im in the process of painting my calipers. n im having trouble removing the 2 21MM bolts that hold the bracket!!! i dont know what else to do....

 

I think these may be the bolts that are torqued to 100+ ft-lbs. Like 120 or something. Some liquid wrench/pb blaster/WD40 may help, but you're gonna need a big bad breaker bar to get these things.

 

F@#$!! i guess im gonna have to figure out a way to paint them in the car.... thanx for the fasr reply

 

For the fronts you can turn the wheel right or left to get a good angle on the bolts, but they are in there tight. 125 lb-ft going on, they can be considerably tighter coming off.

If you have access to an impact wrench that'll usually get them off.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

 

When I changed out my rotors I found that the tight caliper bracket bolts as well were the hardest part of the job. (Your just removing the caliper bolts.)

Since I did this project in my garage and at the time I didn't have tall jack stands so there wasn't much room for a breaker bar to bust the bolts loose. My torque wrench didn't fit to great either. I ended up just using my half inch drive wrachet and pounding on the handle with the palm of my hand. I got them all done though. I believe the bolts were installed with red loctite from the factory which made the job even tougher. I had a pretty sore right hand when I finished torquing everything back in place.

Having access to a lift sure can make life easier!!!

MUSCLE or money will get the job done!

 

thanks guys. i started with the rear. im using an old impact gun but its not getting them lose... i dunno i guess i have to use the banging with the palm method

 

use a rubber mallet, not your palm.

Any impact should eventually break them loose.

As someone else said, turn the wheel.

Also, DO NOT remove one bolt, loosen it and leave it. If you take it all the way off the bracket will **** slightly and rest on the other bolt and trust me, you won't get it out

Once they are both loose, take the bottom out, then the top.

Invest in a large breaker bar, very cheap, $18 for a Craftsman and they work great. My $79 Harbor Freight Earthquake Impact has served me well for 3 years now, I've done brakes, suspension, transmissions, everything. Good for the money, keep it oiled and it'll go and go.

 

I had to use my impact gun on mine. Glad I did them in my garage and not at a track event, I don't know how I would have got them off.

Oh yeah, re-torquing the rears is a pain also (no room for leverage). The fronts are fine.

 

i finally got one side out. i've been soaking ot with WD40 and all of a sudden it came lose

 

A two foot section of black pipe helps a lot I some times have to step on the breaker bar to get them loose... The longer the breaker bar/cheater bar the easier it will be, good luck.

 

try a little heat on it....it will melt the locktite thats on it.

 

The breaker bar did the trick for me.
Man were those things on tight.
Hope your hand feels better.

P B Blaster works really well also.

C T 00

 

700ft/lbs in reverse, Ingersoll Rand 2135 Titanium impact gun, about 5 seconds for 2 bolts

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...1674_200051674

ck the GM shop manual for tq specs on the install

 

get some spray rust penetrant. Soak the bolt for say 10 seconds and let it soak in for 5 minutes or so. Then I use a hand held sledge to loosen it. They usually recommend putting loctite on those bolts when reinstalling them.

 

Use a steel hammer instead. The steel sends a harder, shorter shock through the bolts and works well to crack things loose. I've not found penetrants or heat to work well on these things, as it's the clamping force itself that causes them to be so tight.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

 

Showoff !!!

 

I'm a big IR air gun pusher , one thing I that tweaks the Snap-On truck driver

 

Should put red locktite in about 2 threads before reassembling. I couldn't get a torque wrench in the tight space I had to reassmbe so just tighened as hard as I could with the breaker bar which is what I had to do to remove them in the first place. BIGHANK

 

Don't forget to use 3/8 " hose and have the CFM in your compressor to run the wrench or you won't get the torque. Guess how I know

 

I know the bolts well

I did this in the driveway too - up front I was worried about the caliper bracket bolts.

As people have said the fronts are a little easier since you can turn the wheel and get at the bolt from "outside" the fender - I don't think you'll have problems - tough yes, but at least accessible.

The rears are really the problem - especially for a jackstand removal since you can't get under them enough to get any leverage (I guess you +could+ put stands on ramps or something, just seems a little sketchy).

Anyway, since leverage is the issue, here's what I did:

Get your socket/wrench/breaker on the bolt - if you're at a regular sort of jackstand height, the handle/grip will be facing to the front of the car, er like this:

[ o\ >

o = bolt, \ = wrench, [ = back, > = front

(hahaha, pardon my lame ascii art...)

Now take a 2x4, anything 4-5ft long (you probably have some for jacking the car on the cross brace).

Either brace it against the ground and lever up, or against the underside of the car and lever down (depending on side and loosening direction).

You will be amazed at how easily you it breaks loose and makes a 1/4 turn. One "levering" and you can just do the rest with the tool alone.

The trick it to get a good 6-8" of movement with the 2x4 - so if you're levering from the group (up), make sure the wrench/rachet is down as far as possible (I would up jacking a few more click so I could rotate to the next bolt point.

I did both sides this way and it worked really well.

Good luck!

Remember Red Locktite on bracket bolts, blue on caliper pin bolts!