ATC 350X Front Brake Caliper

[Fixer_Upper]

Hello, I just went to replace the brake pads on my 350x front caliper and realized that the caliper hole is wallowed out where the mounting bracket pin goes in. I’ve been looking for a caliper but I can’t seem to find one, does anyone know where to get one??? I’m looking for something that’s preferably aftermarket (chinesium will do just fine) because this bike doesn’t get rode a ton and it’s no show piece. I just want it to be safe for when I do ride it, and for it to keep from destroying everything in the process. Have a good day y’all!

[Dirtcrasher]

Which hole? The clearance hole in the bracket or in the caliper??

One has a roughly 8mm pin (slides in bracket housing/boot), the other has a roughly 13/14mm pin (slides in caliper housing/boot) - Or vice versa depending on the caliper.

I can often bore something (if there's enough meat) and press a sleeve in.

If it's a 1985 ATC350X I have a few excellent cores I can part with.

And with the brackets 85 and 86 are different and some other models look nearly identical (The mid 80's XR/XL) but they are not the same and cannot be used...

I would stay far away, very far away from China brake parts. I have witnessed 2 failures internally (because on the outside they look identical), and neither were very pretty to watch. When the one time you're doing 60MPH and your pedal or lever do nothing you are screwed.

The inside of those calipers is extremely rough, they don't clean up the casting in the least, and clearances are different, and the welding sucks, and any shortcut they can dream up is the new way it's done.

I bought a Ebay Chinese caliper for a buddy, he wouldn't budge, until he saw it internally and there were already fractions of cast aluminum in the fluid behind the piston!! I saved his pistons thinking they could be used (it's just a bucket after all) but they didn't fit the 85 or 86, they were off by half a MM or a full MM...

[Lucifer sam]

I've been putting together a basket case 350x, I'm planning on using a 96-97 yz250 or yz125 caliper, it looks dimensional identical, I've compared the two side by side and it seems the same but I have not bolted it up yet.
No it wont be correct for the OEM snobs.

[Fixer_Upper]

Like a solid 1/4 inch of slop bad. And unfortunately I do not believe there’s enough meat to save it. Besides that, it’s also another Chinese knock off, but one from 20 years ago or so. It’s got a really funky spacer bolted to one of the pads with a section machined out of the caliper to make the bracket fit. In my opinion this caliper is shot regardless because I simply will not be able to find pads with the spacer I’m talking about. I would typically avoid a Chinese caliper because you are correct that they are unreliable. However, I am not going to fork out a ton of money for a OEM when I ride the machine maybe once a month. That’s also assuming I could even find an OEM. Thanks for the reply!

[Fixer_Upper]

Huh. Never would’ve guessed that a YZ caliper would work! But just so you know, I did some research and discovered that a 1985-86 ATC 250r caliper is identical to that of a 350x. All you have to do is use the original mounting bracket so that it will properly fit on the forks. Thanks!

[350for350]

Could you use a thin walled tube of some sort as a spacer in the bad hole?

[Lucifer sam]

Huh. Never would’ve guessed that a YZ caliper would work! But just so you know, I did some research and discovered that a 1985-86 ATC 250r caliper is identical to that of a 350x. All you have to do is use the original mounting bracket so that it will properly fit on the forks. Thanks!

Yeah, it seems like a common caliper design. Even my ltr450 has similar calipers.
Here is the YZ vs 350x comparison. The bracket obviously won’t work as is.
https://i.ibb.co/p4GsFnG/F11546-BF-A2-FE-4080-8638-5-CCEF0-E53-E97.jpg

[Fixer_Upper]

After looking at the caliper again, I think there would be enough meat to save it. However, I don’t think it’s worth saving. The outer side of the caliper is milled to make room for a spacer that was bolted on to one of the pads. I don’t know why they just didn’t leave it but it would require me to get brake pads with the spacer already fitted to them, and I struggle to find genuinely GOOD pads as is, let alone a set with a weird spacer on one side of them. Does anyone know how to post a picture on this thread with an iPhone? If anyone tells me how to do it I will post a picture of the caliper so you all know what I’m talking about. And if the wacky spacer thing doesn’t make it worth replacing, I must say that it takes over half an hour to bleed it because it won’t bleed correctly. Beyond that, it is a Chinese knock off. If it was an OEM I would do anything in my power to save it but it unfortunately is not. And I do have an OEM caliper, but my father let it sit in a bucket of water outside for close to 20 years. You can guess what it looks like. So unless anyone knows how to remove pistons and pins that are virtually welded in the caliper, it’s junk.

[Fixer_Upper]

Wow! Good to know for the future! I think I will end up using that 250r caliper though. Thanks! Do you know how to post pictures on the forum from an IPhone?