Hi all, I need help asap, lol. Im doing the brakes on my 2007 Tahoe. I have an issue with the sliding bolts in the caliper bracket. One on each side the front left and front right are seized, and my gut instinct is to replace the entire bracket. I was able to get one free, but it doesn't slide as freely as it used to. Im in the process of breaking the other one free. When I last did a brake job on this Tahoe, I was following a youtube video and the guy mentioned to put grease on these bolts which I did. I used a synthetic grease which can be used for a variety of things automotive. Do you think this was the cause of the seized bolts? They seemed to be very dry, but the rubber boots weren't torn. I wonder if I used the wrong grease for this application, the guy in the video mentions axle grease.

Should I use these caliper brackets as is? Or buy a new set? Im leaning to replacing them. Hopefully someone can give me an answer right away, time is of the essence here, lol!

Thanks in advance!

 

I'd try to remove the pins and clean them up so they would slide freely. Not sure what axle grease is (wheel bearing maybe) but you should use special caliper lube. Designed for high temperatures.

 

Thanks for the reply shark! I tried cleaning the one free pin, the other is still stuck, but once I tried to put the caliper back on the pin wouldn't go down far enough, so I clamped it down but still struggled to get the caliper on. And when I tried to just twist the pin in question it turned freely but once I clamped it down and tried to twist on it, it was stuck again, very gritty feeling. I went ahead and ordered new caliper brackets and pins, I don't want to have issues again. And I'm going to go buy the proper grease this time. Thanks for your help!

 

I was going to say sometimes, depending on the cost, I'll just go new when something won't come apart easily.

I don't even rebuild carbs on my jet skis any more... at 10-14 years old a rebuild is $100 in parts and a ton of my time and taking apart 10 year old stuff SUCKS...

vs $400 for all new everything, nice and shiny and bolts up perfectly...

sell the old set for $100 on eBay, and it's a $200 difference to have all new everything.

Much faster to, to unbolt the old, bolt up the new than spend 4 hours smashing, bashing, and nursing a now smashed thumb from a hammer...

 

Im in agreement with you. I ordered new caliper brackets, should be in tomorrow morning, I just have to drive about an hour from my house, but its ok, I have a buddy in the parts dept. who gives parts to me at discount prices. I think that synthetic grease Ii used on the caliper pins cooked itself, the can say its good til about 400F. But the caliper pins on the rear were just fine with the synthetic grease. Im sure the front brakes get way hotter than the rears. I went out and bout some NAPA Sil-glide after doing research online seems to work well for caliper pins and is good up to 600F, I hope.

Im just not sure if the new caliper brackets will be assembled already with the rubber boots for the caliper pins. I sure hope so b/c Im clueless as to how to assemble it properly. Seems those rubber boots may be pressed in along with a metal insert. I tried to get a better look at my old caliper brackets, but didn't help much.

 

the wrong grease will swell the rubbers on the caliper pins. it probably came off and is stuck inside the pin bore. Silicon brake lube is the proper product.

 

AS tech2 stated, when steel and rubber are combined in a component the rubber needs to be considered the weak link and just about any petroleum based product will affect rubber... 3M's silicone paste is ideal for the pins, its the same thing you use on your spark plug boots, I have found it works really good for PVC plumbing compression fittings to give a good seal without over tightening....
A bottle of the paste is not cheap, but you can also use it to condition all of your weather stripping and for addressing rubber and plastic squeaks

 

The rubber boots aren't swollen at all. I don't recall there being any rubber in the bore or at the ends of the caliper pins. I think that the grease I used two years ago is caked up/cooked inside the bore. The pins that are stuck, one I was able to get free and saw that there was hardened/cooked on grease on it. So I figured the grease cooked in the bore as well and that is what was causing the issue of me not being able to get the caliper back on. I bought new caliper brackets and got them today, they came with new bolts, pins, grease, brake pad brackets. But I did use the NAPA Sil-glide on the rear caliper pins which I believe is silicone based. And I managed to tear one of then new boots while trying to press it into the caliper bracket, so now Im waiting on a new boot, lol. I have some from raybestos but the rubber on those looks way cheap compared to the new OEM GM boot. I can't wait to finish this 3 day brake job!! lol! Thanks again for the info about using silicone grease, now its here documented for next time I can refer to this in case I forget. lol!

Thanks again for the info! Although its a painful process for me, I do learn a lot along the way!