Where to Buy 1 Caliper Bolt?

[duke16]

Where would I buy a caliper bolt from? Would somewhere like Autozone sell them (i.e are they generic enough) or would I have to go a junkyard or Ford dealership to get one specifically for a 2nd generation Explorer? I managed to over-torque one of the rear caliper bolts, and it broke off.

Incidentally, anyone have any idea how I could go about removing the threaded end of the bolt from the wheel mount thingy. Only thing I can think of is to bore it out with a drill.

 

[IZwack]

If there's no part of the bolt is sticking out, yeah I would bore it out with a drill and (with a Dremel?) slowly work you're way towards the teeth of the bolt until its collapsible with a pick.

 

[duke16]

If there's no part of the bolt is sticking out, yeah I would bore it out with a drill and (with a Dremel?) slowly work you're way towards the teeth of the bolt until its collapsible with a pick.

Well there is a little sticking out, but the bolt is one of those that gets larger as it gets near the end (not sure what you calls those), and I can't get a good enough grip to overcome the fact I massively overtorqured it. I could kill myself because I had my damn torque wrench sitting right next to me, but neglected to use it.

 

[IZwack]

If there is a little bit sticking out and you have or know of some one with a welder, I would get another short bolt and weld it onto whatever is left of that broken bolt. And, while the bolt and the knuckle is still steaming hot from the welding process, I would back out the welded bolt slowly.

Another option, if there is enough bolt sticking out, is to use a "bolt out". These devices bite into the bolt as you turn it counter-clockwise: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00952166000P?keyword=bolt+out. If you have a torch, heat the area around the broken bolt to expand it just a little bit.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I broke a bolt on my wife's front caliper- at least for her car there aren't any "generic" bolts, caliper bolts are specialty bolts made to take the load and stress of caliper duty. The rear may not be as important as the front, but I wouldn't risk safety over a bolt.

 

[Joe Dirt]

You can get them at AZ, and for how much they are, if you're not replacing both with new I've always done so after having a reused bolt back out on me in my Mustang... And I sort of agree with MountaineerGreen- I wouldn't cut too many corners on brakes.

 

[duke16]

Does anyone know the name of the part that the caliper is bolting too in the rear? It's holding the rotor, parking brake, etc. It looks like it held on to the axle with 4 bolts, but I'm assuming there's more to it then that.

 

[Turdle]

That would be the spindle--

 

[CDW6212R]

...or brake backing plate, or caliper bracket. Those are tiny little 10mm headed bolts, they don't need much torque, maybe 25lbsft. at the most. Can you file the edges down enough to slip the caliper off of it? Good luck,

 

[duke16]

Nah, pretty sure it's the spindle.

This wasn't a tiny bolt, it's was a long bolt threaded at the end. The caliper itself wasn't threaded, so that's not attached to anything right now.

The issue is the end of the bolt broke off inside threaded hole (the spindle). I had managed to bore through the bolt, but it still wouldn't budge. So I thought I'd give one of these damaged screw removers a shot (I couldn't find a damaged bolt remover that would do the job, the nut is broken off). Basically you drill a hole and then hammer this thing in there, then you turn it. Unfortantly the damn thing broke off in the hole I had drilled, so now that's stuck in there. I tried drilling through that, but it looks to be a lot harder metal then the original bolt was. So now I have a broken off nut with this screw remover thing in it, all in all, a pretty ****ty situation.

Next thing I guess I'll try is removing the spindle and seeing if I can get my welding buddy to weld the end of the bolt back on. Is there a guide on how to remove the spindle? I see the 4 bolts but I'm sure there's more to it then that.

 

[CDW6212R]

Unsubscribing, good luck.

 

[duke16]

I'm trying to look the part up on car-parts.com, but it doesn't ask me if it's for the front or the rear. So... is called something different in the rear?....