Hi all,

I need some suggestions as what I should do:

I received my brembo rotors last week and last night a friend tried to replace them. Everything was fine except toward the end...he broke one of the bolt on the caliper because he tighted it up too hard...now haft of the bolt is stuck in the front left driver side...is there anyway that I can take this bolt out? Do I need to get a new caliper? Autozone has it about $140 and I'm thinking about going to the pick and pull to see if they got one for cheaper.

Please provide some help or information...

Thanks,
Henry

 

The caliper bolts broken and stuck inside the caliper? Easy fix really and several ways to do it.

1. If there is anything to grab apply a bit of heat and using a vise grips crank on that sucker.

2. Weld a bolt to it and then use the head of that bolt to remove it.

3. Drill it out and retap the hole

4. Try to find bolt offs that may fit that actual bolt and bite into it so you can remove it.

 

Obviously he doesn't have the "tight-enough" feel. Next time use a torque wrench. Like CJM said there are a few options. Now if it's not broken on the inside of the hole, I would definitely use a vise grip with a heating torch BUT be careful of the brake lines (duh). If it's broken on the inside I'm not so sure about retapping it. This is a brake system we are talking about, but for a cheaper route... you can go to Sears and buy something called Screw Out. Not Bolt out since you can't access it from the inside. I've had good sucess with both tools. Goodluck.

 

Mike is right, be carefull of the brake lines and if nothing is sticking out the screw out from craftsman will work!

 

bolt out if its on the outside, and screw out if its inside. Try those before you move on to more $$$ things

 

I went to AutoZone and spoke to one of the guys there that I know and he recommended buying the “Bolt Extractor kits” and use the power drill to drill small hole and use the kits to remove the bolt. I purchased the kits as he suggested and will try it out to see if I would have any luck.

Price for a new caliper:

AutoZone = $150
Napa = $85
Pick & Pull = $75 (I asked the guy at pick & pull why $75 when Napa got a brand new one for $85. he said Napa sells after market and a brand new Toyota caliper is $300. I think he’s just lying…there is no way anybody pays $300 for a caliper).
Les Schwab charges $200 to replace both sides of the calipers (parts & labor) including brake flush.

I got the caliper hardware kits (bolts) for $10. My first option would be to try to remove the broken bolt using the bolt extractor kits that I got from AutoZone. It would cost me only around $30 if this works.

Thanks to all of you for suggestions.

Henry

 

Good luck Henry, it should work. If at first it doesnt wanna budge try some heat and then some PB when it cools down.

 

I could see a caliper costing $300.00n It's a Toyota 4Runner and they have 4 pistons per caliper. Eveything seems to be about double the price and special order.

 

i thought there was 2 pistons per caliper?

 

I am pretty sure it's two as well.

 

Maybe the newer runners, but my t100 of the same era only has 2.

 

that would be a HUGE caliper to have 4 pistons! i doubt even the new runners have 4.

 

My '95 4Runner has 4 pistons, two on each side of the caliper.





Fred

 

Yea but not 4 pistons each side is what i think the OP meant..

 

It's 4 pistons none the less and all 4 apply pressure to the pads.
4 pistons on one side or 2 on each side, sort of like 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.





Fred

 

there are 2 on each side of the caliper.

 

That's intersting. I thought whenever you referred to caliper pistons, you only talk about one side of them. I have heard 4 pistons, but never 8 pistons for example.

 

4 piston caliper = 4 pistons on 1 rotor

 

There are definately calipers with 6 pistons (often found on big brake kits) but there are also 8 piston calipers which are used almost exclusively for racing (or for show). Also keep in mind that the force applied is not determined by the number of pistons, but instead by the total area the pistons cover. There are some additional benefits from adding more pistons, but most of it pertains to racing. For the typical daily driver truck, a well built 2 or 4 piston caliper will work fine.

Here's an 8 piston caliper for you:

 

I think that the 4 piston per caliper shows some quality over domestics. My '98 4Runner has 4 pistons where my '02 Malibu had 1!