I was trying to do my front brakes but the 2 bolts that hold the caliper in place were extremely tight even after some WD40. I applied so much force that the part of the ratchet that has the little ball that goes into the socket actually got twisted bent. Any suggestion on how to get those off? I have no power tools. Thanks

 

If you are trying the caliper bracket bolts, they are attached using red Locktite. Warm them with a propane torch (gently) and they will come loose. It has to get warm enough to melt the Locktite, but not damage anything else.

For rusted bolts, I've found that PB Blaster does a better job than WD-40. You can usually find it at a Carquest or NAPA.

 

Be sure you use a good quality ratchet... Then what I did for mine just a week or two ago was to use the tire iron from the trunk, and put the lug nut portion over the end of the ratchet handle. The lug nut portion is hollow, so it slipped over the end of the ratchet handle so it stays put. This gave sufficient leverage to break them loose and not break my knuckles in the process!

 

I had this problem also, see my "Beaten by the brakes" post. In the end I took it to the mechanics at the bus depot where I work, and it took two mechanics, a lot of heat and a breaker bar meant for buses nearly half an hour to get them to go!! They were really on tight-the last person who did that had used way too much locktite and over tightened the bolts!! S.

 

Ratchets are not meant to break stuck bolts loose, even the most expensive ones will fail. Use a breaker bar.

WD40 is not effective for getting rusty things loose. It is a water displacement fluid- that's what it's meant for and little else.

 

Thank you guys for the help. One more question... Are those two 17 mm bolts all I need to remove in order to get the pads out? Or can I get the pads out w/out removing the caliper by just removing that clip on the caliper? Thanks

 

You do not need to remove the caliper to change the pads.

 

I did not attempt to remove the pads without removing the caliper, but I can't think of how you would compress the piston so that you can put the new pads in?

 

I remember my 7th grade shop teacher telling the class that a screwdriver was for driving screws and nothing else. I am sure he really had not meant to exclude opening paint cans and prying caliper cylinders back.

 

Ditto. Preferably 1/2 drive and use a big *** hammer on the breaker bar to break the bolts loose.

 

Ok so I'm assuming that metal clip is what's holding the front pad, however without looking at it right now I'm not sure how the one in the back is coming out w/out removing the caliper.

 

There are two allen bolts that need to come out to separate the caliper so you can remove the pads. They are covered by little rubber boots, have you removed them? You need a specific size tool avaliable from Car shops. S.

 

The inside section of the caliper stays on the car. Remove the plastic covers on the inside of the caliper to access the two Allen bolts mentioned above. I can't remember at the moment but they are either 7 or 8mm. That will allow the outside of the caliper to be removed along with the rotor. The inside pad is now fully accessible.

I have had a 3 foot piece of pipe that fits nicely over my 1/2" breaker bar for 40 years. Makes easy work of most anything.

 

I bought a 6" C-Clamp from Home Depot and it is a very nice tool for compressing the caliper pistons safely.

 

Search my posts, i had put up a photo guide to doing the brakes.