Randall, and everyone else.
I completely understand the logic of these bolt fasteners, and I completely
understand the idea of never re-using them. ANd understand the issues of
safety and liability.
BUT..... We do work on our cars all the time that can have dire consequences
if done poorly. Brake calipers are just one of them.
So there DOES seem to be something special about these calipers regarding lack
of availability of parts and information. "Conspiracy"?
These are very simple devices and I completely agree with the poster who said
that the layman COULD do a good job if supplied with good info and good parts.
It is actually LESS safe for there to be a complete void of parts and info.
Then the layman is tempted to "make do", which is the worst of all
possibilities.
I just am not sure that liability is the sole reason for the lack of
parts/info. With suitable disclaimers, much info is available if you know
where to look. Not so with these caliper issues. At least I have never seen
the right info.
It should be as easy as this. Use only "good" caliper halves, with good
threads on the one side, and unblemished machined mating surfaces. Use a good
new O-ring. Use a certain set of new bolts. Thread them into (lubed?
Unlubed?) the caliper halves and initially tighten to a certain torque value.
Then tighten each bolt in a certain pattern by a certain number of flats at a
time, until a certain number of flats have been rotated. This will have
achieved the stated clamping force, and you have good calipers.
THis MUST be essentially the way the manufacturer did it. They have no
MAGIC!!!! So, _WE_ should be able to reproduce this in a simple and safe
manner if we use proper care. What other special tools would be used on the
assembly line? I can not imagine, but again, I am not an engineer.
Randall, you seem very knowledgable, what is the technique the manufacturer
used in the assembly? If we had the right parts and knew how much to turn the
bolts, could we not achieve the same results? I think the answer is "Yes".
Now all we need to know are the specifics for a certain set of bolts from a
certain supplier.....
-Tony
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