Rounded front brake caliper bolts

[tbmmbt]

Wanting to replace my front tire and the first thing to do is remove the brake caliper from the front wheel. Got my 1/2" drive 12mm socket and wrench, put it on bolt and tried to loosen the bolt up and the socket rounded the bolt head. Bolt seemed extremely tight for some reason. Didn't think it should be that tight but anyway the bolt head rounded. Went to the second bolt to see if that one would at least come loose and the same thing happened. I assume that the bolts are a righty tighty and lefty loosey. How does a person go about removing those bolts with the heads rounded? Sort of at a stand still until a way comes along to get those bolts out. I also assume that I will have to come up with some other bolts since those are rounded. Any help would be appreciated.

Butch

[redjay]

Is it possible to get some vice grips on the head of the bolt ? If not it might be possible to carefully grind off the head of the bolt and get vice grips on the remainder of the bolt after removing the brake caliper ?

The front wheel will have to come out first so the brake disc is not in the way of removing the caliper from the fork leg once you have the head of the bolt ground off ?

The bolts are clockwise to tighten, anti clockwise to loosen.

[tbmmbt]

Well I went to the neighbors house and he had an impact socket which was thicker and he said to drive it on and see what happens so I did that and it took the bolts out. Good to have neighbors with knowhow and tools.

[redjay]

Good that you got them out.
Now you will have to buy new ones if they are somewhat rounded ?

[Top Cat]

I do not see how a bolt can get rounded off if you used the correct size socket
Am I missing something

[redjay]

Crappy 12 point sockets can do that.

[tbmmbt]

Well I didn't know as well but when I used the thicker 12mm socket it seemed to stay stable enough to hold rather than the thinner 12mm socket did. All I know is that I believe the caliper bolts was supposed to torqued at 25 lbs but had to be more like 100 lbs as I had to drive the thicker socket on and use a 1 1/2"x 3' cheater bar to brake the bolts loose. Whoever torque them last time must have tightened it as tight as he could get them. They didn't have to be that tight. I torqued them to around 25-30 lbs according to the torque wrench that I borrowed from the neighbor. Took a ride after the tire was installed to make sure that everything seemed to feel right. Now I need to get a back tire in here and install it for the season. Trying to decide if I want to go with another Dunlop SP5000 like I have now or go with the 180/65-16 Michelin Commander II.

[ringadingh]

I rounded off one of mine last year and had a heck of a time with it, I finally managed to get some vice grips on it, but destroyed it. They dont seem to be the best quality bolts, the chrome plating peels after a while and then the socket can slip.

[HurtSoMuch]

weld some nuts on the rounded bolts..works like a charm

[cnc]

Glade you got them out. While the bolts may have been extra stubborn to break loose, it is quite possible it is your socket set. As Tim pointed out 12 points do not grip the bolt head as securely but if the sockets are of a poor quality then they often have sloppy tolerences and after using a few times the inside of the socket it's self gets slightly rounded making it more likely to destroy the bolt or nut than remove it.

[kerrymurf]

Ive got a set of 6 sided sockets that grip on the flats. Never ever rounded the bolts with these!!