geoffbeaumont Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Discovery failed it's MOT on Monday, on corroded rear brake disks (and brake efficiency - not sure if that was an automatic failure because of the disks though. It does need a change of brake fluid so it'll get done before the retest). Trouble is, the Aberdeenshire road salt has worked its usual magic on the caliper bolt heads, and the star heads are more circular once you've removed the oxide... Got one of the bottom bolts out this evening by hammering a smaller socket onto it - the thread was in good nick, thankfully - but the top bolts are a bit difficult to get a decent swing at it with a hammer as the spring is in the way. Tried putting an extension on the socket but while it's better there's still not much of a swing because of the fuel tank. Anyone got any handy hints? Only thing I can think of if the current approach doesn't do the trick is to take the springs out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 ... "don't round the bolts off"? Not a lot of help, heat can make your life slightly easier but I'm afraid you're in for the long haul there. Don't bother trying to grind them off, trust me - even when you spend forever with the world's tiniest grinder and come out successful with no head on the bolt and grinding dust in your hair, you'll find the caliper won't come out because the bolt stub holds it. Obvious now, not then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted June 27, 2007 Author Share Posted June 27, 2007 ... "don't round the bolts off"? There wasn't anything of substance there to round off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintman Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Can you plug weld a normal nut onto the remains? Or is access &/or lack of a mig going to defeat that one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 No help to you Geoff, but reading things like this always makes me thankful we don't have the necessity for salt on our roads. We have no comprehension what it must be like to have to deal with that stuff. Nobody waxoyls anything here, and there's a good chance you can pick up something like a 1991 Disco with 300,000km and still find it rust free. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted June 27, 2007 Author Share Posted June 27, 2007 No help to you Geoff, but reading things like this always makes me thankful we don't have the necessity for salt on our roads. We have no comprehension what it must be like to have to deal with that stuff. Nobody waxoyls anything here, and there's a good chance you can pick up something like a 1991 Disco with 300,000km and still find it rust free.Paul There's a lot of variation even within the UK - I have two trucks at the moment. The Range Rover has been in the Birmingham area all it's life, the Discovery belonged to my parents until a year ago, so has spent most of it's life in Aberdeenshire where the roads are heavily salted for several months every year. Not surprisingly, the Range Rover is in much better condition underneath (although strangely the bodywork is better on the Discovery, even allowing for my father's recent carelessness with the other truck... ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted June 27, 2007 Author Share Posted June 27, 2007 Can you plug weld a normal nut onto the remains? Or is access &/or lack of a mig going to defeat that one? The complete lack of any welding equipment whatsover could indeed by a slight problem with this idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 You'll have to remove the springs to get better access Geoff. If you grind the head of the bolt off you will have to split the caliper in order to remove it and then take the remains of the bolt out. You will have to be careful with heat - a blow torch will take forever to make a difference as the mass of metal would soak it away. Oxy gear would be better, but you would have to careful not to damage the caliper seals. There's a special extractor socket you can get for this type of thing. You hammer it onto the bolt head and it has left bias grips inside that bites into the bolt head as you undo the bolt. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white90 Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 take the car to Culmhead the bog I drove into knocked the caliper off dead easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciderman Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 take the car to Culmheadthe bog I drove into knocked the caliper off dead easy Surely youve all heard of the Culmhead calliper removal Tool . A few of us on here regulary use it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintman Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Or www.lawson-his.co.uk/scripts/products.php?cat=Removal%20Tools for the Irwin grip sets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisV8 Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Get the Irwin bolt grip set of removers from Screwfix http://www.screwfix.com/search.do;jsession...mp;x=8&y=10 These work on most things but are only 3/8th drive so go easy on them but they grip really well and with the help of a bit of heat to loosen the loctite seem to get most out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted June 28, 2007 Author Share Posted June 28, 2007 In the end I managed to hammer a standard socket on through the spring and got the calipers off - think it could really do with new calipers, they look pretty ropey and I don't think the inner pistons were retracting properly. Might have to drive down to MM4x4 on Saturday and shell out for new ones if they don't clean up. Disks are done now, though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white90 Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 watch out for the cheapo ones thay can be very shoddy quality indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted June 28, 2007 Author Share Posted June 28, 2007 watch out for the cheapo ones thay can be very shoddy quality indeed. I did one on the Range Rover recently, the recon one from MM4x4 seemed to be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted June 29, 2007 Author Share Posted June 29, 2007 Might have to drive down to MM4x4 on Saturday and shell out for new ones if they don't clean up. Well, thanks to the skiiving gets at the Royal Mail who were too busy striking today to deliver my caliper bolts I'm going to have to drive down to MM4x4 anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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