I’m doing the front brakes and rotors on my 987.1 Cayman. Everything is coming together nicely, I just put the new caliper bolts in torqued to spec and when I went to do the bolt/washer for the caliper line bracket, I completely wrenched the head off of it at the end of its travel. I’m embarrassed and clearly should lose my wrenching privileges for such a stupid error.

What would you guys recommend doing now? Perhaps remove caliper and do some kind of extraction? Or some sort of alternate method of securing bracket? Leaving it off doesn’t seem to be an option, I would think that’d majorly stress/fatigue the line. I’d love to hear what you guys think is the most proper way to handle this. Much appreciated!!

 

HINT: Photos help people envision what you're asking about. Year/model may make a difference - don't keep it a mystery.

 

Word up. 2007 base Cayman. Here’s a couple pictures of the equivalent bracket/bolt on the driver’s side, it’s the passengers side bolt I nuked. Last photo is a pic of the broken bolt head from passengers side.

 

Easy....drill an appropriate size hole that one of these extractor would bite onto it. It is reverse threaded, so it will bite into the hole as you extract the broken piece..

 

That looks like it might be the ticket. I’ve never worked with one before (I’ve never been stupid enough to rip off a head while wrenching before this 😂&#128514 but I’ll do some additional recon.

anyone have any other suggestion or insights or solved the same problem previously?

 

I did the very same thing. Had to drill out and retap the hole. Luckily it's open on the inside of the knuckle so cleaning it out is easier.

 

I'm sure its happened to the best of us. Just be careful when you drill the pilot hole - invest in a good center punch.

 

One of the many reasons we're "supposed" to replace every bolt when doing jobs like this. But most of us DIYers don't!

You want an easy fix or a way to allow yourself to still drive the car until you get around to a proper fix? Just run a zip tie around the bracket and around the knuckle. It's been holding mine for a year and a few track days.

 

I was aware that you have to replace the caliper bolts but I have never heard about this one, but good to know! BTW, what are the torque specifications for this one?

 

Or just replace with a stud. Not as much monkey business.

 

I did the same on my 981. Had to have a shop drill, tap, and replace with a stud. Lesson learned.

 

Do you have by chance the part number of the original 981 bolt for front and rear and the recommended torques? I am wondering how often this happens at the dealership and we never hear about it :-|

Again, I am surprised that everyone talks about replacing the beefy caliper bolts during each brake job but never heard about replacing this one, which is more obvious to have the potential to fail.

 

Tarett makes some nifty little studs to replace these bolts. This avoids the PIA of trying to replace the bolts each time you remove the caliper. The OEM bolts are notoriously hard to replace and easy to cross thread.

 

Found it, very nice! thanks so much, there is even an instruction with torque recommendation. https://www.tarett.com/items/986-987...bsk-detail.htm

Just ordered a set for my upcoming brake job. Thank you all for sharing your experiences here, so that others can learn and avoid similar troubles!