Changed my mind about using impact drivers on brake caliper bolts after a chat with an old timer

I used to swear by my impact driver for pulling caliper bolts. Thought it was faster and easier. Then last week, a retired mechanic named Hank came into my shop to use the lift on his F150. He saw me zipping off a caliper on a customer's 2010 Camry and told me to stop. He said impacts can hammer the threads and make the bolts stretch over time, especially on aluminum brackets. He showed me a set of bolts he snapped on his own truck from doing it that way for years. So I tried going back to a breaker bar and torque wrench on that Camry job. Took me maybe 4 extra minutes but I felt the difference. Anyone else find that hand tools work better for certain brake jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

reese_hayes718d ago

That Subaru story hits close to home, my buddy has an old Outback and we've been through the same. What was the specific bolt size on that control arm? I've been wondering if impacts are mostly a problem on certain hardware grades, like the cheaper 10.9 bolts versus the harder 12.9 stuff. Because Hank was real specific that his snapped bolts were from a cheap parts store set, not OEM. Just curious if the bolt quality matters as much as the tool choice in your experience.

charles_young928d ago

Honestly, that Hank guy sounds like he knew his stuff. Tbh, I had a similar wake up call a few years back but with suspension bolts on a rusty Subaru. Ngl, I stripped the head of a control arm bolt using an impact because the threads were seized up and I just kept hammering away. Hand tools let you actually feel when something is about to give or cross thread, you know? Impacts just hide that feedback until it's too late and you're dealing with a helicoil kit and a lot of cuss words.