demonic caliper bracket bolts

[brus brother]

The rear wheel bearing / rotor replacement saga continues. 

First time replacement 120K miles and likely the caliper bracket bolts are virgins, here in rusty, crusty New England.

On the 08 OB, SOA decided to bury the top bolt inside a port hole on the knuckle.

The lower one is just barely more accessible.

Liftless, working on the ground, me and Jack Stanz, I have tried multiple PB Blaster soaks, 1/2 ratchet and just today 1/2 impact gun with 3/8 non-impact extensions. 

The bolts just shrugged and I think I saw the extensions twisting.

Is the god of fire the only remaining remedy? If so, that top bolt will be a challenge.

Prayers welcome.

[moosens]

Prayers sent. Hey you know how I normally offer help ... Jim the more I work on these newer generation Subarus the more I dislike Subaru. 
 

Have suffered the same with our 2006 , need that extention through the arm etc , sure just like we always did right ? On the ground like you. No impact. But I’d get the full schnitzel on the impact extensions. Twist n Shout is not a good song to play during those moments. 
 

Let me know if you need comedic assistance in the garage. 

[nvu]

Doesn't look like there's room to get a torch properly in those legacy multilinks hubs, you'll probably make those bushings unhappy.  They're 14mm bolts no? 1/2 in breaker bar and 1/2 socket good enough to loosen or break off bolts up to 17mm. Fun

Btw, if you're ever under the car or working on your back, get a face shield.

[jonathan909]

52 minutes ago, nvu said:

Btw, if you're ever under the car or working on your back, get a face shield.

Please choose between not being able to see because dirt's falling in your eyes or not being able to see because the visor's fogged.

Fun^2.

[nvu]

10 minutes ago, jonathan909 said:

Please choose between not being able to see because dirt's falling in your eyes or not being able to see because the visor's fogged.

Fun^2.

For extra fun, those covid worker face shields were like $5 for a 15 pack at local swapmeet.  Taped one to a helmet and it's been ghetto fabulous.  Skater helmets are designed to be really comfortable for lying on concrete; the default position of many new skaters.

[1 Lucky Texan]

if you can WARM the bolts, maybe even just a little, then spray with your penetrant of choice, when the cooling starts the interface may pull penetrant inside.

 

 

[idosubaru]

You probably already do this but - use excellent quality 6 point sockets.  No 12's. 

Use the combination of socket/adapter/reducers necessary to get a 100% perpendicular seat on the bolt and torque on the socket handle. It's fairly easy to get "close" on these, when actually it's at a slight angle because the socket or extension is too thick and doesn't have clearance in those pass through ports.  Such a silly design. But I've done it before - had them rock/wobble/slide off because they're not perfectly seated. 

I hate them too but haven't had any 05-09 rear caliper bracket bolts not come out yet. 

A little valve compound in your socket adds grip and can mitigate small clearance issues due to rust/wear between the socket and bolt head.  Unlikely to help in this case but if you've already got some laying around....?

[heartless]

and when all else fails, and you end up rounding off the heads, I can confirm that these do work... https://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt-extractors/5-pc-bolt-grip-base-set

but as ido said.. make SURE you are on nice and square..

Edited November 1, 2022 by heartless

[jonathan909]

24 minutes ago, heartless said:

and when all else fails, and you end up rounding off the heads, I can confirm that these do work... https://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt-extractors/5-pc-bolt-grip-base-set

I'll vigorously second that!  I have a set of the Craftsman version (red box).  This is the "base set", which is five sizes in a case that holds ten.  You get the other five in an "expansion set".  I had the base set for years, and they were the only extractors that worked for me really consistently.  Just this last summer I snagged the expansion set on ebay.

[lmdew]

Move to Colorado or a nother rust free location!

It's almost a joy to pull parts in the yard after growing up in Wisconsin.

[brus brother]

1 hour ago, heartless said:

and when all else fails, and you end up rounding off the heads, I can confirm that these do work... https://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt-extractors/5-pc-bolt-grip-base-set

but as ido said.. make SURE you are on nice and square..

Not there quite yet. Funny that the top 2 reviews on that link reference a hub removal and caliper bracket rounded over bolt removal hell.
For certain I am using 6 point impact sockets and they have been seated completely but those bolts are having a good laugh at my expense. My electric Harbor Freight impact wrench is powerful enough to remove lug nuts so I had high hopes but alas. Also, there are no small electric impact hammers to coax these bolts.

IF I had a lift AND a compressor that would actually drive air tools, it might be doable to air hammer those suckers and their rusty innards into submission.

I am afraid that working in close quarters on my back, trying to ball-peen hammer punch the head of those recessed bolts, I am just as likely to hammer my own head.

I am a pit bull, doggedly persistent to a fault, but will likely now support a local shop instead of potchkyng it up to the point of needing to buy an entire trailing arm as this is our only car right now.

Edited November 2, 2022 by brus brother

[jonathan909]

15 hours ago, heartless said:

and when all else fails, and you end up rounding off the heads, I can confirm that these do work... https://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt-extractors/5-pc-bolt-grip-base-set

A little OT here, but I should add that I pressed these into service this summer while doing the two H6 HG jobs.  In both cases at least a few of the 60+ timing cover bolts (small Allen cap screws) were messed up, and after trying and failing with an assortment of internal extractors, these were the ones that worked.

[lmdew]

Something like this work?

[brus brother]

Thanks all for the moral support (Moosens) and technical suggestions.
Stopped by a local shop today who got it up on a lift and showed those bolts who was boss. No way I could have wrenched them on my back. BTW Moose, 'twas Ferry Blvd Sunoco.

Major hiccup with the Raysbestos 980354FZN rotors I had ordered from Amazon. After installed, the wheels were barely able to turn... even the side where nothing was done to the bearing, simply swapping out the rotor. Tech asked if I was sure they were the correct rotors. He was able to determine they were rubbing on the parking brake assembly, disassembled and put them on the lathe twice to take down this small but interfering ridge.

Later, when calling Amazon to pitch a b&%tch, I came across the following 2 star review:

"The rotor itself is fine seems to be built well. I installed these on my 2008 Subaru outback 2.5l non turbo manual 5 speed transmission.
Install was easy and just like every other rotor. When the tires was installed and torqued down the rotor was pressing against the heat shield and rear knuckle so hard the tire would not spin. I spent about 10 minutes on each rotor grinding off the lip for the drum brakes in order for it to fit when the wheel was installed. Either I got lucky with a factory defect or these just are not designed to fit a 2008 Subaru outback like they say. All in all I got them to work but I'll be ordering a better fitting product since these do not fit as described."

Amazon fully refunded me for the rotors (now working), said keep them and even tossed in a small gift card for the aggravation.

I would have been so screwed, this being our only car right now, had I run into this in my dimly lit work area whilst slithering around on the ground.