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]

PB-Blaster?

[tiresmoke!]

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]

i love the tourch!!!

[TC]

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]

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!]

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]

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!]

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]

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