1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

[tiresmoke!]

I'm in a rage-filled mood that would make SpiderGearsMan blush.... >

Long story short, gotta change front rotors and pads on my truck.

FARGING star bolts refuse to budge, even with persuasion on the ratchet handle(BFH)

Wondering if I should try heating the bracket with a blue-nose wrench.....gotta yank the bracket as well in order to remove the rotor.

All of this in a damned snowstorm.......this sucks.

[Woodward_Dreams]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

PB-Blaster?

[tiresmoke!]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

Tried that...no dice.

The hell of it is that there's no signs of rust/corrosion.......from what I can tell, these are the stoppers it left the assembly line with.

I hate not having a garage.....

[jays67]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

i love the tourch!!!

[TC]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

Man this is easy, just remove the caliper bracket off the spindle, then just slide the caliper with the caliper bracket attached off the rotor, bamm, problem solved. You can now replace the rotor, and the caliper bracket will now slide off the caliper pins that the star bolts bolt into. Clean the pins, push the piston back into the caliper, and then slide the caliper bracket back onto the caliper. Then install the brake pads, drop the caliper assembly back over the new rotor, put the bolts in and tighten everything up.

Hope this helps. TC

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

Man this is easy, just remove the caliper bracket off the spindle, then just slide the caliper with the caliper bracket attached off the rotor, bamm, problem solved. You can now replace the rotor, and the caliper bracket will now slide off the caliper pins that the star bolts bolt into. Clean the pins, push the piston back into the caliper, and then slide the caliper bracket back onto the caliper. Then install the brake pads, drop the caliper assembly back over the new rotor, put the bolts in and tighten everything up.

Hope this helps. TC

And see if a local parts store has standard Allen head caliper bolts for it. I'm thinking for a '99 they will.

[tiresmoke!]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

TC, I see where it'll help on the R&R of the rotor, but the caliper slider bolts are still stuck.....they aren't gonna just slide off the caliper bracket. they bolt INTO the bracket....completely captive.

It's as though the design team seen how that would make life easy, and said" HA! not so fast, bucko". :

Methinks the father-in-law's blue nose wrench is gonna have to make an appearance soon.........I hate winter.

All attempts have ceased for the evening.....back to pelting Bob Newhart.


TSB, you better believe I'm gonna go for different bolts........aggravation.

[CTX-SLPR]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

Probably a galvanic reaction on the bolts has them stuck in place in the bores. Try heating the bracket up then spraying the PB on it and turning it just barely in the tightening direction to bust it loose then back it off.

[tiresmoke!]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

Thanks, CTX.....I'm wondering if those caliper brackets are steel or aluminum(the bolts are likely zinc or cadmium plated)....don't want to get them TOO hot, for fear of cooking the caliper.

[SpeedJunkee's Carbs]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

Come and get me and we will run up to the shop and get the small torch, I will help you finish it up. And if we cant get r done well I got some Captain Morgan that we can finish..................lol

[tiresmoke!]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

May have to take you up on that tomorrow, perhaps...too late, and too damn cold.


You know as well as I do that I don't sail with the Captain.....bleck!

[TC]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

Wait a second, you are talking about the bolts that mount the caliper to the caliper bracket as the one's that aren't coming loose, right. And you do know that those bolts don't per-say bolt the caliper to the bracket solidly. Those bolts should bolt to the pins that slide in the caliper bracket. You do know that the caliper does move on the bracket. And what I was saying is after you unbolt the caliper bracket from the spindle and slide it off the rotor, that you will be able to slide the caliper off the bracket with the pins still being attached to the caliper. As for the brake pads you just pop them out, and once you've cleaned and greased(caliper grease) the pins you slide the caliper bracket back onto the pins and then pop the brake pads in. Basically what I'm saying is you don't need to remove the caliper from the caliper bracket to remove the brake pads. Now when installing them you will need to pop them in, since most brake setups use spring loaded clips to hold the brake pads.

Put it this way, I just did the brakes on my '99 Camaro, and this is the way I replaced the pads and rotors. In fact I had the same problem with the bolts not wanting to come loose. And I'm sure that the brake setup on my car is pretty much the same as your truck.

And as for getting them loose, smack the bolt with a hammer a couple of times, or better yet use an impact.

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

And as for getting them loose, smack the bolt with a hammer a couple of times, or better yet use an impact.

An impact on a Torx headed bolt?

[squirrel]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

Now you got me worried, the original pads on my wife's 99 silverado are half way gone, and I'll have to change them in 10 years.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: 1999 Silverado 4x4 front caliper bolts stuck

I am sure in arizona they just slide right off
you don't have remove the torx bolts
I usually hit those with a 55c torx socket and a 3/8 impact gun
you can remove the bracket with a 1/2 breaker bar and an 18mm socket
I would not torch the caliper bolts , but no problem for the bracket bolts