Sheared Bolt on caliper torque plate

[Jimmytonga]

I was trying to swap the rotors on my 1986 hardbody and when i was taking the bracket for the caliper off, the upper bolt sheared off right at the head. you would think that without the bolt head, you't be able to slide the caliper right off, but its not budging.

Whats weirder is that because the bottom bolt is out, I can pound on the caliper bracket with a hammer and get it to rotate a bit, so its not like its fused together by rust. (See the photos)

To make matters worse, I thought I could remove the other bolt on the steering knuckle to help but that one sheared off also.

I've spent all day spraying it with penetrating oil and heating it with a torch to no avail. Anyone have any pointers? Has this happened to anyone?

[DAZE752]

try drilling a hole thru the center then gradually go bigger.
You have to make sure it is exactly center if not you run the risk of hitting the spindle.

[ItsNoName3]

If you drill the head just the depth of the bracket, the approximate diameter the bolt it should weak it enough that it will deform so you can pound the bracket off. Don't be scare, you are going to have to drill it so the wall is less than 1/8th of an inch thick probably

[cadillacdude1975]

You might have to visit a junkyard.

[alabama_lowlife]

I agree, time to start drilling. Drill a smaller hole first, then step it up. The heat and vibration are likely to help as well.

[dvdswan]

If you remove the rotor the bracket will come off.

What I mean is you may need to pull them both off at the same time. Obviously, you cant take the rotor off with the bracket around it, but with rotor loos this will give the bracket more room to slide with broken bolt on it.

In the end all you should need to do is either buy a new/used caliper bracket or drill out the bolt.

[street_rulerr]

^^^^ exactly. the threads are in the bracket.




how much force were you using? these are 19mm head bolts. they're also grade 8 i believe. rather beefy

[Jimmytonga]

Welp, 30$ of drill bits and 2 hours of banging, prying, and cursing later and the caliper bracket is off! Unfortunately the thru hole for the bolt in the spindle is gouged a little bit but im gonna run with it cause i don't think it'll affect anything.

The hole ended up drilling was pretty off-centered on accident but it was a bob ross happy accident because it means theres still enough of the stud protruding from the caliper bracket that i can grab it with vice grips and spin it out. (see photo) But thats a project for a different day. As is the other snapped-off bolt for the steering knuckle.

Now I'm terrified to try and take the rotor bolts off, much less the other side. I have everything soaking in liberal amounts of penetrating oil for now. I'll make sure to be more gentle from now on and use the torch more.

Thank you all for your help! I've never posted in a forum with so many good timely responses before! I'm new to Nissans with this truck (I'm a honda guy dare I admit). But I'm excited to start learning the way of the Nissan!

[DAZE752]

Originally Posted by Jimmytonga

Welp, 30$ of drill bits and 2 hours of banging, prying, and cursing later and the caliper bracket is off! Unfortunately the thru hole for the bolt in the spindle is gouged a little bit but im gonna run with it cause i don't think it'll affect anything.

The hole ended up drilling was pretty off-centered on accident but it was a bob ross happy accident because it means theres still enough of the stud protruding from the caliper bracket that i can grab it with vice grips and spin it out. (see photo) But thats a project for a different day. As is the other snapped-off bolt for the steering knuckle.

Now I'm terrified to try and take the rotor bolts off, much less the other side. I have everything soaking in liberal amounts of penetrating oil for now. I'll make sure to be more gentle from now on and use the torch more.

Thank you all for your help! I've never posted in a forum with so many good timely responses before! I'm new to Nissans with this truck (I'm a honda guy dare I admit). But I'm excited to start learning the way of the Nissan!

There by far is no better forum then here, there is multiple sources and information that someone should know something about it.
Glad we could all help and if anything arises do a quick search because more then likely it has been covered, but if that fails don't be afraid to ask.

[OldGreyBeast]

If you're afraid the next one will do the same thing, once you've let the bolt soak for a few days give it some heat before you start trying to remove it.


I'd wager some previous owner put way too much force on them tightening them up. The torque spec on those caliper brackets generally isn't all that much.