Does anyone here have any experience of replacing the steering knuckle on a Fabia? I ask as I seem to have stripped threads on the part where the caliber bolts on and I think its a complete unit, with no removable caller bracket. (How stupid is that)?

I have the FS111 callipers, with the two slide pins and they seem to go in and tighten to a degree without falling back out but they won't actually tighten to a stop. I will most likely try a new set of pins as they come pre-thread-locked but I would most likely think the bracket would strip as it is cast iron, rather then the pins, which seem to be stainless or hardened steel. 

I would also think that, if swapping the bracket, a new wheel bearing would be needed as why fit the old one back in... That is just asking for it to fail! 

 

So, basically, I was wondering how difficult it is to do, how time consuming and how many hours labour a workshop would most likely charge, if anyone has had this changed. 

 

Also, after the job is done, would the tracking need setting? I would think it likely.

Edited 13 July, 20205 yr by mrgf

Best bet is to repair the threads.

See posts by @sepulchrave and @rum4mo about halfway down the page here: https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/480872-stripped-thread-on-brakes-help/

 

I will take a look now. Thanks, Wino. 

It may be even simpler with a standard helicoil, since you haven't oversized the holes like the OP in that thread.

I had a look at the kits and they insert a thread the same as standard, after first removing the pins and drilling/tapping new threads. Look fairly do-able but I then saw an even simpler variant, where the kit had bigger threaded pins, again in tens, where you just drill, retap and no need to fit insert as the pin has M10 not M9. (eBay). Type (cut and paste) in the details once on eBay

 

Brake Caliper Guide Bolt Thread Repair Tool Kit Set - Ford GM VAG VW Audi

 

That was the later, simpler kit. Bit pricier but still a good price.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brake-Caliper-Guide-Bolt-Thread-Repair-Tool-Kit-Set-Ford-GM-VAG-VW-Audi/282434033532?hash=item41c261577c:g:K7kAAOSwpkFY8cyQ

 

Good find that, please let us know how it goes. 🙂

I was looking around and have seen the earlier type one a little cheaper with a make an offer so I am waiting to see if they accept. I also saw someone who sold three sets of the insert type kit for £14.99 so that was worth asking them if they have more as its around half price!I I am now of the opinion, the later type are simpler so worthy but the threaded insert type are more adaptable, for other areas of worn thread of the same size. So, ease, get the pin version, adaptability, the insert type. I will update on what I choose. If I get a good deal from the lower price seller, I will post that as they may be "Just worth having" for fifteen notes!

 

I have also seen very low cost ones, of differing threads/sizes so it has opened up a new world for damaged threads!

I had a small concern with the threaded ones as, although I read that the thread will be stronger then the cast iron one, due to being steel, I wondered if on unscrewing the pins to change pads again, the insert might just come back out again and then, you are re-fitting it into the cast metal again. I suppose knowledge will make you cautious, though.

It must be remembered that these pins must fit parallel to each other as the caliper hole to guide pin is a very small clearance fit, any miss-alignment could cause binding of the caliper on the pin. Ideally you would want the drill and tap to be bushed to the caliper hole to allow re-machining with the caliper in place. The image in the link supplied by Wino is not clear enough - the tap looks shouldered but a long way up the tap - has anyone used one of these.

The pins have a shoulder behind the thread so unless the thread is very misaligned if they are tightened hard they will pull into alignment, otherwise they can be persuaded with a few hammer blows.

47 minutes ago, KeithCheetham said:

the tap looks shouldered but a long way up the tap

Not sure what you mean there Keith, does this larger image help?  Or was that not the link you meant? 

 

 

The pins have a shoulder; but if the thread isn't square to the surface, a hammer would not be a tool to improve matters.

 

-tab=comments#.url

 

This how the other version looks!

5 hours ago, Wino said:

Not sure what you mean there Keith, does this larger image help?  Or was that not the link you meant? 

 

 

The pins have a shoulder; but if the thread isn't square to the surface, a hammer would not be a tool to improve matters.

 

-tab=comments#.url 114 B · 0 downloads

 The shank on the tap is small diameter so you cannot be sure that the tap will run square to the carrier This is what should be bushed to centralise in the caliper hole. Also if the drill does not cut square to the carrier and does not run concentric (centred) in the guide pin hole you could get slide stiction issues. Agree than hammering in not the correct method.

Would like to see the instructions for use of the other system mrgf showed, looks like some sort of jig included to increase accuracy.

There is the correct method and then there is my world.

 

Educated persuasion, a skill that all toolmakers will have acquired, the real skill is knowing when it can and where it should not be used.

 

Agreed that we are talking about brakes here so unless you understand my meaning (& in which case you wont have drilled & tapped misaligned) dont do it!

 

BTW Keith, I was not speaking of "hammering in" but of gentle persuasion into alignment during the final tightening. There is quite a bit of tolerance in the guide bushings.

