about to change a caliper and the existing bolts look like shoot, VERY rusty. so might be a challenge getting them out, should i replace them? if i should, can someone gie me part numbers, or even just thread size and length so i can buy some bolts from B&Q or something.

Don't get bolts etc from B&Q as they will not be of the correct spec and will likely fail in service. You should get parts such as these from a main dealer or perhaps your local motor factors if they stock them ( they are likely to from my experiences ).

B&Q bolts will not be of the correct grade of steel, simple as that.

As an aside a friend bought some stainless bolts against my advice from Screwfix for his 1960's Land Rover and when tightening them up they mostly sheared before entering service - they were not high tensile grade and as such not fit for purpose ie unsafe.

Parts such as these are in effect pennies to buy from the " proper " outlets .... what price your own and others safety ? Don't do it...... I cannot say it any other way.

(24-04-2013, 11:23 PM)geoff Wrote:  Don't get bolts etc from B&Q as they will not be of the correct spec and will likely fail in service. You should get parts such as these from a main dealer or perhaps your local motor factors if they stock them ( they are likely to from my experiences ).

B&Q bolts will not be of the correct grade of steel, simple as that.

As an aside a friend bought some stainless bolts against my advice from Screwfix for his 1960's Land Rover and when tightening them up they mostly sheared before entering service - they were not high tensile grade and as such not fit for purpose ie unsafe.

Parts such as these are in effect pennies to buy from the " proper " outlets .... what price your own and others safety ? Don't do it...... I cannot say it any other way.

thanks for the advice, wouldnt of bought any old bolts unless i was told it was safe to do so.

will be on the phone to dingbro at 9am sharp i think.

good news is, my job for tomorrow was the van brakes and less than 2 hours work on a back door. so now ive got most of the day free to work on the car. (1 step closer to a 280bhp mk4 golf)

(24-04-2013, 11:36 PM)inzor Wrote:  thanks for the advice, wouldnt of bought any old bolts unless i was told it was safe to do so.

The trouble with buying out of the " loop " is that the typical shop assistant serving you doesn't have a clue about tensile strength, carbon steel content and the various supplied grades of steel and stainless steel and you end up being fobbed off by someone who doesn't want to look like a tosser in front of a customer. Often he or she won't know what a shank is let alone the difference between a bolt and a set screw and they will say aye aye to almost anything just to get rid of you so he / she can go for break or get away from a no knowledge situation.

Put simply some parts just have to be bought from the correct source, I won't say more for fear of causing offence.

+ A tub of copperslip as an investment - you wont have them sieze up in the future

I'd personally use threadlocker, in conjunction with correct tightening it should not corrode excessively.

Caliper bolts usually come when you buy replacement pads. They should come preloaded with threadlock compound and should be fitted dry.

Peter

Problem here is that local councils will ,without the slightest provocation, use their entire education budgets to instead treat our berlingos undersides with rocksalt.

i recently changed discs and pads using EBC parts and the bolts did not come with the pads.
looking at a citroen parts diag they seem to come with brake pad kit including pads, spring thingys and said bolts. they also come in the slider pin kit.can't find any info on thread size/rate, they give for the other bolts the torx ones but not the ones in the sliders.
re stainless bolts they are generaly as weak as putty. the only high tensile ones i've found are ARP.they are works of art but you must use anti seize as they will cold weld and they are an arm and a leg expensive
stuey

thanks guys, i do need to get discs and pads aswell but im a bit skint, so was hoping to do the caliper now and the discs and pads in a few weeks. will have a look on some websites for the bolts.