[Junior]

Here's the procedure for swapping the brake pads on the 5.7L LX's. I believe the process is essentially the same for the V6's also (but haven't confirmed). The Brembos are different, and I'll do a write-up on those soon. UPDATES: I added information on servicing the Guide Pins to this thread, Post #16 below. Also, I never talked about preventing brake squeal (which I had a lot of, after swapping pads). Info on how to prevent squeal is Here.

Tools needed:
13mm, 15mm, and 18mm box- and open-end wrenches.
Two Quick-grip clamps, or c-clamps with two small blocks of wood (1x2x2 or so).
12" of some tie-wire or string.
Aerosol brake cleaner.

Front Brakes - Starting Point:

Here's the top of the caliper assembly. You'll be working on the bottom of the assembly, not the top, but it's easier to see what needs to happen when looking at the top. There's a 13mm bolt that comes from the backside of the assembly, and a bushing that it passes through (called the guide pin), which needs to be held with an 18mm wrench:

Here's the bottom of the caliper, with the wrenches on the fasteners. You need to remove the 13mm bolt, while keeping the 18mm guide pin from spinning:

Once it's loose, remove the bolt:

Then take the end of the 13mm wrench and pry the caliper away from the assembly:

Then rotate the caliper up and away from the assembly. If it's really snug, before you rotate the caliper upwards, pull the caliper towards you firmly for a few seconds, and then back away from you - this should retract the pistons enough to provide the clearance necessary.

Here's the caliper rotated up. Tie the caliper up and out of the way (I used some copper wire):

Then simply lift the brake pads out of the "caliper adapters" on each side (inside and outside):

If they're grimy, you can take out the "anti-rattle clips" and clean them up.

Wow, I guess it was time, eh?

Because of the obvious difference in thickness from old to new, you need to provide more clearance to get the calipers over the new pads. Here's the pistons as the were:

So you need to retract the pistons in their bore. First, open the brake fluid reservoir up in the engine bay, below the driver's side windshield wiper. DO NOT top off the reservoir at this time, even if it appears low. Retracting the pistons will return ALL of the original fluid to the reservoir.

Then take the Quick-grips and apply pressure to the pistons to retract them - do both at the same time - you don't want one to compensate for the other. If you use c-clamps, you must use a piece of wood (or similar) to protect the faces of the pistons. Quick-grips are the way to go, if you have them:

Here's how they'll go (but remember - wait until both clamps are on there - do both at the same time):

Both clamps on:

Here are the pistons fully retracted:

And the new pads swapped on:

 

[Junior]

OK, once the new pads are seated, untie the caliper and rotate it back down. Guide the pistons over the backside pad, and the caliper into the caliper adapter.

The guide pin bushing has trapped air behind it, which makes it seem spring-loaded, so push it in a little bit as you seat the caliper so it clears:

Reinstall the guide pin bolt, and while holding the guide pin with the 18mm wrench again, torque it down. The FSM says 44 ft. lbs. - but if you don't have a torque wrench that will fit back there, give it a good hearty pull on the box-end wrench, and you should be right there.

Rear Brakes - Starting Point:

These are nearly the same as the fronts, but there's only one piston, and you rotate the calipers down instead of up. Also, the guide pin bolt is a 15mm in the rear - the guide pin is the same 18mm. Here they are:

Hold the 18mm, and loosen the 15mm:

Rotate the caliper down:

Retract the piston (with the brake fluid reservoir cap off):

Swap the brake pads:

Push the guide pin in, while rotating the caliper back up:

Reinstall the guide pin bolt:

...and torque it down. If you lean the 18mm wrench on the knuckle, you can free up both hands for tightening the 15mm:

Here's a situation I ran into on the rear driver's side. The FSM didn't mention this. Due to the routing and the angles of the brake line on this side, I could neither rotate the caliper up or down - the fitting on the brake line hit the fenderwell. No big deal, though - it just meant I had to remove both guide pin bolts and pull the caliper off the assembly.

Tie it up so it's not hanging on the brake line, and proceed:

And there you have it:

Be sure to replace the cap on the fluid reservoir before doing anything else.

After driving on the new pads for a few miles, you can check the brake fluid reservoir level, and top it off if necessary - though it's unlikely that it will be down at all.

Within a week or so, it's a good idea to bed in the brakes. Here's the proper procedure for doing that, from Dave Zeckhausen:

http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

Cheers!

