I always disassemble my brakes...especially Dia-Compe who's springs always seem to get a tad rusty. I do them one at a time though so I can always reference the assembled one for reassembly . I OA all the steel/chrome bits while I'm at it and as Road Fan says, tad 'o grease on stuff that moves. It's amazing how nice even an ugly set of brakes can be with just 20-30 minutes of work.