Brake Caliper Bolts - TTY to non-TTY?

[BlueDragonVT]

I'm changing the front brake pads and rotors on my 2011 SS, and I realized that the caliper bolts are TTY (Torque To Yield) bolts, so I need replacements. I started searching around local parts shops, and everything I can find in stock are regular bolts, none of them are TTY. At best, they don't spec either way.

So here's my question. All of these bolts say they meet OEM requirements and will fit. Am I ok to use regular bolts instead of TTY bolts? What are the risks or concerns, if any? Does anyone know of good, currently available TTY bolts for SS front brake calipers?

EDIT: Note to myself and any other interested users. I used BrakeBest Brake Caliper Bracket Bolt BHH-H818 from O'Reilly for now. They fit, but are slightly shorter than the OEM bolts. They also have a 13/16th inch head, instead of the OEM 18MM. I discussed it with the shop manager, he advised that I tighten it to 35 lbs ft, so that's what I did. Initial short road test feels fine, and these are reusable bolts. I'll be keeping an eye on them, and probably pops the wheels off and check them after I put some miles on them. Just to make sure everything still looks good and feels tight.

I would still love to hear some opinions or get some experts to weigh in! Thank you all for your help!

[FASTFATBOY]

I reused the caliper bolts on my C5 Z06 and LEAST 25 times when I was doing road course stuff. I reused the bolts on my ZL1 numerous times.

Blue Loctite them if you are worried, otherwise put them in and tighten them up.

[SS_Dave]

Agreed. Just avoid a torque plus angle tightening practice.

[CamaroCracka]

I reused the stock TTY bolts on the turbo car until one did not want to come out easily, then I put in 10.9s from Screaming Chicken. Vert still has stock bolts. I give them a couple ugadugas with a mid torque impact. 35lbs on those bolts seems pretty light to me.

[KillboyPowerhead]

He said to tighten the caliper mounting bolts to 35 lb/ft? A new bolt torqued to spec (30 lbs + 90 degrees I think?), the torque wrench registers almost 200 lbs. When I reused the bolts I set the wrench to 90 lbs and even then I thought that was high, but it's been a few year and so far no calipers have fallen off.

[fz4k98]

I have reused bolts with blue loctite and also have put in new bolts. Reusing bolts will not be able to be tightened with the torque plus angle method.

While torque plus angle is a better method, the bolts are not damaged by it otherwise they would fail after install. Reusing just makes it less likely that the correct torque on the bolt is achieved.

[gtstorey]

Torque to Angle isn't necessarily Torque to Yield. Torque to Angle is ok to use again, Torque to Yield isn't. Of course it's hard to know which are which. I reuse most things that aren't head bolts.

[BlueDragonVT]

Originally Posted by CamaroCracka

35lbs on those bolts seems pretty light to me.

OEM Spec on the TTY bolts is 30 lbs feet+ 90 degrees (1/4 turn). I was a little surprised by that as well, but that's the spec. I can't find any method to translate that to direct torque specs.

[ABM2SS]

Clamp-load is the important thing not torque. The problem is that clamp-load is very difficult to measure so manufacturers use recommended torque. The bigger problem is that when a bolt and mating thread are tightened the parts wear. Thus, the same torque will lead to different clamp loads. Also grease, dirt and other contaminants affect the clamp-load. There is no perfect answer here. The safest thing to do is to always use new fasteners but that gets expensive. Historically I re-use the fasteners and tighten them to what seems to be sufficient clamp-load (yes, seat of the pants). After 40 plus years of wrenching on cars and more a million miles of driving them, I have not experienced caliper bolts backing-out or breaking on any of the vehicles that I've worked on. That includes 322,000 miles and multiple Rotor changes on my current Camaro.

[gtstorey]

Originally Posted by ABM2SS

Clamp-load is the important thing not torque. The problem is that clamp-load is very difficult to measure so manufacturers use recommended torque. The bigger problem is that when a bolt and mating thread are tightened the parts wear. Thus, the same torque will lead to different clamp loads. Also grease, dirt and other contaminants affect the clamp-load. There is no perfect answer here. The safest thing to do is to always use new fasteners but that gets expensive. Historically I re-use the fasteners and tighten them to what seems to be sufficient clamp-load (yes, seat of the pants). After 40 plus years of wrenching on cars and more a million miles of driving them, I have not experienced caliper bolts backing-out or breaking on any of the vehicles that I've worked on. That includes 322,000 miles and multiple Rotor changes on the Camaro.

I don't use a torque wrench on much of anything outside of internal engine fasteners (which I really haven't had any in a long time). I'm more likely to use one on something like a plastic intake than anything else.