big_g

Going to attempt to change my brake pads and rotors for the first time. Found a video for the fronts, piece of cake (just remove a set of bolts for both caliper and rotor). Anything different with the rears? Anything I should know ahead of time with this job?
Thanks guys!!

FYI: I'm planning to just use all Duralast stuff from Autozone (cmax gold for the front pads).

Spartan7

iTrader: (7)

I didn't like the Duralast pads. I had the gold ones and had to grind a slight amount of material off the side ears to get them to even fit in the calipers.

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

get ALL NEW hardware........pins........clips.....most likely the pins will be rusty and or frozen......i have hawk HPS pads.......LUV EM !!!!

big_g

The front pads come with the hardware (so it says), but I'll be sure to get it for the rears too. Thanks!

big_g

Interesting... Did you like them well enough once you got them in?

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

i have never known a pad set to come with hardware

big_g

According to Autozone, the Duralast Cmax gold pads come with the hardware included. Kind of surprised me too...

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

i bought all new hardware off rock auto......the slider brackets.....middle clip.........and pins......RA has the best prices

Spartan7

iTrader: (7)

They worked fine, I had them many years ago. I use Hawk now.

1BAD02WS6

iTrader: (-1)

Lots of pad sets come with hardware (clips)

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

i have never in all my yrs bought pads that included hardware

big_g

As far as replacing the rear pads/rotors, is it the exact same process as the fronts? No gotcha's or anything?

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

pins are the only thing to look out for really........replace and grease

1BAD02WS6

iTrader: (-1)

Wagner pads have the hardware... Just saying

Amp'd Adam

The Carbotech™ 1521™ is our high performance street compound. The 1521™ compound is known for its release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. 1521™ is also a very low dusting and low noise compound with an excellent initial bite. This compound's excellent linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Carbotech™ 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 800°F (426°C+). 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle or fleet vehicle. Carbotech™ 1521™ is NOT recommended for ANY track use.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

What kind of car is this? What year? There is a big pitfall with the later model F-Bodies in that the parking brake needs to be adjusted for new rear rotors. This can ONLY be done with the brakes off the car as the procedure requires taking the rotor on/off to do a test fit. You can search to find this procedure on this site.

The best advice I can give for your "first time" is to only do one side at a time. If something gets messed up, you can look at the other side of the car to see how things go back together.

Check the boot on the inside part of the rear brake backing plate. Is it torn? If so, you may want to replace this to keep dirt from getting in the parking brake mechanism. If you do this, it's a little more involved and there are other precautions you'll need to take. (Like doing this with the rotor bolted in place, so your parking brake mechanism doesn't come apart.)


Honestly, the best pads I've ever had are the Delco pads. They are really good, last a long time, and don't make a lot of dust. If you get another type of pad, you'll need to decide against ceramic/metallic and figure out what kind of trade offs you want to take on stopping power/noise/brake dust. You can't have your cake and eat it too, with brake pads and IMO - the Delco pads make great compromises/trade-offs in these variables for a daily-driver car.


The Delco pads come with all new hardware except for the pins. They just have the hardware that fits on to the calipers.

big_g

Oops, I should have stated that in my first post. It's a 1999 Trans Am. So it sound like I dodged this bullet then?

Great idea!

I also went ahead and ordered the Duralast stuff, since Autozone had an online promotion that offered free shipping and 20% off of my entire purchase! Too good of a deal to pass up.

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

those cheap *** hawk pads dont come with hardware !!!!

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

OK - More tips:

The caliper pad replacement is pretty straight forward and easy to do. When you do them on this car, you will want to:
- Take care to lubricate every part where there is metal on metal contact. Be sure to use brake pad grease on the shoe or shoe hardware where metal parts of the pad touch metal parts of the caliper. (Like the sides of the shoe where its slides along the caliper, etc.) Any place where there is metal-to-metal contact is a potential squeal and needs grease.
- Pay close attention to the slider pins. As noted above, its best if you can get new ones as the originals will get flat-spotted and out of round. They should move freely back and forth in the caliper bracket. Best to take them out of the bracket entirely, clean them up with alcohol or brake cleaner, and then lube them liberally with grease before inserting in the bracket. Post-lube, you should notice they move much easier. This is critical for maximum braking power and the inner/outer pads wearing the same.

By all means - you should get a hold of a torque wrench and properly torque the bolts. If you don't.... the bolts can vibrate out under use and then... bad things happen. (Same goes for your lug nuts!) When you lose a wheel/brake caliper, there is no backup and these are kind of important things. The proper torques:

Wheel Lug Nuts: 100 lb-ft (or 140 N-m)
Caliper Bracket to Car Bolts (Larger bolts): 74 lb-ft (or 100 N-m)
Caliper to Caliper Bracket Bolts (Smaller bolts): 23 lb-ft (or 31 N-m)

I also recommend red loctite on the small caliper to caliper bracket bolts. I noticed it on my bolts that came from the factory, although the GM repair manual makes no mention of its application.


The rears are the same except for the parking brake adjustment. Please advise if you can't find that procedure. Likewise, if you have problems doing the adjustment and need to rebuild and lubricate the parking brake - that's a much more difficult thing to do and probably worthy of another thread.

Falco78

I always heavily grease the pins and have never had set locked