I've removed brake rotors on at lease a dozen different vehicles so I'm not as stupid as this post might make me sound; please look at the pictures before replying.

I have an 84 dually rwd F350 and I can't get the front calipers off. The front calipers have only 1 bolt! (other than the brake line and I even tried removing that) The top of the caliper is just fit into an L shaped edge of the rotor. The bottom of the caliper has a bolt near a T shaped piece of metal between the rotor and caliper. It looks like the caliper could be removed if the T shaped thing could be removed but it is wedged in there with a curved piece of metal.

I tried chiseling out the T shaped metal, I mean full arm baseball swings, it didn't budge a mm. I tried bending the curved metal piece and I can't, I tried wedging a screwdriver under it and bending it up that way but it did nothing. I tried seperating the caliper and rotor with a crowbar using jerking motions and using long smooth pressure, neither helped. The only change I have seen is when I hammered a screwdriver between the T shaped piece and the curved metal piece: I got them about 2mm apart but when I forced the screwdriver back out they came together with a loud SNAP.

I spent hours on this forum, google, and youtube just looking for someone with a 1 bolt caliper and I haven't found one.

The first 3 pictures are the bottom of the caliper, front to back, where the bolt and T shaped part are. The next 2 are the top of the caliper, front then back. The last picture is the writing on the caliper.

In case the backstory is necessary: I'm removing the rotors so I can grease the brearings because the front wheels squeek when turning after I drive 10 miles or so. I have heard this could be a brake problem too. I couldn't rotate the rotors after removing the wheels until I used a c-clamp to open the brakes.

This would be embarrassing if I wasn't so frustrated. At this point the best news would be that I'm missing something so feel free to hurt my pride any help is appreciated. Thank you

 

That T or I shaped pieces is driven out with a hammer and drift. The Bolt just keeps it from sliding out on its own.

 

I applied pb blaster 5-10 times and I was using full arm baseball swings against this thing and it has not moved even 1 millimeter. Any suggestions?

 

X2 what he said.
Before you put it back together clean the mounting slides and use a little Anti-Seize on them so the caliper will slide.
Dave ----

 

Sometimes it helps to see what the part looks like when it's laying out by itself.

 

Keep pounding on it. And try some light heat. They can a SOB to get out once they corrode. I do recall they only like to come out one direction. (don't ask which way I forget) Also try hammering on the caliper to losen it up and on the wedge's face. This was NOT one of Ford's better idea's.

As Dave said be sure to anti-sieze the crap outta the slide once you reinstall it.

 

Hey
Hit them from the inside.
To remove.
I know. 1985 f250.

 

Try clamping the caliper again. Tap on the caliper top and bottom, too. If the caliper has gotten cockeyed, it will jam against the retainer and spring you are trying to remove. Hopefully you can get the caliper back to parallel in the mounts, and that should unwedge the retainer and spring.

If that doesn't do it, the retainer and spring must be severely rusted to the mount. That spring has to flatten out slightly when tapping the retainer free. If too much rust bubbles have built up underneath, the spring can't budge. The retainer will remain under pressure from the spring and won't budge, as you have experienced.

If you can confirm the caliper hasn't got cockeyed, here's what I'd try next. As previously mentioned, try driving the retainer and spring in the opposite direction.

Next I'd cut off one end of the spring. Use a pneumatic cutoff wheel or something similar. The 90 degree bends at the ends are only retainers to keep the springs from sliding out. If you cut off the end, you should be able to drive out the spring in the opposite direction.

If that's no help, I'd cut off the one flange of the retainer so the caliper is free. You'll need to replace the retainers and springs anyway.

I'd also plan on replacing those calipers. That's a bad sign you have to clamp them to get the rotors to turn.

 

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as roadrash said, you need to pound the snot of of the slide, but only from the inside and slide it out towards the outside......., but you may have to heat it until you get the "sweet orange glow"

cut the wheel to the extreme right or left, depending on what side you are working on, get a better swing

 

I don't know if you have air tools or not, but I've found the easiest way to remove those is with an air chisel using a blunt tip against the edge of the slide. Don't worry about ruining it...new ones are readily available through any parts store.