Caliper bolts

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Finally removed my rear calipers so as to make sure everything was sliding properly. The pads were, but they got greased anyhow; two of the sliders were dry though.

But, I found the bolts just a bit hard to remove... The manual that I downloaded indicated 65ft-lb is what these bolts should be tightened to. Three of them required hitting the 17mm wrench with the jack handle. The fourth refused, and required the big hammer.

I put some of the brake lube onto the threads of the offending bolt, and spaced out on doing anything other than "good n tight" (which is probably not far from the required level).

1. Good/bad? Maybe I should remove and use real anti-sieze on the threads?
2. Why on earth do I have to hammer them off? They were installed about 7 months ago by the dealership.

I recall having to hammer the bolts off an Isuzu just like this; maybe import trucks require hammers for this job?

I glanced at the fronts but decided those looked more complicated than anything I've seen thus far.
 
My question would be:

If the dealer just serviced these calipers seven months ago, why were the sliders dry? Sounds very premature to me...

As for the bolts being too tight, you will find many a gorilla in many a mechanical shop. These days, torque wrenches seem a thing of the past. Personally, I don't do any mechanical work without one. It is a very valuable investment.
 
I'm guessing they didn't bother with grease. Could be wrong. But both lower bolts were about in the same shape, while the upper bolts had grease. Beats me. I should go read up on how to R&R the fronts, they looked different enough that I didn't want to mess with them just yet.
 
Is there a way that if you remove just one caliper pin you can flip the caliper out of the way to do pads? If it saves a minute, a flat rate tech will do it. Maybe this is why only one pin got grease.
 
Ooh, didn't think of that. Very possible. Lots of room around the wheelwell of a truck.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Finally removed my rear calipers so as to make sure everything was sliding properly. The pads were, but they got greased anyhow; two of the sliders were dry though.

But, I found the bolts just a bit hard to remove... The manual that I downloaded indicated 65ft-lb is what these bolts should be tightened to. Three of them required hitting the 17mm wrench with the jack handle. The fourth refused, and required the big hammer.

I put some of the brake lube onto the threads of the offending bolt, and spaced out on doing anything other than "good n tight" (which is probably not far from the required level).

1. Good/bad? Maybe I should remove and use real anti-sieze on the threads?
2. Why on earth do I have to hammer them off? They were installed about 7 months ago by the dealership.

I recall having to hammer the bolts off an Isuzu just like this; maybe import trucks require hammers for this job?

I glanced at the fronts but decided those looked more complicated than anything I've seen thus far.


So the bolts could have been overtightened or rusted a bit. But the calipers pins should still be well lubricated after only 7 months.
 
Originally Posted By: skulldrinker
No one uses a torque wrench at our place on stuff like that, they all 'know' their guns.


Thanks for the warning!!
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Who would use a "gun" on the slider pins?


Sorry I used the term gun too loosely, maybe not giant 1/2" but smaller 3/8ths and/or air ratchets.
 
The caliper brackets are usually loctited on and hard to remove. I just took my calipers off the front of my 2008 Hyundai Accent at 95k miles they were really on good.

But the slider pins were still good and loose, easy compressed and returned. I never bothered to break the seal on the rubber booties. Put the pads back in too as there was so little wear.

I'm pretty easy on brakes.
smile.gif
 
You'd be very surprised to see how many shops don't know to correclty install brakes. A lot of them don't even clean anything with brakekleen. Most don't lube anything. they simply pad slap and put the car back out. Is it lazyness or lack of training? I can't tell anymore.

I got into a debate with a Wyotech student about why prestone was NOT universal and would NOT work in any car. His instructor said there's only 1 antifreeze that's ever needed. Prestone.
I'm sure Honeywell made a hefty contribution to the program somewhere. I even showed the coolant confusion article and told the kid to have the instructor call me. That never happened.
But yeah, things shops do don't surprise me at all.
 
Originally Posted By: EricF
You'd be very surprised to see how many shops don't know to correclty install brakes. A lot of them don't even clean anything with brakekleen. Most don't lube anything. they simply pad slap and put the car back out. Is it lazyness or lack of training? I can't tell anymore.

I got into a debate with a Wyotech student about why prestone was NOT universal and would NOT work in any car. His instructor said there's only 1 antifreeze that's ever needed. Prestone.
I'm sure Honeywell made a hefty contribution to the program somewhere. I even showed the coolant confusion article and told the kid to have the instructor call me. That never happened.
But yeah, things shops do don't surprise me at all.


