stubborn brake bracket bolts..
 

i checked my rear brakes recently and decided time to do new pads and rotors. I get into it today pop the wheels off and the caliper slid off fine but got to the brackets and the two bolts behind there wouldn't budge. so i hit it with dw40 and let it sit..try it again..still wont budge. hit with a hammer a few times to loosen it up a bit..dw40 again and still nothing.

finally I got the torch out and began to heat up the bolts..heated it up for a good 1-2 minutes...tried and still nothing. tried this numerous times and still nothing. these brakes haven't been changed in a few years since before I got the car...i don't know the history with them. I'm a do it yourself guy and not a mechanic so my tools are limited but has anyone ever had a problem like this? if so how did you get the bolts out without destroying parts? maybe I can get some advice here before my last resort which is bring it to a shop. thanks for any help in advance

Jon

Most people are going to tell you that wd40 is not a penetrating oil, get something better, like PB blaster and soak it frequently for a few days. After that I got nothing

I'm not familiar with that..is it available at advanced or autozone?

Kroil if you don't need to spray it, PB if you do.

If you were using a propane torch it was not hot enough.

It doesnt have to be that brand, just get something better than WD40. An actual penetrating oil product, even though WD40 says penetrates

PB Blaster and a breaker bar...

got it ill take a trip tomorrow to get penetrating oil and a breaker bar. yeah it's a propane torch I didn't know there would be a difference.

1/2" drive and maybe a pipe to get some leverage. Sometimes GM throws loctite on the caliper mounts and they can suck.

Do you think the spray PB works better than the spray Kroil?

:rofl:

Serious question.

I was curious as well. PB can definitely out distance aerokroil, but kroil does come in spray can form as well as jugs of awesomeness.

Again, serious.

I didn't know they made spray Kroil. I have the gallon can of liquid.

In my time working on heavily rusted junk I noticed that Kroil in a squeeze lab bottle works better than PB sprayed from an aerosol can. Seems ridiculous but it's true in my case.

http://www.kanolabs.com/

:drool:

I was just going to post the exact same thing. I usually use a breaker bar and a 3' length of pipe for more leverage. Some cars are worse than others, had a really difficult time with my brothers Grand Prix a few years ago. I would not recommend this but I ended up lowering the car on the breaker bar just to pop the bolts loose.

lol howd u do that? put the breaker bar where the wheel well ends then lower the hydraulic jack?

Yea pretty much, I was in my parents garage and didn't have enough clearance for the long pipe since I was working with a jack and stands. I have a compressor now so hopefully i never need to try that again.

I see I see I may need to resort to that for desperate measures lol. I bought pb blaster and was looking for a 1/2 drive breaker bar. was wondering if anyone in the Somerset or warren county area has one. they're kind of pricey for me to use for just 4 bolts. I can give collateral in cash or anything of equal value if you have any issues lending to strangers.

Could go this route:

http://www.harborfreight.com/12-driv...bar-67933.html

I have one of these, works well.

the bar inside a 4th gen door is the perfect companion to that. I highly suggest everyone grab one from a 4th gen with a bad door

ill be selling bad doors for $10 each now ;-)

Always generous, V.

are you sure you are loosening the bolts and not tightening them ?

haha yes im sure.

i ended up getting a breaker bar from harbor freight tools i cant believe how low the prices there are. got pb blaster too going to get into working on it in a few minutes.