Torque, loctite, both, or neither?

Just seeing how people tighten up their brake caliper bolts, as many people do it different ways.

I go with a bit of blue loctite and torque to spec myself.

Hand tighten.. done.

I usually just torque to spec on calipers.

I don’t use anything..snug them down on a 3/8 Rachet and done

brake caliper bolts are one of the very few places i use blue loctite.

i don't even use it on driveshaft bolts, irs axle bolts, or anything else - just torque to spec

I personally don't use thread locker unless I see it on the bolt from the factory when I take it out, but you can use blue Loctite on the caliper bolts if you want even if it wasn't originally used by the factory. It will help reduce the chance of them loosening while still allowing you to loosen the bolt when needed.

Just torque to spec personally.

Threadlocker is used to prevent loosening from vibration. There's not really that much vibrarion happening at the caliper.

Torquing to spec is the most correct way to go but using a ratchet and hand tightening works fine since you'll at least meet the torque spec and most likely exceed it but not so much that you stretch or break the bolt.

When in doubt, torque to spec. A few of the new cars I work on have a caliper/bracket spec of 100 ft/lbs.

Typically if I see that whatever brake system Im working has coarse threads, I usually see loctite on them (blue). Toyota/Lexus thankfully use fine threads so no loctite needed.

New bolts Im seeing are ~16mm BOLTS with 19mm heads. For a midsize crossover SUV. I guess they arent messing around anymore lol.

Shit I been using anti seize and German spec torque for years! I’ve never had a problem or loose caliper bolt or a seized caliper bolt for that matter


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Crossthreading is better than Loc-tite........once.

roy_1031 said:

Shit I been using anti seize and German spec torque for years! I’ve never had a problem or loose caliper bolt or a seized caliper bolt for that matter
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Ah, the ole' "Gutten-tight" method.

I have built countless motors on the click method.

I say click, it's tight enough for me. The only torque wrench I have is a dial indicated one for setting pinion preload. Lot of old timers do that by hand, but I don't feel like rebuilding a brand new rear end if I can help it so I bought all of the tools. Guarantees the job quality.

roy_1031 said:

Shit I been using anti seize and German spec torque for years! I’ve never had a problem or loose caliper bolt or a seized caliper bolt for that matter


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kevinatfms said:

Ah, the ole' "Gutten-tight" method.

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These.

Blue loctite won't hurt anything, but torque to spec is industry-ok.

With high torque fasteners, sometimes the torque requirement is at the yield point. This is often the case with head bolts/studs. Anything that is torque to yield needs to be replaced if removed. (not the case for caliper bolts).

I am doing a Wilwood conversion on the '69, and they specifically called out red loctite (262 I think?).

I know of a certain shouldnt-be-mechanic that silicones in every damn bolt after coating them in anti-seize. The only time I've seen that being remotely necessary is in direct-drive open face gearboxes that will have grease behind the fastener.

IronSnake said:

I say click, it's tight enough for me. The only torque wrench I have is a dial indicated one for setting pinion preload. Lot of old timers do that by hand, but I don't feel like rebuilding a brand new rear end if I can help it so I bought all of the tools. Guarantees the job quality.

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That's why I have a torque wrench in every socket drawer. 1/4, 3/8, 1/2. We have a 3/4 and 1" torque wrench at work for large robot fasteners (M30+)

Blue loctite and torque to spec. I had a caliper bolt break loose and back out on my Dodge Ram when I had it. Ended up having to replace the rim cause the caliper let loose and cracked the rim.

i've never used loctite or a torque wrench on a caliper bolt. It isnt a critical fastening joint, snug them up by hand and forget it.

Impact wrench and gorilla glue.


Just torque to spec.

Until my air ratchet stops.

xblitzkriegx said:

Threadlocker is used to prevent loosening from vibration. There's not really that much vibrarion happening at the caliper.

Torquing to spec is the most correct way to go but using a ratchet and hand tightening works fine since you'll at least meet the torque spec and most likely exceed it but not so much that you stretch or break the bolt.

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Remove your rattle clips and drive around if you want to know how much vibration happens.