 

[THE Saturn 5]

Great write-up! This is very helpful and comes at an even more convenient time for me.

 

[pc204]

Great write-up..I always took off the calipers. Not anymore..

Thanks..

 

[FurBurger]

oh yea....thanks a million! this DID come at a right time for me as well!!

 

[Part Deux]

EXCELLENT write up... Thanks!

 

[HKLEVI]

Superb write up! This will help a lot of folks with DIY jobs.

 

[Sedit]

Looks like when it's time, I'm doing my own breaks. I had no clue (I've never worked on my own car) it was so easy; well from your write-up it looks easy.

 

[Junior]

Someone on another forums had a similar comment, so i'll quote myself from there:

Seriously - it's a cinch. Sometimes I wonder if the write-ups I do make it seem harder than it is - my intent is exactly the opposite of course. I try to include as many pictures as I can, and explain it thoroughly to cover all bases, but it's usually simpler than I make it out to be.

A brake job (short of damaged parts) is one of the easiest things to do yourself, and shops charge a lot of money and always try to sell you more than you need.

The pads I used are EBC Yellow Stuff race pads, and they're pricier than others - I paid $155 for all four wheels, but there are cheaper ones out there.

The labor involved is easy, might take you 30 minutes to an hour, and the tools are common.

So go for it!

Also, there were some really good suggestions and additions on another forum - so I'll be updating this in a few days with some more pics and some more helpful info...

 

[DodgeDude99]

Here are 3 suggestions you may or may not of received already.

1) You should grease the guide pins for the calipers, not doing so could cause the caliper to stick, resulting in a squeel, and prematurely wearing out the pads and rotors.

2) You can use a C clamp and the old brake pads to push the pistons back in.

3) Wash everything down afterwards to get any possible grease or oil off of the pads or rotors to keep from contaiminating them and possibly overheating them.

All in all a great write up, extra Kudos for the wrench sizes.

 

[CKD]

nice write up...

but those cast type of wheel spacers scare the

out of me...

 

[THE Saturn 5]

Sticky please!

 

[Junior]

Here are 3 suggestions you may or may not of received already.

1) You should grease the guide pins for the calipers, not doing so could cause the caliper to stick, resulting in a squeel, and prematurely wearing out the pads and rotors.

2) You can use a C clamp and the old brake pads to push the pistons back in.

3) Wash everything down afterwards to get any possible grease or oil off of the pads or rotors to keep from contaiminating them and possibly overheating them.

All in all a great write up, extra Kudos for the wrench sizes.

All three of those are great! They'll be in the updated version. Thanks man.

 

[no-rulz25]

Yes great write up!

 

[TopBanana107]

Right on! I should be doing my brakes when I get the Nanner out of storage this spring...

STICKY!!!

 

[Junior]

OK, here's an update with info on servicing the guide pins. The guide pins are what allows the pistons on only one side of the caliper to apply even pressure to pads on both sides of the rotor. They allow the caliper to float between the inside and outside.

If you read through the procedure above, what follows should make sense. You can either do one guide pin at a time, or remove the caliper (and tie it up) and do both pins at the same time. I think it's easier to do the latter.

Here's one, as you find it:

You need to pull the guide pin out of the rubber sleeve that it's in. This sleeve is what traps the air in, and makes the pins feel spring-loaded. It may be tight at the widest part of the guide pin, just short of the hex head. If necessary, hold the rubber sleeve, and turn the guide pin out of it, or get a fingernail between the two to let the air in.

Once you do, you should get this:

The grease that's on there should be nice and clean - if it isn't, you've got bigger issues - probably a torn sleeve.

Clean him off, like so:

Grease them lightly with some high-temp disc brake wheel-bearing grease, and then re-insert them into the rubber sleeves. It's best to pull the outer lip of the sleeve out if necessary, and make sure the mouth is open uniformly - i.e. make sure one edge isn't rolled in on itself. Then guide the guide pin back into its sleeve.

Note how much further out the upper one is (serviced), compared to the lower one (not serviced) in this picture:

I suspect you want to trap as much air in there as possible to provide the best action - so just twist the freshly greased guide pin into the sleeve at its outermost position.

Happy stopping!

 

[Junior]

Added a thread discussing how to stop brake squeal:

http://www.chargerforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72911

 

[Gabe]

Great thread and info ... :rockon:


* subscribed *

 

[pentool]

thanks a lot!

 

[kobikyramya]

good info!!!