In the continuing saga of rebuilding the front suspension on my FB, I had noticed a slight “ clunking” when first applying the brake pedal , prior to the suspension renewal.

After having the car wheel alignment performed today, the noise is still apparent and after removing the front wheel there seems to be play in the caliper mount to the assembly. The left side is certainly more so than the right.

Any advice of replacing the caliper bolts or should I just replace caliper ?

Regards
Glenn

 

pull it apart and look, its a very simple part. the pins and sliders are cheap and available

 

The caliper bracket is secured to the front spindle assembly with two 14mm bolts. They can be difficult to access due to the lip on the spindle assembly. I would start by ensuring those are tight. I've ground awaybthe lip on my car so that I can gain access to the bolts much easier. Perhaps the last person to replace the front brakes did not tighten these bolts properly.

This is also a good time to service the slide pins, caliper bracket bridges, and fitting kit. Ensure everything is clean and apply a light amount of grease under and on the U shaped portion to allow the pads to slide freely. Often times rust builds up on the bridges and pushes the fitting kit into the pad and squeezes the pad and does not allow it to move freely.

 

Thanks for the comments and will look over the weekend...

Regards
Glenn

 

do those 2 14 mm bolts have the same treads? I mixed them up. One started to go in, then it felt like it was cross threaded. I tried the other one, and it went right in just using my fingers. The treads look the same.

And Glenn to get access to the bolts, you have to crank the steering wheel all the way to the L for one, and all the way R for the other. sounds like the P O put the first bolt in finger tight so he could align the second bolt hole. He tightened down the second bolt, but didn't go back and torque down the first bolt.

 

I agree.

 

so are the two 14 mm strut to spindle bolts different?

 

Parts catalog says not

 

front wheel bearing replacement per repairpal.com is about $140 parts and $140 labor.

Rockauto has the wheel bearing for a trivial amount (less than $15).

The $280 seems sky high.