Any advice for undoing caliper carrier bolts

[sparky Paul]

I always used to be a Bosch person, but I don't think they're made as good as they once were. Never been that keen on later DeWalt/B&D stuff, I only had one DeWalt drill and it didn't last well. I also repair this sort of stuff, and while Makita are great tools, and the prices are now more competitive, I'm seeing a few common failures in the modern stuff that's simply not economic to repair. I guess it's the way of things.

Milwaukee is lovely stuff, but £300+ for a tool to undo wheel nuts is probably going to be asking a bit too much.

One thing I would say is that the batteries on Chinese stuff used to be absolutely diabolical, but they have come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years. You just can't expect them to last as good as something 5 times the price.

[madasafish]

My advice on removal:
PlusGas for 24 hours (NOT WD40).

Then blowlamp.
Whilst still hot , more PlusGas.
Leave another 24 hours.

Then breaker bar - I have a 0.5meter one I have not broken (yet).
Alternate trying to loosen and tighten  will help break the seal of rust.

[sparky Paul]

To be honest, I've never had any problem removing carriers with a breaker bar, they always come off without any other assistance.

The only time I had a problem was when the heads were so corroded, I had to file the flats down to the next socket size down and knock a socket on.

[bill888]

£14 Sealey 600mm AK730 breaker bar arrived day after ordering from FFX.  The remainder of my CP4less order also finally turned up on 6th day. (Discs and pads were delivered in 2 days)

I didn't buy any PlusGas but I did earlier order a can of own brand Triple QX maintenance spray (penetrating fluid).  Given the caliper carrier bolts and disc retaining screws a squirt

Found some old 6 sided 17mm sockets and an old ring spanner.  I will have another go at the caliper bolts at the weekend.

[LJs JAZZ]

Re power tools, I used to use Wolf electric tools, ( you need to be a few years old to remember that brand ) !!When they were no longer made I went over to  Hitachi, which are excellent, not cheap but I needed good tools for my job.
Have actually still got a Hitachi cordless angle drill 9.6 volt still in good working order and battery still charges ok, which is 31 years old !!  Strangely both drill body and EB9 battery are made in Ireland.

[Jocko]

I once had to undo the front wheel bearing nut on my Austin 1800. It was so tight that the breaker bar with scaffolding pole just moved the car along the tarmac (brake on and in gear). I had to end up parking with the bumper against a wall to get it undone. Torquing back up was easy enough.

[Westy36]

I once had to undo the front wheel bearing nut on my Austin 1800. It was so tight that the breaker bar with scaffolding pole just moved the car along the tarmac (brake on and in gear). I had to end up parking with the bumper against a wall to get it undone. Torquing back up was easy enough.

 

[bill888]

Pagid discs and pads fitted.

I'd applied penetrating fluid spray as suggested previous two nights.

This afternoon, I put an alternative 17mm ring spanner on the caliper bolts and tried whacking the end of the spanner a few times with a wooden mallet.  Didn't seem to want to budge like last time.

As I could only jack up one corner of the car at a time, I put the steering on full lock and jacked up the corner to allow me to use new breaker bar.

Put new 60cm breaker bar on it, and the bolts loosened with very little effort (Felt like less effort than undoing wheel nuts).  In hindsight, my 40cm torque wrench probably would have worked too.

Thank you for everyone's advice.

[olduser1]

Great to hear you've beaten the rust.
New discs are an investment as well as a safety improvement.

[UKjim]

I always used to be a Bosch person, but I don't think they're made as good as they once were. Never been that keen on later DeWalt/B&D stuff, I only had one DeWalt drill and it didn't last well. I also repair this sort of stuff, and while Makita are great tools, and the prices are now more competitive, I'm seeing a few common failures in the modern stuff that's simply not economic to repair. I guess it's the way of things.

Milwaukee is lovely stuff, but £300+ for a tool to undo wheel nuts is probably going to be asking a bit too much.

One thing I would say is that the batteries on Chinese stuff used to be absolutely diabolical, but they have come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years. You just can't expect them to last as good as something 5 times the price.

Purchased this from Amazon, arrived today, seems to get better reviews than most of the cheapies. Removed wheel nuts with ease which will be my main use. At least I get 30 days to try it.

[UKjim]

Pagid discs and pads fitted.

I'd applied penetrating fluid spray as suggested previous two nights.

This afternoon, I put an alternative 17mm ring spanner on the caliper bolts and tried whacking the end of the spanner a few times with a wooden mallet.  Didn't seem to want to budge like last time.

As I could only jack up one corner of the car at a time, I put the steering on full lock and jacked up the corner to allow me to use new breaker bar.

Put new 60cm breaker bar on it, and the bolts loosened with very little effort (Felt like less effort than undoing wheel nuts).  In hindsight, my 40cm torque wrench probably would have worked too.

Thank you for everyone's advice.

Good job, well done, sorry about your locking key


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bill888]

It occurs to me I was only able to get a longer handle wrench onto the caliper carrier bolts by turning the front wheels to full lock for better access.

But you can't do this for the rear wheels.

[sparky Paul]

Put new 60cm breaker bar on it, and the bolts loosened with very little effort (Felt like less effort than undoing wheel nuts).  In hindsight, my 40cm torque wrench probably would have worked too.

Better off using the breaker, it doesn't do torque wrenches any good.

It occurs to me I was only able to get a longer handle wrench onto the caliper carrier bolts by turning the front wheels to full lock for better access.

But you can't do this for the rear wheels.

You only need enough swing to crack the bolt threads, usually a few inches is enough. Shouldn't be a problem if you have the back up on an axle stands, and the knuckle will gain you a bit more movement too.

[embee]

Good job done there.

Just a couple of general points. Don't ever use a torque wrench for anything except tightening to a set torque. For breaking free use a breaker bar.
.... and don't ever use an impact wrench to tighten wheel nuts. It's OK to use one on a low setting just to run the nuts down to snug, but even a modest impact wrench can tighten way beyond wheel nut values (100Nm or thereabots). You still see the "wheeler dealer experts" n TV using an impact wrench to tighten them, but you shouldn't ever see a professional fitter using one to tighten.

[TnTkr]

There are torsion bars to ensure the correct tightness when using impact wrench. That's what was used in Esso workshop I worked one summer 30 years ago.

https://www.bahco.com/gb_en/torsion-bars-with-1-2--drive-designed-for-tightening-wheel-nuts-with-an-impact-wrench-without-exceeding-the-recommended-torque-pb_bwtbp1290-bwtb12p200_.html