Just look at the "education" that a member here received on batteries from his school. Even when there were more knowledgeable members (including those who work with them)tried to tell him otherwise, he more or less refused it, stating that his instructor knew better.

Goes to show you that school isn't the end all, be all of knowledge.
 
Caliper brackets are usually loctited and torqued down hard for liability reasons. Could you imagine what would happen if a caliper bracket came loose due to heat and vibration during a hard stop? The service department does not like to take chances with that type of thing and if they can't get the bolts out the next time you bring the car in, they will just cut them off and charge you extra for it, saying the bolts were seized in place from rust or not being serviced frequently enough.

That being said, I like to apply a little anti-seize compound to the caliper bracket bolt threads and then torque them down tight. The combination of the solid particles in the anti-seize and torquing the bolts tight will secure the bolts in for safety yet it will make them easy to remove the next time you have to.

As far as the slides being dry, it sounds like they did a poor job of lubing the pins last time. Pretty typical of a stealership service department......
 
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: EricF
You'd be very surprised to see how many shops don't know to correclty install brakes. A lot of them don't even clean anything with brakekleen. Most don't lube anything. they simply pad slap and put the car back out. Is it lazyness or lack of training? I can't tell anymore.

I got into a debate with a Wyotech student about why prestone was NOT universal and would NOT work in any car. His instructor said there's only 1 antifreeze that's ever needed. Prestone.
I'm sure Honeywell made a hefty contribution to the program somewhere. I even showed the coolant confusion article and told the kid to have the instructor call me. That never happened.
But yeah, things shops do don't surprise me at all.


Just look at the "education" that a member here received on batteries from his school. Even when there were more knowledgeable members (including those who work with them)tried to tell him otherwise, he more or less refused it, stating that his instructor knew better.

Goes to show you that school isn't the end all, be all of knowledge.


Track two techs for ten years, one who went to school and one who didn't, and you will find the one who went to school far ahead of the one who didn't. However, I agree that most 'technical schools' aren't very good these days.

I'm working with an apprentice right now who tries to torque every little nut and bolt, which is absolutely not necessary. I'm trying to teach him to 'properly tighten' which might include tightening by feel, using a torque wrench, or maybe even an angle gauge - it all depends on the type of fastener and its use. As for caliper bolts, a gun should never be used on them, that's definitely a no no.
 
Originally Posted By: AMC
Caliper brackets are usually loctited and torqued down hard for liability reasons. Could you imagine what would happen if a caliper bracket came loose due to heat and vibration during a hard stop? The service department does not like to take chances with that type of thing and if they can't get the bolts out the next time you bring the car in, they will just cut them off and charge you extra for it, saying the bolts were seized in place from rust or not being serviced frequently enough.

That being said, I like to apply a little anti-seize compound to the caliper bracket bolt threads and then torque them down tight. The combination of the solid particles in the anti-seize and torquing the bolts tight will secure the bolts in for safety yet it will make them easy to remove the next time you have to.

As far as the slides being dry, it sounds like they did a poor job of lubing the pins last time. Pretty typical of a stealership service department......


I can, actually. Not too long ago I saw a GM mini van on the side of the road, with the tire off. I'd made several trips by it that day and it occured to me that there was more than just a tire issue. I pulled over and spyed a look (owner was nowhere to be found). What I found was that the calaiper bracket bolt fell out and the caliper swung out into the aluminum rim, digging into it pretty good. A quick glance at the pads revealed that they had just been replaced (looked brand new). RUT ROH!!!!
 
I've had a slider pin come out before on a rear caliper. Was driving a couple hundred miles on the interstate and came into Detroit. Heavy construction and a lot of one lane stuff. Went to hit the brakes and the pedal went down. I freaked out and had to drive at least 20 more miles to get to my hotel.

When I took the tire off the next day in the parking lot I couldn't believe it but the bolt was gone as well as the pads with the piston all the way out leaking out all the fluid.

While I was looking at it a cop came by and accused me of stripping the car. LOL it was a bad part of town.

Went down to the closest AutoZone with no brakes and exchanged the caliper for a new one under warranty. Changed it in their lot.
smile.gif
 
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