 

A good engineer/toolmaker will also know how to persuade a misaligned tap back into alignment before its too late & without breaking the tap (easy to break)

Edited 15 July, 20205 yr by J.R.

Would like to see the instructions for use of the other system mrgf showed, looks like some sort of jig included to increase accuracy.

 

Funnily enough, that was the set on the other thread/post. The one I actually discovered was the one with the pins but I popped the other up, to highlight the difference. I am unsure about instructions but one seller suggested looking at them in use, on youtube...

 

As for stiction, I get the point but unlike say, shock absorbers, etc, the movement is going to be very limited and only slowly will the pins travel further then the initial setting, as the pads wear down so a minuscule amount of misalign will most likely be ok. 

NEWSFLASH...

The seller I mentioned restocked and resisted his eBay post for the caliper kit. It is the insert type, with the guide brackets, which usually sell for around £25-£30.

I just paid £14.95! Hopefully, the eBay listing below will lead anyone to it. (They had ten, when I ordered). 

 

 the_diy_shop 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174351293594

I am just waiting for the caliper tool to drive now. The seller ordered ten sets, so far three have gone, including mine. Not surprising considering the price of some kits. I thought this would be a cheap sort of copy but on Google searching the brand (Blue Spot), The RRP is a tad shy of £60! Its actually cheaper to replace the set from this seller, then to get a set of the inserts from many others! Oh, and you can register for the tools lifetime guarantee!

I love a bargain, me!!!

Edited 21 July, 20205 yr by mrgf

And now the hard bit - waiting for it to arrive!

18 hours ago, rum4mo said:

And now the hard bit - waiting for it to arrive!

Yee-Ha!

They arrived this afternoon.

 

I am busy tomorrow so I am hoping to try them out on Friday. They came well protected and look as sturdy a bit of kit as the much costlier Laser branded one! 

 

Thank you again, the_diy_shop.

 

They ordered them, following my request and didn't hike up the price a penny!

Now and again get a bit annoyed by Laser Tools, as they tend to change some items to their own, or a UK based manufactured item, to a similar far cheaper version that I have spotted on ebay, but avoided by buying their better spec'd version - only to find what is supplied is not what was in their website, the coil puller for EA221 VW Group engines was the first time that happened to me!

I still end up buying their stuff as lots of them address a need for a specific job, they, in the early days, were even open for "tool users" to submit their "wants" and they would come up with a tool to satisfy that need, probably they still do, but more often than not were they can get away with it, they do tend to switch to sourcing and repackaging 3rd (cheap) parties offerings.

I have just bough one of the sets.

 

I have no idea why 🥴

 

I have never stripped one of these bolts nor ever seen one stripped.

 

But I do like tools 😀 I do like bargains 😀 and I do like being prepared for everything or being able to help others out

 

And I wanted to celebrate having (I hope, fingers crossed) some income for the first time in 4 months, backdated 4 months and the security of knowing the support from my government (France) will continue to the end of the year.

 

In years to come someone with gorrilla hands will thank me for my foresight and I in turn will thank you although I wont recall your name as I've already forgotten it.

 

So long as I dont forget that I have the kit or where it is stored!

 

Am going to buy a muti-thread helicoil set now!

@J.R., right, your plan now needs to be to catalogue all your tools - seems like a completely stupid thing to do, but when I retired, I started doing that, and including "buying prices" which might come in handy if my garage gets raided.

 

But don't despair, you might even find that you have "gaps" in your tool collection that you didn't know were there, so plenty scope for buying more tools.

 

So, basically now every thing, except a few "odd balls" have their designated storage drawer or box, and all these drawers and boxes are labelled up and a printed out list is kept, only thing now is, I need to put my reading specs on to read the labelling on the drawers and boxes - which is a bit annoying!

 

I think that I've handed out this story before in the past, but anyway, we used to have a Flymo which I passed onto my older daughter when we moved house, we went to a big garden centre and I spotted packs of spare plastic blades for that Flymo and as it was a bit old I thought that I'd be helpful and buy a spare pack.  Maybe two years later I repeated that action at that same garden centre, went to stuff the spare pack of blades into the glovebox of my wife's Fiesta - and there was a pack already in there!

 

I've never ever stripped these threads either, though I tend to service the brakes either annually or every other year.

 

Edit:- I have ended up with a surprising number of Mole grips though, I tried to off load a couple to my mate, but he has the same problem!

Edited 23 July, 20205 yr by rum4mo

So, I drew breath, got prepped and undertook the job, this morning!

 

I took my time, got all the necessary tools, trolley jack, axle stand, wheel chocs, wheel removal tool, etc-etc. Plus a cordless drill, to do the drilling for the inserts, as I had the two threads go. (The second, I must add, by a mechanic who told me he'd had done it up properly, as I had left it loose, when he fitted a new brake master cylinder and bled the system)!

