new brakes for a 04 gto
04-20-2012, 02:53 PM
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new brakes for a 04 gto Hey everyone, getting ready to change my stock brakes out for some new pads, rotors and stainless steel braided brake lines. Hadnt done much brake work before I know the pads and rotors should be fairly easy but the lines are worrying me and bleeding the brakes. Can anyone tell me what all tools are needed to do this swap and i im thinking i should probably upgrsde my brake fluid. Any recommendations on that?
04-20-2012, 09:50 PM
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its really not a hard task. stick with the factory fluid cause i believe it is DOT4. My 05 is anyway. its a high performance fluid. bleeding brakes is easy.
follow this after complete install is done. minus bolting up wheels
step 1. fill the resevior full.
2. open all the bleed screws on the calipers
3. let gravity pull the fluid from the resevior to the calipers. may take a few minutes. close the bleed screws when fluid starts to drip from each. most likely it will go in the order of the ds front, ps front, ds rear, ps rear due to length of the lines from resi to calipers. (never let the reseivior run out of fluid during any of this)
4. once all bleed screws are closed, fill the resevior. then have an assistant apply pressure to the brake pedal. start at the passenger side rear. open bleed screw to allow pressure to force fluid and air out. allow pedal to be pushed completely to the floor. a full stroke. close the bleed screw. say "UP" to your assistant meaning allow the pedal to return to the top most position. say "DOWN" meaning to have the assistant apply pressure to pedal. open bleed screw again to allow air and fluid to be forced out. REPEAT steps till air is no longer seen escaping. NEVER LET THE RESEVIOR RUN EMPTY.
5. move to drivers rear and repeat
6. move to passenger front and repeat
7. move to drivers front and repeat
8. pump pedal and make sure it feels firm
9. clean up your brake fluid mess. it will eat away at paint fyi
10. bolt on your wheels and test drive. if it doesnt feel right, bleed em all again.
follow this after complete install is done. minus bolting up wheels
step 1. fill the resevior full.
2. open all the bleed screws on the calipers
3. let gravity pull the fluid from the resevior to the calipers. may take a few minutes. close the bleed screws when fluid starts to drip from each. most likely it will go in the order of the ds front, ps front, ds rear, ps rear due to length of the lines from resi to calipers. (never let the reseivior run out of fluid during any of this)
4. once all bleed screws are closed, fill the resevior. then have an assistant apply pressure to the brake pedal. start at the passenger side rear. open bleed screw to allow pressure to force fluid and air out. allow pedal to be pushed completely to the floor. a full stroke. close the bleed screw. say "UP" to your assistant meaning allow the pedal to return to the top most position. say "DOWN" meaning to have the assistant apply pressure to pedal. open bleed screw again to allow air and fluid to be forced out. REPEAT steps till air is no longer seen escaping. NEVER LET THE RESEVIOR RUN EMPTY.
5. move to drivers rear and repeat
6. move to passenger front and repeat
7. move to drivers front and repeat
8. pump pedal and make sure it feels firm
9. clean up your brake fluid mess. it will eat away at paint fyi
10. bolt on your wheels and test drive. if it doesnt feel right, bleed em all again.
04-21-2012, 07:39 AM
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thx 402 that is pretty detailed. Do you know if you need special tools to change the brakes on the gto? Someone was telling me i may need a special tool but i wasnt sure exactly what
04-21-2012, 07:59 AM
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no speacial tools i can think of. unless mabe they are thinking about the caliper spreader tool used to push the piston back into the caliper. thats all i could figure
04-21-2012, 09:32 AM
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OP,
Here is a link to a youtube vid on bleeding your brakes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgxMfQUMdJY
This is being performed on an older car, so you can overlook certain steps (such as replacing all the bleeders) as generally with the newer GTOs these parts are still in good condition.
The steps for bleeding the system with a helper are how i do this task myself, however.
I have no issues with the idea of Gravity Bleeding, but i have had little luck with it myself.
Im picky with brake fluid and my personal favorite is Wilwood EXP 600 Plus. Its a DOT4 rated fluid and i have had good luck with it.
More important than brand of fluid is staying with the correct rated fluid. On your master cylinder it should say specifically which DOT rating fluid to use. IIRC for GTOs we use DOT 3 or 4 depending on year. Making sure you have the correct rated fluid is critical as there are many different types of fluid ( up to DOT 5.1) and some are absolutely NOT compatible ( DOT5). So just be careful there.
I dont think any special tools are need to remove the pads, you can just wiggle them out. The caliper piston spreader will be really handy to use before re installing the new pads. getting the pads out of the calipers just takes a bit of wiggling them around til they pop out, then you need to push the caliper pistons back into the calipers before installing the new pads. This just takes a good amount of pressure sometimes so just be patient with it.
Good luck and post up any questions you have.
--Glenn
Here is a link to a youtube vid on bleeding your brakes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgxMfQUMdJY
This is being performed on an older car, so you can overlook certain steps (such as replacing all the bleeders) as generally with the newer GTOs these parts are still in good condition.
The steps for bleeding the system with a helper are how i do this task myself, however.
I have no issues with the idea of Gravity Bleeding, but i have had little luck with it myself.
Im picky with brake fluid and my personal favorite is Wilwood EXP 600 Plus. Its a DOT4 rated fluid and i have had good luck with it.
More important than brand of fluid is staying with the correct rated fluid. On your master cylinder it should say specifically which DOT rating fluid to use. IIRC for GTOs we use DOT 3 or 4 depending on year. Making sure you have the correct rated fluid is critical as there are many different types of fluid ( up to DOT 5.1) and some are absolutely NOT compatible ( DOT5). So just be careful there.
I dont think any special tools are need to remove the pads, you can just wiggle them out. The caliper piston spreader will be really handy to use before re installing the new pads. getting the pads out of the calipers just takes a bit of wiggling them around til they pop out, then you need to push the caliper pistons back into the calipers before installing the new pads. This just takes a good amount of pressure sometimes so just be patient with it.
Good luck and post up any questions you have.
--Glenn
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04-21-2012, 12:10 PM
#8
You can use a c-clamp and a 2x4 to push the pistons back in, but a power bleeder might make life a bit easier. As for fluid, I've got some Motul 600 on my desk waiting for my CTSV brakes. Higher temp fluid will really help if you do heavy braking like at the track.
