I have a question about caliper carrier bolts: I replaced the brakes
02-28-2009, 07:07 PM
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I have a question about caliper carrier bolts: I replaced the brakes
on an S4 today and I learned that I needed to replace the carrier bolts ,but my nearest dealer was out of stock on them. So I used the old ones again. Should I not drive the car with these or is it OK? I will replace them otherwise.
03-01-2009, 08:43 AM
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Yes, I do think the manual states that. But most everyone does not replace them.
Sliding pins can be reused if no pitting is evident. Clean them up with a wire brush before greasing and reinserting.
Caliper bolts are probably fine to reuse. The torque spec is pretty big IIRC, but I would be surprised if you can get them torqued to spec -- most torque wrenches can't fit into the space. If you can, let me know what wrench are using. Even the indy shop I use for bigger car work beyond my scope reuses the caliper bolts and pins. I guess if you tracked your car heavily, new bolts and pins would be piece of mind.
Busted Knuckles Weekend Wrencher torque spec is three elongated grunts followed by at least one "Holy <insert your choice of 4-letter word />!!". Seriously, get them as tight as you can with the short reach tools you have.
If you're worried, call up you local dealers parts department and ask them for a price on the bolt. Ask them to quote you pads too so they think you're serious about buying from them. Then ask them if it is standard practice for their service techs to replace those bolts and pins on every brake job they do.
btw.....you may have to modify one of your 8mm hex sockets to do the back brakes -- <a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/1104497.phtml" target="_new">clicky for explanation</a>.
Caliper bolts are probably fine to reuse. The torque spec is pretty big IIRC, but I would be surprised if you can get them torqued to spec -- most torque wrenches can't fit into the space. If you can, let me know what wrench are using. Even the indy shop I use for bigger car work beyond my scope reuses the caliper bolts and pins. I guess if you tracked your car heavily, new bolts and pins would be piece of mind.
Busted Knuckles Weekend Wrencher torque spec is three elongated grunts followed by at least one "Holy <insert your choice of 4-letter word />!!". Seriously, get them as tight as you can with the short reach tools you have.
If you're worried, call up you local dealers parts department and ask them for a price on the bolt. Ask them to quote you pads too so they think you're serious about buying from them. Then ask them if it is standard practice for their service techs to replace those bolts and pins on every brake job they do.
btw.....you may have to modify one of your 8mm hex sockets to do the back brakes -- <a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/1104497.phtml" target="_new">clicky for explanation</a>.
03-01-2009, 08:53 AM
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Slider pins only come with caliper carriers (rear).
At least for the rear. I just did my rear rotors and pads on my '04. One of the 13mm bolts (actually my 1/2" wrench fit better) was stripped. I was shocked to learn that the sliding pins are only offered with a replacement caliper carrier. Stay classy, Audi.
I managed to clean up the threads and everything's back together, but incredibly dumb on Audi's part.
Also for future searching - it is not necessary to remove the 8mm bolts that hold the caliper carrier to the spindle. The rotor can be removed with these in place. Otherwise you will need to modify an 8mm socket (make it shorter) to fit in the tight space.
I managed to clean up the threads and everything's back together, but incredibly dumb on Audi's part.
Also for future searching - it is not necessary to remove the 8mm bolts that hold the caliper carrier to the spindle. The rotor can be removed with these in place. Otherwise you will need to modify an 8mm socket (make it shorter) to fit in the tight space.
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03-01-2009, 09:10 AM
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The 8mm rear bolt needs to be at least loose to swing the caliper up though. Right?
On my '02 I had to remove the caliper to get the rotor off.
Just checked GAP. Looks like they may sell them separate.
For front they call it 'Bushing kit'. For the back they call it 'Boot kit'. They show a price for the front kit but not the back kit. Drilled down by <Front -or- Back> Suspension -> Brake Components -> Caliper.
Just checked GAP. Looks like they may sell them separate.
For front they call it 'Bushing kit'. For the back they call it 'Boot kit'. They show a price for the front kit but not the back kit. Drilled down by <Front -or- Back> Suspension -> Brake Components -> Caliper.
03-01-2009, 09:11 AM
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I did get them as tight as possible. I just have that funny feeling of them
breaking... They are big bolts and should not break and they came off without much fight. So I inspected them and they look new with good threads,so I re used them. The caliper pins were fine, just a little dirty, so I cleaned and lubed them. Thanks for the response.
03-01-2009, 09:18 AM
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As you said, the bolts are pretty big. And they are made out of HS (high strength) steel so chances
are they would break on torquing or loosening before breaking in place. Blue thread-lock would give added piece of mind. I use the blue stuff on just about everything