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Brake Caliper Hanging Hooks

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Wamsutta

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Jan 8, 2014
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10,852
Location
Amarillo, Texas
Who makes the very best? I find myself wanting to hang the caliper from the strut coil spring because it's close by and seems to be the only thing sturdy enough to support the weight of a brake caliper. I don't want some cheap hooks that are going to bend from the weight. I kind of wanted some vinyl dipped fluorescent green hooks that are easy to find, but they don't have to be vinyl dipped. What do you guys prefer?
 
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WhataTool

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Sep 8, 2015
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463
I kind of like the ones that bend, Cornwell has some that are like powder coated aluminum? You can bend them into shape to fit onto the chassis/spring as you need them, but thick enough not to cause the caliper's weight to make it bend out of a hook shape
 
OP
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Wamsutta

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Jan 8, 2014
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Location
Amarillo, Texas
^
I don't want them bendable. I want simple ' S ' hooks that don't bend. The most common size seems to be 9 inches long.
 
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Callelle

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Feb 3, 2022
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Location
Depew NY
Wamsutta said:
^
I don't want them bendable. I want simple ' S ' hooks that don't bend. The most common size seems to be 9 inches long.
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Just get whatever ones from Amazon. It's a metal hook, there's not really anything fancy about it. Granted the ones I use at work are Matco, I only have them because I need to spend $10 more to get free shipping on something. I hang class 8 air brake calipers from them, but they're no different than the Chinese scamazon ones I have at home.
 
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pbon

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May 14, 2017
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3,498
I have two sets of S style caliper hooks, one from Amazon and one that I recall is more of a name brand though I can’t remember what. They both work equally well. If you want to spend a lot of money, I am sure you can find a seller to take it. Coat hangers work great also, as others have pointed out and you can customize the length and bends. Have used all of the above on Porsche, BMW, VW, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda with no issues,
 
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KnurledNut

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Jan 28, 2011
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n/a
I made my own. But its pretty heavy duty and barely fits small caliper mounting holes. Something to consider with the beefier ones. The rod diameter + the radius of the bend.
 
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geneg

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Joined
Oct 19, 2020
Messages
465
Location
Midwest
Wamsutta said:
Who makes the very best? I find myself wanting to hang the caliper from the strut coil spring because it's close by and seems to be the only thing sturdy enough to support the weight of a brake caliper. I don't want some cheap hooks that are going to bend from the weight. I kind of wanted some vinyl dipped fluorescent green hooks that are easy to find, but they don't have to be vinyl dipped. What do you guys prefer?
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#9 galvanized steel wire. (2) +/- 12" pieces with home bent hooks... last a lifetime
 
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AEAdam

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Joined
May 27, 2023
Messages
2,703
Location
SE PA
Mine are from the good folks at Lisle. Just mild steel, with an oil finish that's rusting slightly and looks IDENTICAL to everything in my wheel wells. I already lost a nice little Snap On LED light that died in a wheel well, and I forgot to remove it. Heard it fall off during a test drive and knew exactly what happened.

Been thinking about painting my hooks orange. Then I thought I could wrap them with colored electrical tape. Then I thought if I had heat shrink tube, I could use that! So of course, they hang from my roll cart handle as they have always been. Helpful, but slightly invisible.

The hooks are way better than coat hanger or the bungee cord I used to use.
 
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WWheeler

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Jun 23, 2015
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4,105
Location
Middleofnowhere USA
I have several different pairs of hooks, all almost the same. I've found that bright yellow ones are most useful as I haven't managed to leave any of those on a customer's car yet. I've definitely had a few not-yellow ones drive off before.

That said, fairly often none of the pre-made hooks will work to fit in the caliper and be able to hang from anything in the wheel-well within the brake hose's reach, and I have to improvise with something else.

In those instances I've wished someone made some that had (1) different sized hooks on each end, like a large and a small end, perhaps with the hooks actually made to easily fit the hole in a caliper, with the larger one a bit less like a 'J' shape and more like an 'L' but with a tiny curve at the end just enough so the caliper won't slip off, and even better (2) that the ends could swivel independently from each other.

hook.jpg

That would solve almost all of the issues I've had where the standard hooks wouldn't work.
I'd certainly buy an overkill set of caliper hanging hooks like these in a somewhat reasonable price range.
 
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whateg01

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Mar 13, 2006
Messages
11,183
Location
doo dah, kansas, usa
WWheeler said:
I have several different pairs of hooks, all almost the same. I've found that bright yellow ones are most useful as I haven't managed to leave any of those on a customer's car yet. I've definitely had a few not-yellow ones drive off before.

That said, fairly often none of the pre-made hooks will work to fit in the caliper and be able to hang from anything in the wheel-well within the brake hose's reach, and I have to improvise with something else.

In those instances I've wished someone made some that had (1) different sized hooks on each end, like a large and a small end, perhaps with the hooks actually made to easily fit the hole in a caliper, with the larger one a bit less like a 'J' shape and more like an 'L' but with a tiny curve at the end just enough so the caliper won't slip off, and even better (2) that the ends could swivel independently from each other.

hook.jpg

That would solve almost all of the issues I've had where the standard hooks wouldn't work.
I'd certainly buy an overkill set of caliper hanging hooks like these in a somewhat reasonable price range.
Click to expand...
I've thought about making a set that swivels. I've had a few times where I've used a zip tie to let the hook rotate to the right direction.
 
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TurnipTruck

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Joined
Aug 28, 2005
Messages
1,550
Location
Southcentral Alaska
I bent up a half dozen of varying lengths from scrap chunks of 1/4” stainless instrument tube out the dumpster. There is another dozen I use to hang parts while painting.
 
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dscheidt

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Apr 26, 2017
Messages
2,880
whateg01 said:
I've thought about making a set that swivels. I've had a few times where I've used a zip tie to let the hook rotate to the right direction.
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When I was in a shop, I kept a couple 12" or 18" pieces of 12 awg wire around. Can use it directly to tie the caliper off, or to make a loop to grab with the hook.
 
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imagineer

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Joined
Dec 13, 2015
Messages
999
Location
Ohio
Being a packrat / hoarder, I often have bits of leftover Romex available
My go to for suspending calipers is a piece of 14ga or 12ga copper wire.
 
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cmandp

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Joined
Dec 22, 2011
Messages
1,270
Location
New Jersey
I use scraps of copper wire like Imagineer. That way the length can be adjusted to get the caliper out of the way and not stress the rubber hose too much. No need to overthink it.
 
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madison069

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Joined
Nov 5, 2010
Messages
4,112
Location
Monroeville, PA
ecotec said:
I don’t think that brand matters very much.

I like them to be in very bright colors.
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That's probably the reason I got the S hooks I have now, someone didn't see them when they completed their brake job on a buddy's car. When he bought the car, he had me do the brakes and I found them hanging on the struct spring. Being the S-hook was black it blended in the wheel well very well!

Free tool!
 
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mikey03

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Joined
May 17, 2024
Messages
2,030
South main auto did a video last year doing brakes and he just rested the caliper up without using a hook and looked into camera and said he was going to upset the internet with that

makes me wonder how many pros don’t use proper hooks and have an accident and it falls and either brakes the line and then tells the customer “hey it was broken when I opened it up“ or it falls but doesn’t brake but premature wears it and it brakes 6 months later
 
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