sibble

They SUCK man WTF?

I wanted to change my pads and rotors before winter hit. So sometime in November I put the car on jack-stands and had a look-see at my brakes for the first time. I ended up changing the front lines and replacing with stainless-steel ones. I attempted to change the rotors, and I got to the 2 pain in the *** bolts on the caliper bracket. They wouldn't budge. I had a breaker-bar on them but I didn't quite have the leverage (being on jack-stands) that I needed to break them loose.

So... I decided to treat myself this Christmas to some new tools. I decided to invest quite a bit of money too since I don't want anyone I don't know ever touching my Z.

my new toys...

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2401/2215994786_43739a1c7c.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSC00123" />

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2156/2215994872_3544c46d94.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="DSC00125" />

I also bought 100' of polyurethane air hose so I could run around the car 5 times if I needed to.


So what was the outcome...

The outcome was quite disturbing. The ratchet rated at 50 ft.-lbs wasn't strong enough (of course), and the the gun rated at 500 ft.-lbs wouldn't fit (again, of course).

I was quite pissed doing this Monday night (18 degrees) laying on my driveway. Call me crazy but I had to do it, lights in the dash were telling me to! (abs, vdc, slip, handbrake... they've gone off since then).

The one thing I'm kicking myself in the **** for not trying is that I didnt try cutting the wheel while the car was in the air to see if I could fit the gun in. Maybe it would work, maybe it won't.

Having come to a brick wall at the same exact spot twice, I need a sure bet before I put this car on stands again and have a melt-down. Any advice?

guitman32

iTrader: (15)

Did you try some PB Blaster? I got mine off with a breaker, good PB soak, and a little muscle. Soak the bolt, tap it lightly with a hammer, repeat. I didnt wait more than 10 minutes before giving it a crank. If that doesnt work, soak it some more, tap with the hammer and walk away for an hour (more beer!).

If that doesn't work, you can always steal a gorilla from the zoo for assistance...

Either way, sorry to hear your tools didn't work out!

jtabraham

iTrader: (46)

PB Blaster will definitely help loosen up the stubborn bolt. When I removed my calipers, I was actually out of PB Blaster, so I used a small butane torch to heat the bolt up, and it ended up coming off fairly easy.

thinking

iTrader: (4)

Luckly mine were only slightly more tight than the prescribed 114ft-lbs, so I only had to get a little ticked off before they came off

chris'smax

iTrader: (5)

i've found that if you lie down underneath the car and push on those bolts w/ a breaker bar then it's not to bad. I'll be damn if i am going to let my 405 lb bench press go to waste

davidv

iTrader: (2)

The calliper bolts are not fun. Since you are looking at the bolts backwards, you are turning them in the correct direction right?

davidv

iTrader: (2)

Good suggestion. The tapping sets-up a vibration between the surfaces allowing penetrating fluid to, well, penetrate. Spray the bolts the day before and driving may also be helpful.

I installed the bolts with a dab of anti-seize compound.