Rear Caliperand axle odd issues

[ahlem]

I am installing replacement axles. I looked at my passenger side caliper and noticed the pins were sheared off at the mounting bracket. Seems very odd. The PO upgraded to bronze bushings. I did a brake job about 10,000 miles ago and made sure the pins were free of rust and greased them. Driver's side are still there. I need to either replace the bracket and the pins or just the pins if I can get the sheared ones out of the bracket without damaging something. Does anyone know if the stock pins are the same as (probably) Bavauto's upgrade ones?
Also, the new axles are slightly different than the old ones. The old ones have a cover on both sides that hide the inner CV joint guts. The old socket head cap screws are 50mm long under the shoulder and the new ones are 60mm. The new ones protrude through the flanges and hit on the casting where the wheel bearing resides, I will double check the overall length against the old one just to be sure. Is it typical to not have the inner cover come with new axles? Should I re-use the inner covers from the old axles? I'm checking realoem.com next to see if the inner covers are a separate part number.

[632 Regal]

Does anyone know if the stock pins are the same as (probably) Bavauto's upgrade ones?

I would imagine the same, what does BAVautos site say?


Also, the new axles are slightly different than the old ones. The old ones have a cover on both sides that hide the inner CV joint guts. The old socket head cap screws are 50mm long under the shoulder and the new ones are 60mm. The new ones protrude through the flanges and hit on the casting where the wheel bearing resides,

Why not use the 50mm ones?


Is it typical to not have the inner cover come with new axles? Should I re-use the inner covers from the old axles? I'm checking realoem.com next to see if the inner covers are a separate part number.

Are these "new" replacement shafts or what? All that I have seen has the cover on them holding all the grease in. Can you swap the old caps onto the "new" shafts?

[ahlem]

Update...
I bought new 50mm screws.
I called the tech line I found on an insert in the axle box and takled to the tech rep. There are several axle types and some don't have grease covers.
I ordered replacement bushings and pins from Bavauto as it appears mine went dry and wallowed out a bit in this last harsh winter. I hope to get the broken parts out of the caliper bracket this evening by drilling them out undersize to avoid ruining the threads.

[632 Regal]

Pictures would be great.

[genphreak]

I am installing replacement axles. I looked at my passenger side caliper and noticed the pins were sheared off at the mounting bracket. Seems very odd. The PO upgraded to bronze bushings. I did a brake job about 10,000 miles ago and made sure the pins were free of rust and greased them. Driver's side are still there. I need to either replace the bracket and the pins or just the pins if I can get the sheared ones out of the bracket without damaging something. Does anyone know if the stock pins are the same as (probably) Bavauto's upgrade ones?
Also, the new axles are slightly different than the old ones. The old ones have a cover on both sides that hide the inner CV joint guts. The old socket head cap screws are 50mm long under the shoulder and the new ones are 60mm. The new ones protrude through the flanges and hit on the casting where the wheel bearing resides, I will double check the overall length against the old one just to be sure. Is it typical to not have the inner cover come with new axles? Should I re-use the inner covers from the old axles? I'm checking realoem.com next to see if the inner covers are a separate part number.Wow. Are these are OE axles? Maybe they are for an S38, M50 or M60 car*, they may have had a differences in the axle setup but I can't think how. Only M5 has different (length) axles AFAIK.

Sorry no answers for you, but please let us know when you find a fix!

Oh hang on, more likely those axles fit an e32 730/735/740- they are wider and had different rear wheel track (different hubs, brake rotors and sub-frames) ;-)

[ahlem]

Another update. I verified the new axles are the same length as the old ones. I was able to drill out and grind out the centers of the broken guide pins. Home Depot has a bit in the Dremel section that is perfect for grinding out the holes I drilled in the guide pins so I could pin punch them a bit and get them to break loose. It also helped when I was removing the old guide pin bushings. Here is a shot of the new vs. old guide pin bushing. Bavauto said to apply liberal amounts of antiseize to the guide pins. Good idea. I replaced the axle, guide pins and dogbones on the passenger side and will do the driver's side next. 8031

[genphreak]

Nice pic! Looks like those little buggers are taking quite a beating to shift but you know how to persuade.

Maybe the difference between the bolts is the only difference between 735 and 535 axles kits. No idea about the bearing cover though.

[ahlem]

Well, I've put over 1000 miles on my half done rear end project and everything is much better so far. I still have to weld the thick washers to the sway bar mounts to fix the wallowed out holes there but with new dog bones and new guide pins, it seems much tighter already. For some reason I got better mileage than usual on my 700+ mile trip by 2 mpg. I have a 3.91 diff and averaged 23.5 mpg vs the typical 21.5. I did take the snows off before I went.