sdb90

release bolts from caliper bracket.....not by hand tools and not with my weak-*** compressor/air tools either. any suggestions?

RIAudiCab

Mapp gas torch then ice water then breaker bar.. good luck.

quattro.pilot

caliper through the sliders. You need to put a 13mm box-end on the bolt head, and then use the open end of a 15mm just on the other side in order to hold the bolt/slider from spinning.

The second pair of bolts are Hex/Alan head (dunno which size, i think maybe 8mm...they are big whatever) which are the strong bolts that secure the bracket to the knuckle. Often these are a bitch (especially if first time removal in a long while) but they aren't factory loc-tite'd. My suggestion is to heat up the bolt head and as much as the surrounding bracket & knuckle area as you can; if you can get heat on the end-thread then even do it. I'm guessing that these bolts are a bit rusted in place (typical) and you will need the heat in order to crack them loose. Do you best to avoid stripping out that hex-head, so always make sure you have the proper size. Sometimes a trick can be to use a thick allen key and slip a small pipe of the end to give you more leverage; again be very careful that you a) aren't stripping the head, and b) don't break the bolt off in the hole. This is why I suggest immediate heating as it seems you've exhausted many other courses of action. If you don't have access to Oxy-Acetalene just go to Home Depot and buy a Yellow bottle of gas (burns hotter than the blue propane/butane bottle) and a tap head. This should throw enough heat to help, but certainly won't be as good as Oxy-Acetalene. Once heated, another trick is to hit the allen key with a rubber mallet. Often the shock force of an abrupt <whack> will do better at releasing bolts than a long strained pushing/twisting/torquing motion.

Good luck

sdb90

however, I am not completely certain of the correct procedure for doing the job...I was just wingin' it actually. I do have a mapp gas torch, but I was a bit afraid to use it so close to the fuel tank/lines.

once I have released these 8mm bolts, what else do I have to do to swap the pads and discs?

quattro.pilot

off? Once caliper is unbolted it's easy enough to do the pads. The one pain in the *** thing with the caliper/pad working is moving the piston back in order to gain enough clearance to fit the new (thick) pads. You can't push/squeeze the piston back because of the ebrake mechanics. What you have to do is turn the piston clockwise just as if you were threading it back into the caliper. There are detents in the piston head for the purposes of fitting a special tool (available at most FLAPS i.e. Autozone, Pep Boys, Napa, etc.) but you don't specifically need this tool, it just makes the task easier. What most of us do (including myself) is use some sort of pliers or channel-lock to fit or grip those detents and then you slowly turn/wind the piston in. This method is really slow and painstaking and frustrating but it's necessary if you don't have that tool. You'll need to spin the piston in a looooooooong ways, almost flush with the rubber boot, and this procedure can take quite a good chunk of time.

Once you've broken free those 8mm hex bolts the bracket will be free and you'll be able to remove the disc. Installation of everything is just the reverse, and I'll remind you to put the rotor on the hub BEFORE you re-attach that caliper bracket. I often use a wheel bolt just to loosely hold the rotor in place while I fiddle with the brake pieces.

So sounds like you're almost home free, just crack those bracket bolts. I rarely thread-loc things when I put them back together, so it's not mandatory that you do too. All I ever do is wire brush the threads (to clean them up) and then goop them with anti-seize and tighten them up really well.

sdb90

and the slider bolts need to come off to do the job as well as the hex bolts?

quattro.pilot

<img src="http://www.matcotools.com/ProductImages/mst55a.jpg">

sdb90

I will "git r done" tomorrow morning as I am working outside and it'll be dark here in an hour.....cold too.

thanks again man!

quattro.pilot

everything tightly in place.

Keep in mind it's VERY possible that one or both of the sliders for the caliper will be frozen/rusted. Of course this defeats the purpose of design. It is possible to free stuck sliders but you need a <b>phenomenal</b> amount of heat. Even after you extract a rusted slider it's usually not totally straight and can also be pitted and a bit gimpy... Some people take this as a representation of failure and as a result replace the sliders. You can buy them but I don't know where to send you, the Part Number, or how much they cost. In the past I've always just reused the sliders but I do a good job to clean them up as well as clean inside their tubes and then grease 'em up on reinstall. Like I said you may get lucky and have 2 good sliders, but I've yet to witness somebody get off so easily. The sliders are built into the caliper bracket piece. Worst case is that you twist off the slider head and now you're ****ed. You need to source a new/used bracket for replacement. So just a word of caution before you get in too deep.

I'm pretty sure the 13mm slider bolts are factory loc-tighted. You may heat these too if necessary just watch out for the rubber boot that's "supposed" to keep the slider from rusting hahah

quattro.pilot

i'm bored and I haven't been very participative in my forum lately...so figured I'd make amends