So I started my brake job on my SL 55 before I got my manuals. As I'm putting it back together, looking up torques I see the warning "under no circumstances loosen bolts (1) of radial bolted connection, otherwise malfunctions of the brake system." Those are the bolts my helper took out to remove the calipers. They are the attach points to the bracket, and they are clearly visible and easily accessible, unlike the "proper" bolts on the inside of the steering knuckle. It looks straightforward, and the manuals go into no detail as to what "malfunction" occurs if you take this apart. Worse, because you're never supposed to take them apart, they don't list a torque for reassembly. Anyone know what this is all about?
Super Member
Are you talking about the 10mm hex bolt holding the caliper to the bracket? I did my brakes by removing that, i had no idea you're not supposed to. It's been awhile and i've had no issues.
MBworld Guru
No, I don't think you removed that (1) bolt. There is only one on the top edge of the caliper. The two bolts you removed (35) are the lateral bolts holding the caliper to the hub.
http://benzbits.com/R230/SL55FrontBrakeCaliper.pdf
http://benzbits.com/R230/SL55FrontBrakeCaliper.pdf
Super Member
Quote:
http://benzbits.com/R230/SL55FrontBrakeCaliper.pdf
Originally Posted by Rudeney
No, I don't think you removed that (1) bolt. There is only one on the top edge of the caliper. The two bolts you removed (35) are the lateral bolts holding the caliper to the hub.http://benzbits.com/R230/SL55FrontBrakeCaliper.pdf
From the PDF file, that Hex bolt in the number 1 pic, is the 10mm bolts that attaches to the bracket that attaches to the knuckle. There are two of them on my SL600, one on top, one on the bottom. Tomorrow i'll take a picture of it, that's what i took off and the caliper was free to swing out and i changed the rotors.
MBworld Guru
The bolts (35) that hold the caliper to the bracket are "lateral" - they are oriented side to side. This bolt (1) is "radial" meaning that it is oriented to follow the radius of the disc. It points "forward" in terms of orientation of the car. Removing it will not help you detach the caliper from the hub.
The 10mm hex bolts in question are not truly “radial” but longitudinal; pointing forward. There are two, one at the top and one at the bottom of the caliper. Removing them frees the caliper from the bracket, allowing it to swing away freely. We successfully changed the rotors this way, installed new pads and all is working. I can see no engineering reason why this method should cause any problems. It’s much easier that the prescribed method. The only question is proper torque, so we measured the breakaway torque on the other side and used it as a reference. If anyone has anything more to offer, I’m interested. Otherwise I’ll report in if there are any problems.
