• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Sheared off caliper bolts

Share this page

C

Crisis

Jedi Hopeful
Offline
The weather is finally nice here on the Canadian prairies so I decided to get going on the caliper rebuild I had planned last fall. When trying to remove the caliper on one side I sheared the bolts off inside the caliper bracket (no wonder they slid out so easy). What will I need to do now? I don't think I can get in there to properly drill out the bolt. What is involved to get that caliper bracket out? I thought I would remove it and do it on a bench or have a machinist do it for me. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Reid
 
When I put on the Toyota brakes on my TR3, one the TR6 caliper brackets that I had to use, I had one bolt sheared off in there. I was able to drill it out, but had to helicoil it, as I wasn't perfectly on center. You will have to take the bracket off to do this correctly. If you bring it to a machinst, bring one of the good bolts with you so he knows what size the threads are. It's much easier to measure thread size and pitch on a bolt then inside the hole. IIRC, they are an odd size...something like 7/16"-20.

Once the caliper is off, remove the rotor, and then the four bolts holding the bracket onto the spindle. Watch in the back where the bolts also hold on the steering arm. There are two different size spacers back there. Make a note of which one goes where.

EDIT: BTW, please tell us what car you are talking about, or put your car in your profile so we know what we're trying to give advice about.
 
Thank you Art.
It's a '73 TR6. I will update my profile to that effect. In the meantime I'm going to take that bracket off and take it in to have it done correctly. Thanks for the great advice!

Reid
 
So sorry but I'm still a little confused as to how to get the caliper bracket off. The bolts go through a tab plate which makes it impossible to get a wrench or socket over. How do I get these bolts out? should I hammer that tab flat? And if I do, will it bend back properly after I replace the bracket?
Thank you,

Reid
 
Reid
those tabs do need to be flattened. I don't know if they are as strong once bent back because I just replaced my along with the rest of the old suspension components. I suppose if yours are in good shape they may be bent back and re-used. I'll let someone else chime in on that.
 
In a perfect world, we would replace those tabbed plates every time. Howvever, I have used them over again with no ill effects. If you don't completely flatten them, the tab will be less likely to break due to metal fatigue. Just bend them back enough to get a socket on them.
 
Back
Top