Replaced front brakes yesterday...a few notes (and broken bolts!)

[Qyota]

I've been sitting on new Brembo (OEM replacement) rotors and EBC Ultimax pads for a few months now. I had a free day yesterday, so I got it done...but not without some trouble (of course...because these things never go as planned).

While trying to remove the bracket that holds the brake line to the spindle, the bolt on both sides snapped off. Even after being soaked in Blaster. There is about 1/4" of threads sticking out the back side. I tried turning that with a vise grips, but of course neither one budged. I didn't feel like drilling them out, so I just left them, and zip-tied the brackets back to the spindle after I was done. Not sure when I'll get back to that...but the zip ties seem to be holding just fine. Any suggestions for getting these out? Just drill?

Also, I had some pretty major trouble with the brake pad pins not wanting to come out. I had to soak them in Blaster many times, while bashing them in and out with a big hammer and drift. I bent a few drifts (cheapos), and ended up improvising with some same-size hardened bolts to use as drifts. Took about 2 hours to get the passenger side top pin out (the bottom came out relatively easily), and about 1/2 hour to get each of the driver side pins out. Damn rust and corrosion! It makes working on this truck such a pain in the ass. I guess I'm lucky the caliper bolts didn't snap off while removing them.

Anyway, Everything went back together fine, and I used anti-seize on the pad pins. Initial impressions are good. I definitely need to flush and bleed the brakes though...after I tackle the drums.

I'm so jealous of you SW guys who don't have to deal with stuff like this! :crybaby:

 

[chisel]

I did my brakes a few weeks ago and broke both bracket bolts as well. I bought a bolt extractor kit and plan to drill out the bolts next week and fix it right. I think the zip ties are fine short term, but I'm concerned about the ABS sensor wire rubbing on the end of the protruding broken bolt and I'd rather fix it right because the ABS sensor is not cheap!

 

[LittleCaesar]

The Brembos are good rotors, I put some on a friend's 4runner two months ago. The only downside is that the hats rusted quickly, so be prepared for such.

I am not sure why you were messing with the brake line. Were you removing them?

I replaced all four pins and the rattle piece when changing the brakes. A little more than $10 for new OEM hardware.

Syl Glyde is the best stuff I have ever used on pins.

 

[Dous]

The Brembos are good rotors, I put some on a friend's 4runner two months ago. The only downside is that the hats rusted quickly, so be prepared for such.

I am not sure why you were messing with the brake line. Were you removing them?

I replaced all four pins and the rattle piece when changing the brakes. A little more than $10 for new OEM hardware.

Syl Glyde is the best stuff I have ever used on pins.

Yea what he said. I have never, even when upgrading calipers and all, touched that bracket on the spindle.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Qyota,

Two things:

First as LittleCeasar said, those Brembos are good rotors but the top hats get rusty QUICK. I put them on my Supra a while back and they were covered in rust after just a damp night... after a couple rains, forget it. They actually looked pretty nasty behind the wheels. Maybe consider throwing some paint on 'em.

Also, those EBC Ultimax are SUPER DUSTY! I put those on the Supra during the brake job I mentioned above and they would cover the wheels in dust within a week. Also they were very noisy when cold.

As far as the bolt on that bracket holding the line to the spindle... I broke mine off when I did my brakes on the '97 (it's got a good amount of rust). I drilled mine out and put a slightly smaller bolt through the hole with a nut/lock washer on the other side. I didn't have a tap to fit the hole or time to go get one, and the bolt is holding just fine.

The bracket you're talking about is the one in the upper LH corner of the pic below right?

If so, I always remove that bracket when I have to pull the rotors. It gives you some slack in the line to get the caliper off without disconnecting the brake line. I assume LC and Dous are removing the brake line from the caliper instead. Same amount of work either way, but IMO I'd rather remove the bracket than risk stripping out/weakening the brake line to caliper connection by removing/re-installing repeatedly. Also, removing the line just lets more air into the sytem that you have to bleed out later.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Oh, I see what you are talking about (thanks for the pic BFAD).

All I do, after removing the two caliper bolts that secure the caliper to the knuckle, is to hang the caliper by a stiff bungee cord, so that the hard line would not flex too much. I could push the pistons back in as well as allow myself ample room to remove and replace the rotors. I have done this on every set I have ever changed out and to knock on wood here, no problems yet.

I did remove the hard lines when I did my Tundra caliper upgrade, and due to the lack of rust, there was no problem in removing them.

 

[Qyota]

Yup, that's the bracket in question. Thanks for the pic! I didn't think I'd have enough flex to move the caliper out of the way to get the rotors swapped, so that's why I removed those bolts.

Thanks for the info on the rust and dust. I don't care how the rotors look, as long as they are working properly.