Firebird1984

Ok, I thought I would replace the aging calipers on my car with some rebuilt units just as a preventative maintenance measure. I've replaced tons of these things over the years, so no mystery on how to do it.

I replaced the calipers (along with the brake hoses) and intalled the bolts. The shop manual calls for 35 ft/lbs of torque. Well, I set the torque wrench to that figure and start tightening, and tightening and did I mention I kept tightening???? I checked to see why I was turning these things so far and found there were no strippped screws.... the bushings in the calipers that the guide bolts go through were actually crushing and crumbling! Anything beyond just "snug" and they start doing this! I've never seen anything like it before. Anyone else ever have this happen? I got a replacement caliper from the store and it's doing the same thing! It may be time to switch parts suppliers! Any help appreciated.

Brad

jjb

I've never seen that before and I've done over 500 brake jobs.

If you still have your old calipers, why not use the old bushings out of them and just clean them up good with a wire wheel on a bench grinder or even emery cloth.

Firebird1984

This may be what I have to do. I did take one of the cores back, but they will still have it tomorrow, so I can still get them. This is the strangest thing I've ever seen. I've worked on cars and brakes since I was 16 and now at age 50, I encounter something this bizzare. My guess is that there is a quality control issue from the rebuilder. Thanks for the reply!
Brad

Firebird1984

Ok, this AM I called the remanufacturer of these calipers. I discovered that they are using a new type of hardware on these to resist corrosion. Great! The bushings are no longer steel, they are aluminum! That's great! It would have been nice if there was a warning slip or installation note in with the calipers noting that they would not stand up to the factory torque that was intended for the original steel bushings. The guys at the factory agreeded with me that it would have been nice if they put that info in there.... wonder if they will in the future?

The local store was cool and gave me new bushings to put in there. I had returned the core on one caliper and it had already gone back to the remanufacturer, so I couldn't recover that one. Guess it pays to double check what they are using for hardware on the more recent rebuilt stuff.
Brad