Uh oh. I got brake problems!

[RandallNeighbour]

Well, today was the day to swap pads and rotors and brake lines. The back wheels were a piece of cake, even for this first-timer.

However, the top caliper bolts on both front rotors were frozen solid. It took a pry bar and lots of gentle back and forth motion to remove them (quarter turn back, quarter turn forward) without snapping off the head.

When they were finally removed, the steel screw had totally stripped the aluminum female threads.

What I need to know now is the bolt size and pitch so I can buy a kit to put a sleeve in and retap it.

Anyone have this information or done this on this part of a Porsche before?

[Tool Pants]

Here is a link to something on a UK Boxster board from 3 years ago.

http://www.boxa.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=15803&st=0&p=155605&#entry155605

If the link does not work, this is what I said.

"That is not good news - hope you can save your hub.

It looks like the bolt is 12 mm diameter x 1.5 mm pitch. You should replace it anyway so buy one and take it with you when you pick up the tap to verify the size.

I do not know what you call it in the UK but we call it a thread restorer. It does not cut new threads, it bends the old threads back into shape if they can be saved. The same type of tap is used to restore spark plug threads in aluminum heads.

If you can save the threads and torque the bolt to specs then you are lucky, otherwise you need to replace the hub or have the threads drilled out and put in an insert. I have no personal experience with the Boxster hub. Because this is a safety/brake item my dealer would just replace the hub.

Torque specs are 63 foot pounds or 85 newton meters."

[dcporsche99]

Great info here! BTW, what kind of brake lines are you using Randall?? Stainless or OEM??

[derb]

Hey Randall,
The same thing happened to me when I took my rear calipers off. I did exactly like Tool Pants posted below.
I went to Sears and bought a set of thread restorers. I couldn't just buy the M12x1.5 so I now have a set of 40.
Good luck.
mike

[RandallNeighbour]

I believe what I need to buy and used is called a "helicoil."

This is not a good situation, that's for sure!

I'd rather not replace the wheel carrier, as those have to be big bucks and the labor to put it in. Ugh!

[Tool Pants]

Helicoil is a brand name of a type of an insert. There are many others on the market.

About every 6 months someone on the Boxster message boards reports having stripped the threads in the aluminum hub trying to remove the caliper bolts.

The question is, can you save what you have without having to drill for an insert. I do not know anyone who has used an insert. I have never asked the mechanics at the local dealer what they do, since I know the answer. Put in a new hub.

If all the threads have pulled out then you are out of luck.

If there are enough damaged threads that can be fixed to hold 63 foot pounds of torque then try that first.

On the left is a thread restorer tap and die - that fixes damaged male and female threads. On the right is a normal tap and die that cuts new threads. I have the Sears restorer set mentioned by derb, except I have the 48 piece set. It is actually made by Kastar Hand Tools in the US and sold under different names.

[RandallNeighbour]

Originally Posted by dcporsche99

Great info here! BTW, what kind of brake lines are you using Randall?? Stainless or OEM??

Stainless that have some sort of plastic coating on them. I then put the plastic coil from the old OEM ones on the new ones to help protect them a bit more.

My existing brake lines were original and were crusty. I'm really glad I replaced them, or should I say I will be really glad I replaced them when I get my front caliper problem sorted out.

[dcporsche99]

Hi Randall,

W/c SS lines did you purchase?? Do you have a pic??

Hope you're making headway on your caliper issue!

[RandallNeighbour]

No pics. I just bought the aftermarket SS brake lines from gforcebrakes.com. :dance:

They appear to be very high quality though. I think they were $23 each or something like that. Weltmeister has some for a similar price.

Quick update on my brake problem:

Bought a $155 sleeve kit from Time Sert. They had a distributor in Dallas with the kit I needed and the correct sleeve lengths required.

Bought two new caliper bolts from Sunset for $2.18 each. In stock. BTW, a local giant corporation-owned stealership said they'd order them for me for $8.90 each plus freight to order them and it would be 2-3 weeks. Let me write this one more time just to vent:

I ABSOLUTELY LOATHE THE SONIC GROUP. JOIN ME IN BOYCOTTING THEM.

Thank goodness for the independent Pcar dealer that just opened on the north side. They only wanted $2.90 for the bolts, but didn't have them in stock either.

Saturday I will tackle drilling out the caliper bolt holder (or whatever it's called) and put in this way-cool insert gizmo and get my brakes bled and get my boxster home where it belongs.

Say a prayer for me and my car if you're reading this before Saturday.

New wheel carriers, which comes after this if it doesn't work, are $560 EACH from Sunset and 3 weeks away in Germany. Add to that a whopping bill for installation for the same amount and the nearly mandatory "what the heck, let's replace the wheel bearings, struts and oh yeah, buy some of those lowering springs I wanted to do one day" and boom! $3800 out of pocket for a stupid and seemingly simple brake job. :chicken:

Any boxster lookers reading this thread that are considering buying an old boxster, remember that the older, cheaper boxster you buy is going to cost you a LOT more to own over the long haul.

[I still love my boxster in particular though. It has become part of the fabric of my life, not another car I've owned in the parade of cars I've owned.]