Hey all, after my scary brake failure last week I decided to go all-out and replace all my brake hoses and master cylinder. I remembered from the last time I changed my brake pads that the right front caliper was sticky so I decided to go ahead and take care of that too. I got a rebuilt caliper to replace the old one, problem is I can't get the dang thing off! The lower bolt came off fine, the caliper swings up like you would do to replace the pads but I can't get the upper part off at all. My manual shows an upper bolt, but after pulling the cap off of where the upper bolt should be there's no bolt head, just what looks like the end of a big pin. Does the caliper just slide off of this? I pounded on it a few times to see if I could get any movement, but no. Do I have to take off the bracket that holds the brake pads to get to the bolt head? What's going on here? On top of that I had to wait 5 days for all the new brake hoses to come in, and when I unboxed them all 1 had been reboxed wrong and was completely the wrong hose <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" />, now I have to wait till Monday to get the replacement. Anyway, thanks for any advice you guys can give me.

It should just slide off. After you rotate it up you just slide it off towards the inside of the truck. I went through that too when I went to work on mine long time ago. It is a bolt. It just does not look like it now becasue the head of it is covered even after you take off the cap.

I replaced my front caliper on my 1990 Montero about a year ago. The caliper is bolted to the steering knuckel with, if I remember correctly, two bolts. Once these bolts are removed, the caliper should come off freely (assuming you have disconnected the brake line).

BTW, here is a copy of the procedure from a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero manual:

FRONT BRAKE CALIPER

Removal

1) Raise and support vehicle. Remove front wheel(s). Separate rubber flex hose from hydraulic line at brake hose mount, located on strut housing. Secure end of hydraulic line to prevent spillage of brake fluid.

2) Remove hose clip from brake hose mount. Disconnect brake hose from caliper. Remove upper and lower caliper-to steering knuckle bolts. Lift caliper body upward. Remove caliper.

Installation

To install, reverse removal procedure. Tighten bolts to specification. See the TORQUE SPECIFICATIONS table. Bleed brake system.

*** Per the manual, the mounting bolts (for a 1991 Montero) s/b torqued to between 58 - 72 foot lbs.

Hope this helps!!! Good Luck!!!
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I believe on the GenII, the bolts go on opposite sides of the caliper. It's been awhile since I've had the calipers off though, so I'm not quite certain.

I think you're right. The bolt heads may be covered with grease. Should take a look from the inside of the wheel-well <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />, clean-off the grease and expose the bolt heads. Also, take a look at the replacement caliper to see where the mounting bolts s/b, <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

That's just the problem-it doesn't seem like a bolt at all. The replacement caliper's top mounting hole, where a bolt would go, doesn't have threads, so it just seems like it should slide off but it won't. As far as I can tell from looking from inside the wheel well, there's no bolt in there. If I can't figure anything else out, I'll just take the bracket that holds the brake pads off too and maybe it has a bolt coming in from each side. Mine's a Gen1, but who knows!

I beleive that there is one bolt on the bottom and the top is a pivot. Probably frozen. Find a good penetrating oil like PB blaser or Kroil and soak it a little.

Good idea, I'm gonna soak the crap out of it with PB and try to break it loose...we'll see. The more I think about it, it has to be a pivot pin because there are no threads in the replacement caliper body.

Yes, seems to be a fairly common hang-up. clean very well and put a little grease on it for reassembly.

Here's an illustration of that assy...
It's from an 89 FSM
Looks like there's 1 top bolt that you need to remove..