Any advice on how to remove the 16mm bolts at the back of the caliper holder? They are jammed solid on both my Coupe and son’s roadster and there’s not a lot of space to get leverage. Are they just torqued up really tight, or what? I’m reluctant to start squirting WD40 around in this area.
Front brake caliper removal - HELP
- Thread starter Zedebee
- Start date
You're right there's not much space to work getting those out but it's doable. I sometimes use a rubber Mallet on the wrench to help.
Can you slip a tube/breaker bar over the wrench to increase the torque?
One thing I always do is check I'm turning the wrench the right way, as the bolts are facing the wrong way if that makes sense. Made that mistake a couple of times, nothing broken thankfully.
Can you slip a tube/breaker bar over the wrench to increase the torque?
One thing I always do is check I'm turning the wrench the right way, as the bolts are facing the wrong way if that makes sense. Made that mistake a couple of times, nothing broken thankfully.
I gave up with mine before i did any damage. Even my impact gun wouldn't shift them and there was not enough room to get a decent breaker bar in there with the car on the ground. Up on a lift it'd be fairly easy so I gave it to my garage to sort out.
Get some penetrating fluid in there and leave it overnight if necessary, it's counter intuitive but giving a sharp tap on the wrench both ways as if to tighten and loosen (without going bonkers) can break the rust, a long bar and a good quality wrench is a must to avoid rounding-off.
Similar problem with mine, soaked a couple of rags in penetrant and wrapped them round the bolts over night. You can actually turn the front wheels just enough to get a breaker bar in whilst its on jacks as well. The rears are obviously trickier as you can't do this, but they aren't torqued as high (at least mine weren't 
) , I actually managed to get them off with a ring spanner and a fair bit of swearing 
) , I actually managed to get them off with a ring spanner and a fair bit of swearing
They may well have threadlock on as well so a bit of gentle heat can help.
Thanks for your help and advice chaps. Tried full lock (don’t know why I didn’t think of that, i’ve always just jacked up the car with wheels straight ahead!). Full lock gives you access to enough range of movement with a breaker bar to unstick the bottom bolt. Can’t get at the top bolt though, because the brake hose is in the way. I’ll de-mount the calliper from the bracket tomorrow and should be able to get at it then.