wisconsin_quat

try to remove rear calipers from the B6 A4... I mean really.. how obnoxiously did they design the rear caliper bolts and shock location?? Every upper rear caliper bracket bolt i've touched is stripped.

I'm starting to replace the hex head 8mm allen with a 8.8 grade 17mm 6 point bolt... should be much easier for the next change.

x1rider

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wisconsin_quat

do you live outside of the salt belt?

x1rider

I'm from northern Ontario

nanotech

Last time, I spent
-1/2 hour fighting with allen key to unsuccessfully break upper bolts loose
-1/2 hour dremeling 8mm allen socket to fit with breaker bar
-1 hour fighting with breaker bar, allen key, jigaloo, heat, mallets, etc to break bolts loose
-1/2 hour cursing at stripped soft ****ty bolts with no leverage
-10 minutes envisioning how to get stripped bolt remover socket into tiny space before giving up
-30 minutes pointlessly dremeling slot into bolt head
-1 hour drinking and cursing

-10 minutes drilling out bolts

Next time, will only be 10 minutes instead of 4 hours. I was uncomfortable with the idea of drilling the bolt out originally, but the bolt is so soft and the caliper and carrier are so hard, it's hard to damage the threads if you're careful.

shwndh

That's strange. I don't remember ever having a problem removing them.

wisconsin_quat

haha.. just a tip for all you out there... the best solution i have found is while the bolt is on the caliper tight/ stripped, just go ahead and grind off about 1/3 of the contacting shoulder with a cut off wheel, then spin the bolt off with a pair of vise grips. should take you 5 minutes so now you're 50% more efficient!