A stuck caliper bolt ate 5 hours of my Saturday and I still lost

Pulled a 2008 Silverado into the bay to do front brakes and the lower caliper bolt on the driver side would not budge, even with a breaker bar and a torch. I soaked it in penetrating oil, let it sit, snapped a cheap Allen socket, then had to drill the head off and pull the bracket with a hammer and chisel. What should've been a 90 minute job turned into 5 hours, one rounded bolt, and a trip to Napa for a replacement bracket on a Saturday afternoon. I ended up finishing at 7pm still mad about it. How do you guys deal with caliper bolts that won't let go, do you have a go-to trick or do you just drill and grab a new bracket like I did?

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the_parker8d ago

Man, that lower bolt on those trucks is a known headache. Did you try heat on the bracket ear itself instead of the bolt head? I've had better luck getting the whole knuckle ear glowing a bit and then hitting it with candle wax or ATF mixed with acetone while it's still hot. Also curious if yours was rusted solid or if somebody before you put red Loctite on it, because those two need totally different plans.

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