Quote:
Originally Posted by Dippydog
Having purchased a new brake caliper for the n/s front and a rebuild kit for the o/s front last Saturday was the day for the job[s] to be done.With the able assistance of my step grandaughter* 11 a.m. was the start time.Changing a caliper is a pretty simple and straightforward job right?First job crack the wheel bolts off prior to jacking and this is where it all went a bit pear shaped!Three of the bolts cracked off with a bit more effort than I thought should be the case with a 2ft breaker bar.However the other two[one of which was the locking bolt]would have none of it.Using a trolley jack to jack the end of the[admittedly relatively cheap]breaker bar resulted in the breaker bending  a battery powered impact gun was borrowed which resulted in plenty of "chatter" but no movement,one of those cross shaped wheel braces was tried supporting the outer end with a jack and hitting one arm with a 2lb lump hammer with the same result.Back to the chatter gun then back to the breaker bar and after bouncing up and down on the end of this the locking bolt finally cracked off[much relief that it wasn't damaged]but the final bolt was still stubbornly holding fast.More chatter gun etc and eventually back to the breaker bar and bouncing on the end when the square drive sheared of the head of the bar and shattered inside the socket!! A quick trip to local Halfords[less than a mile away so an easy walk]and one of their guaranteed for life breaker bars purchased and this along with the fact she'd been having further goes with the chatter gun/wheel brace while I was away eventually got it to crack off.The job went smoothly and easily from there[o/s wheel bolts cracked off fairly easily with a bit of effort]but this relatively straightforward job lasted from 11 a.m. to just after 6 p.m.!!
*She's mid 30's loves helping tinker with/repair cars is eager to learn and doesn't mind at all getting her hands mucky/oily/greasy and also accepts the possibility of grazed knuckles/spilt blood. |
Whenever I get a tyre changed at Twitfit or the like,I always find myself jumping up & down on a breaker bar, the next time I try & get the wheels off.
But if I take the wheels off & do them up myself with my torque wrench, they seem to come undone very easily next time. I was beginning to think that my torque wrench needed recalibrating, but I have checked it against another one and it still cracks off at 110 as it says in the manual. I cant help thinking that overtightening the bolts will damage the bolts & the alloy wheels, so now I take the wheel off & take it to the tyre fitters, bit of a faff, but I can sleep easier, knowing I wont need King Kong to help me get the wheels off at the side of the road on a dark night.