Test
As mentioned, it was time for fresh discs and pads on the 940 and so we debuted our caliper wind back tool. The kit comes with instructions, should you need them, but it’s an incredibly easy thing to use. Having removed the caliper from the car and extracted the old brake pads the thrust bolt, coupled with the correct retaining plate, fitted easily onto the caliper. With the appropriate piston adapter fitted (these are magnetised which makes the job just that little bit easier) we were able to slowly turn the handle of the thrust bolt and gently push the piston back into the caliper far enough to be able to fit our new pads.
The Result
We think it’s a bit of a game changer, frankly. Gone are the days of faffing around with inadequate tools and techniques. We were able to get our new discs and pads installed much quicker than previous attempts because the caliper wind back tool just makes the whole process a lot easier. We had no problems finding the perfect sized adapter for our pistons and it all feels well made with everything going together and fitting perfectly. Along with a handle the thrust bolt can also be used with a spanner for extra purchase and at no point did we feel that the tool was going to slip or damage anything. It instilled a level of confidence that allowed us to crack on with the task at hand without fear, which is exactly what a good tool should do.
The Verdict – 5 out of 5
The Dasbet Caliper wind back tool works. It’s as simple as that. We’ll never use anything else now and for £20 we’re not sure why we haven’t bought a kit like this sooner. If you’ve ever struggled with pushing those pesky pistons back so you can get your new pads to clear the discs then you owe it to yourself to pick up one of these tools. You’ll never look back.
