so im going to get a brake caliper for the front brake on my wifes car and ran into loaded/unloaded calipers. people are saying unloaded dont include the hardware but the ones i found say unloaded and have the hardware with them. whats the difference between them? anytime ive bought calipers before nobody has ever mentioned loaded and unloaded so im kind of confused.

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/A1C4/184638/03345.oap?year=2001&make=Buick&model=Regal&vi=1371125&ck=Search_calipers_03345_1371125_2389&keyword=calipers&pt=03345&ppt=C0066

Is google down?
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=loaded+vs+unloaded+caliper

yeah still not working for me. maybe they didnt pay for their domain this month?

Well according to the 3 threads I read straight from google
Loaded = with brake pads included
Unloaded = without.
Kinda what I had guessed before even searching.

If you need new pads too (or might soon) just order the loaded ones and be done with it

so whats semi loaded calipers then? and im not buying them with some cheap ass pad. the link from oreillys says thats an unloaded caliper but it comes with the hardware kit (which i need). idk it was just terms ive never seen or heard used with calipers before. i thought you usually bought a caliper and it came with your crush washers and you bought the hardware kit separate if you needed it.

Just buy the caliper "unloaded" aka by it self, and I personally rebuild them, but if Ur going to change one, change the other also, always in pairs in my opinion

the caliper itself hasnt went bad. i changed the axle on the drivers side today and when i was mounting the caliper back i was having trouble with the threads on one of the caliper guide pins. the threads acted screwed up and i cleaned them with a tap and it seemed to thread fine with the tap. the pin still wouldnt thread. i tried both pins and they both stopped at the same point but would work fine in the other hole. i needed to get it back on so i done something i dont like doing and threw the 1/2 inch ratchet to it and made it thread in. its causing a squealing with the brake pad now so im just putting a new caliper on it and gonna be done with it. im gonna buy the one i linked from oreillys it comes with the hardware kit i was just wondering about those different terms describing calipers.

You probably didn't rethread it exactly square... When it went down in it's rubbing in the caliper hence the noise and why it wouldn't go any farther. Get an unloaded caliper it will come with the caliper slide bolts but not the bracket bolts.

it was just something at the one end. i could thread them in backwards and bottom them out but they wouldnt reach the other end of the threads. thats when i got the tap out and the tap seemed to go through it good. it was a little rough at first. its really aggravating that i went through all that work and one of the last things to put together was screwed up for no reason at all. i unbolted it and tie wired it to the strut spring out of the way and the next time i touch it the bolts wont thread in the one hole.

at least it didnt feel like it was 150 degrees out today last sunday when i done the other axle i thought i was going to have a damn heat stroke lol. the humidity was ridiculous here and there wasnt a breeze blowing.

i was welding pretty much all day for one of the heat wave days last week. I was not happy lol