Warning: my neighbor Mike's advice about brake jobs nearly got me killed

I was talking to my neighbor Mike last Saturday while we were both out in our driveways. He told me that you don't really need to replace the caliper bracket bolts when doing a brake job on a 2004 Honda Civic. He said he had reused his three times with no issues. I figured he knew what he was talking about since he used to work at a shop in Tulsa. So I did my rear brakes and reused the old bolts. Two days later I heard a grinding sound coming from the back right wheel. When I pulled the drum off the caliper was hanging loose by one bolt that had backed out halfway. Those bolts are torque-to-yield and they stretch after the first use. Cost me $90 for a new caliper and bracket plus another set of pads. Anyone else had a shop guy tell you something that turned out to be bad advice?

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davis.diana13h ago

Dude, same thing happened to me with a Ford Focus last year. Learned that lesson the hard way.