brake removal

elk_hunter · June 19, 2003

Hi all,

Well went change the front brakes on my 99 GMC sierra, and what did I find, those darn torx bolts. I thought I read somewhere they didnt' have these, anyways, I got the t-55 socket of mine and went to remove them, couldn't get them to move at all, us pb blaster on the bolt, nothing, cheater bar, nothing the only thing i managed to due was to round off/bend the ends on my socket,

Anybody have a good suggestion on how to get the bolts to break lose. I've never had this much trouble in removing a bolt, but this is my first time at those torx bolts.

So after an evening of trying, i have got that bolt to move, and now have 5 cut marks on my had from the wrench slipping on the bolt, and a numerous amouts of cusing

smimi10 · June 19, 2003

I've had good luck using a hand impact wrench, the type that you hit with a hammer.

Mike

gmcjoe · June 20, 2003

I did the old 'hold the rachet end with your hand and rap the handle with a hammer' trick

I was suprised the front calipers are torx and the rear are not

MountaineerTom · June 20, 2003

I just adjusted the rear park brake shoes on mine 2 or 3 weeks ago, and they were bolts too. I havn't messed with the fronts, but I figured they would be bolts too. That sucks.

redchev · June 20, 2003

I've broken several of those big torx sockets the only way I've found to remove the bolts is to heat the area around the bolt threads with a torch.

Redapple · June 21, 2003

Not to change the subject, but I am getting close to brake replacement as well. If I get past the Torx issue on mine with little trouble, are the caliper pistons easy to push back in. On most of my cars I just used a kant-twist clamp and a sheet of 1/8" alum to push it back. I helped a friend do brakes on his Cadillac and we were surprised. It requires a special tool to fit into a wratchet because it is threaded. Local stealer was very cool, let us borrow the tool for a few hours. On the Torx, try wd40-with heat. Let oil set for about 10 mins-then apply heat)

Thanx,

Bill

cyclejerk · June 21, 2003

Heat, Heat and more Heat.

If you do not have a torch you can use the old stand by; Jumper cables, just one of them, clamp one end on the positive terminal of the battery and hold the other or temperarily clamp it on the torx, not to long though. This will not kill your battery, dont worry.

Good luck.

lowflyer · June 21, 2003

Another thing you might try is; to soak with PB blast, plug the torx bit into the bolt, then tap it with a hammer directly as you try to turn with a ratchet. This loosens any corrosion and helps the penetrent work its way into the threads.

Don't use any extensions on the ratchet and don't try to hit the ratchet with a hammer, as this will only put a off angle force on the torx face and chew up the already delicate torx bolt head. If this happens, you have to drill it out. I"ve had to do this on a few cars with overenthusiastic owner/mechanics with big hammers.

I would also assume that you are going to replace the all the bolts right? Good luck.

elk_hunter · June 23, 2003

Thank you for all your input and help!!!

Well that *place anyword here* torx bolt is still there. So here is the total 3 cans of bp blaster,4 broken torx sockets, broken channel locks, and lost 3 teeth of my pipe wrench.

That BOLT will just not move, I even tried to use a bolt extractor, which is not part of the bolt since it to broke off. So how can i get this off???

I looked and there are only 2 bolts(which i can remove very easy) that hold the entire calpier system in, I would remove that, i'm not sure if I can get the brake pads off, not sure if there's enough room to angle out the pads.....beside that the only other option i can even think of is to drill out that d**n bolt(if i knew the size of the theads)......

I coudl take to dealer/shop, but they only thing they would due is the same stuff that I have already tried.....I'm just lost!!! In over 13 yrs of working and restoring cars/trucks this is the only bolt that I can't get off,,,no matter what i've tried.......

Please help!!!!!!!! i'm already going to have to get a new rotor becasue of that bold not commin off!!!!

02 Silverado Z71 · June 23, 2003

Then you are going to have to remove the 2 bolts that hold the caliper bracket to the spindle. These will be very tight; just remember LEVERAGE.

You can easily sway out pads with the caliper still mounted on the caliper bracket, and you will be able to install new front rotors if you like.

elk_hunter · June 23, 2003

Are you sure that by removing those 2 caliper bracket, I can remove the front and back pads? IF that is true i'll just due that. While under my truck i though of that, and went to see how hard they were, well even without a cheater/breaker bar i was able to losen those 2 bolts...

Guess that will be my attack tomorrow. Just there is not that much room to play with since the brake lines are so darn short...and i really dont want to remove them , and then bleed them. never done that on a abs system.

Thanks for the good info!!! I'll let you all know tomorrow night/tuesday how it went.

Well actually only the drivers side brakes/rotor is messed up. the pass side still has some good life on the brakes...but will still change those and have a spare set just in case........

elk_hunter · June 23, 2003

just a quick ? before I start this, is there anything special about removing the caliper bracket? I only see 2 bolts holding this on, is that it. So remove that, remove pads and rotor then replace the braket and install the 2 bolts?

elk_hunter · June 23, 2003

one last thought.

There is no reason that these caliper bolts could be left handed threaded is there? I never tried this, but just wondering for those that have changed a 99???

bigtruck21 · June 24, 2003

I don't know about being lefthand threaded, but if i come upon a bolt i can't move in the "normal" way, i always try to do it the other way. It helps if the bolt is stuck because of rust or something.

elk_hunter · June 24, 2003

Well took of the caliper braket, well that didnt' no anything for me at first, still couldn't get the pads off. So I thouhg, maybe take the top bolt off. So I did, and without even a cheater bar I was able to losen that torx, remove that, and then install both pads, Went to pass side of truck, and with just a little of hitting the rachet with a hammer the bottom torx came right off. So no my brakes and finished and changed, and i'll never know what the deal was with that drivers side torx bolt,,,,,,

Maybe one day i'll take to dealership and see how much $ would be to remove that bolt on drivers side!