Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Removing Rear Caliper

I have a very basic question: How do you remove the bolts on the rear calipers (which direction to remove). I've tried in both directions and can not seem to brake them free. I think it is to the right on the Contour. Don't want to strip the star on the head.

well yes it is to the right but only if you are facing toward the car, if you are facing away, then its to the left. It keeps with the lefty loosey rule. Only, in this case the bolt is in the opposite direction. You should still be careful with the bolt because I ended up stripping mine a bit w/ an incorrect size. Good luck.

Just what I thought but needed to be sure. Still haven't been able to break them free but still trying. Thank you Darren.

i ended bringing mine to midas because there to hard to remove, i almost killed myself doing the rear calipers, so if you get them off by brute force just reply so next time i know thats how. Cuz i thought i was doing them wrong because they werent turning on mine either

After nine hours and extremely cut up hands I'll be taking mine to the shop as well. Brut force and penetrating sprays just didn't do it. I have never had so much trouble taking bolts off a vehicle as I have with this Contour. Even the spark plugs took a ton of force to break loose.

I used a pair of vice grips around the head of the bolt.The Torx socket kept on slipping out.There was enough of a flat surface on the bolt head in order for the vice grip to hold.

Just did mine this week. The bolt is a size 50 torx but they can strip. I used vice grips as tight as I could pull make them with two hands to break the bolt free then the torx to remove. Bolts are much easier to acess if you swing the piston and pads out of the way by removing the locater pin. If this is foreign to you I would advise that you purchase a Chiltons and look at the pictures. All will become clear. Last bit of advise, the pistons do not just push back into place. You need a tool to turn them back down to make room for the new pads. Good Luck.

I always lose my direction of counter clockwise or clockwise, it depends how you a standing in relation to what you are working on. I think with me it is genetic thing or something

I always use a socket wrench, once it is in CCW i know which way to turn.

It was a while back I did my rears, but i used a socket wrench and a torx bit. I think I used a rubber hammer on on wrench a bit to get it started.