 

So, with removing everything, checking the threads, drilling, fitting the inserts and re-assembling, then putting the gear all away again, I spent two hours. 

This would most likely be halved if I was working from a garage but I had to get the stuff to and from a shed and was working in the street, outside. 

The inserts are a fairly tight fit and I would recommend using threadlike compound on them, as advised any way. The Laser website has full fitting instructions, which I downloaded and printed, and also will point out, the inserts go in to the holes the opposite way to the caliper pins, so as to resist coming loose. I found the best method of fitting them in the new holes to be a gentle tighten with the caliper pin, then remove said pin and gently squeeze the insert a little more with a G-clamp. repeat until happy the insert is full home.  

I did it this way as I did not trust the insert to strip again with too much pressure on the pin, when screwing, whilst I did not want to distort it by G-clamping it too hard, either. 

(A little OCD but thats just me)!

The second hole, I drilled and just ever so slightly used the bit to ream the hole a little larger as the first was sooo tight and I assumed if anything, the drill bit would shrink as it drilled, making later holes tighter and tighter. (May be designed for ten holes but as mentioned, the first WAS very tight). 

That action did make the second insert a little easier but then, so does practice!

I did also use the guides, provided in the box. As you can imagine, the original threads were stripped almost but not quite, all the way through. The pins stayed put but would still turn easily so I did not trust them. The guides, you insert from the opposite from fitted side, too and then slot the guide over, lining up the second hole, poking the drill bit though and gently drill the new hole. Not hard but worth using the guide, just to be sure to stay on the correct trajectory. 

 

Once the insert is in, do the same for the second hole, if needed. 

 

I would think the new inserts, being made of a hardened steel, would be less prone to stripping, unlike the cast holes but I still took great care re-tightening both during installing the inserts and re-fitting the calipers.

 

So, all in all, a few hours labour saved a fortune in fitting a new steering knuckle, which I think would have been beyond my expertise (HA)!

 

I recon a main dealer would charge around £500 to supply and fit one and I have seen them range from £50 to £150 for the part on the "Bay", where my repair set cost the princely sum of £15! I have said it and I will say it again, I love a bargain,me!  Big, big thank-you to   the_diy_shop. 

 High praise as they knew I was after the tool and did not pump up the price, when ordering them especially for me. 

I also hope others with this issue can take advantage of this info as if you can change brakes and have a drill, you can almost certainly do this job, too!

 

I must also thank Wino, due to the fact that from my initial post, he put me on to this type of repair set.

 

Thanks, Wino, you are an inspiration!

 

 

 

Edited 25 July, 20205 yr by mrgf

Pleasure mate, did you take any photos?

So there wasn't any thread-tapping operation, just drilling and press-fitting? 

I didn't much to my regret... The tap that comes with the kit is just there to "Clean the thread" In order to assess its state. You are recommended to lube it and screw it in, to perhaps clean and rectify slight damage. Mine was almost all the way with just a little bit of decent thread left, to enable screwing the tap and subsequently the pins, backward into the holes, so to speak. 

As this is the way to drill and fit the inserts anyway, it is easier to keep the wheels facing straight forward as I usually turn the wheels outward, when swapping brake pads.

 

The drill bit itself, is a stepper drill so it starts off small and goes bigger until full diameter. I suppose this is so as to help prevent the bit jamming and snapping in the hole. Drill gently, removing the bit a few times as you won't that!

The pressing of the inserts is straight forward but tight. If you can do brakes and drill holes, it should be easy enough to do. I would also think many users won't even bother with the guides but I did as I didn't want to mess it up. You might even think the complicate it more though!

 

I was nervous of tightening the inserts by cranking in the pins, which to them in so as I mentioned, I staggered this by part tightening, removing the pins and then clamping a little more, then pins again, etc. No stripped threads, no crushed/warped inserts/

They are quite tough little inserts but I would recommend pressing rather then hammering as that is asking for issues. When the inserts are fitted, they don't obstruct the caliper fitment, which is something I was worried about as they do protrude from the hole by a few mm but there is easily enough space. No need to over drill (Countersink)  the outer edge as I have seen people do with other insert kits. I would imagine this to actually weaken the hole slightly. I did mention I reamed the hole slightly but it was really just passing the drill bit through the hole at high speed a few times, with very slight pressure to make a very slight change to the diameter. Most likely better not to, then over do it though! Just work the pressing/ pin screwing a bit more at a time...

 

One over thing I noticed is the new threads seem quite tight on the new pins so be careful and you won't strip them but they will almost certainly need to be turned with an Allen key or something. I think the Allen key provided will do at first, so as not to over force it and perhaps finish with a ratchet/torque wrench to obtain a better tightness to the completed job.

 

Funny how doing a nice job leaves a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. I would guess even to do inserts, a garage mechanic would charge around £100 for the one caliper. (Blooming auto correct keeps changing caliper to calibur... I think they know I live in London and think I am gonna shoot someone).