Cost of full brake job?

[Ndfrspd924]

Hello there,

This is my first post on this board. I recently bought a 1991 Camaro RS ATX V6 from a friend for a very small amount. I'm having some problems though. I am posting the separate problems in their respective forums, so here is the first one: The front brakes. The car pulls very hard to the right when I brake, I was told this would probably mean that I needed and alignment, or because the car was in an accident and had a bent frame. I took it to the shop when my brakes started to squeal, and the mechanic told me that I needed new rotors, pads, calipers, hoses, the works. I was quoted at nearly $500 for all this work. The previous owner has said that the brakes were just done several thousand miles ago. Theres no apparent rust on the calipers or anything. I'm wondering if this price is accurate, and also how much would just the parts be? Is there anything that could cause brakes to wear out very quickly? Like could having a bent frame or being out of alignment cause excessive wear? I have a couple of other minor problems I'll be posting soon, this is the big one though. Thank you very much.

[hockeyman]

How bad was the accident, where was the car hit, and was the frame fixed?
If the car is pulling to the right when braking, maybe the left caliper piston isn't doing it's job, and needs cleaning or replacement. An alignment, maybe...
Just because calipers have some rust on them doesn't mean that they are bad. A whole new brake job that your mechanic is telling you about really isn't that bad of a deal for $500 "as long as he replaces EVERYTING he says he's gonna replace!"
If the previous owner said that the brakes were done a few thousand miles ago, what was done to them? If it was just the pads, then you need to get a little more indepth to solving your problem. IThere are many possibilities regarding the source of the pulling, but I would start at the left (driver's side) caliper first.

-Marc

[hockeyman]

Oh, welcome aboard!

-Marc

[mcjoslyn]

Welcome to the board. Here are some things to think about. Bent frame/alignment issues - does the car track straight (can you take your hands off the wheel and keep going in a straight line on a straight and level surface) when driving? Are the tires wearing evenly? If yes, then you probably don't have a problem with a bent frame or misalignment. Pulling brakes are usually limited to something in the brake hardware. If the car pulls to one side or the other, the opposite side is not working properly. It could be something as simple as a stuck caliper or something more serious. If you are not knowlegable about brakes yourself, your best bet is to take it to at least a couple of other places for an estimate (Midas/Monro/Sears/etc). They will do it for free and if most of them say the same thing, then you have your answer. Good luck and let us know what you find out.

[Bliggida]

$500.00 is a pretty common figure for a 4-wheel brake job when you take it to a shop. I think this is completely outrageous.

AutoZone website is down right now or I'd give you a pricing report.

Basically you should be able to do it yourself for well under $250.00 and that was including everything you could possibily need such as new rotors, new drums, new pads and shoes, brake hardware, bearing grease, 2-3 cans of brake cleaner, a large C-Clamp to collapse the pistons, and a container of fresh brake fluid.

At best, you might only need to have the rotors turned ($6 each) and install new pads ($50). Costing about 62 bucks. The rear brakes last about twice as long as the front brakes, so those may not need serviced. Pulling the wheels off to take a look at them is free. So I'd check them as well. On a budget the front brakes are most important. The rear if drums usually cost less, and if discs about the same as the front.

For the rear drums, (they sometimes scare those who know how to do discs) just do one side at a time, making the one side look exactly like the other side - and then it's correct.

If you do the rear drums you'll have to adjust the brakes. Driving in reverse spins a small sprocket that self-adjusts.

I just did the front brakes on the F-150, and with turning the rotors, getting lifetime pads (never have to buy again), couple cans of cleaner, cotter pins, and hub seals was around $92 dollars. Took me a couple hours.

Get the Chilton or Haynes manual for your new car. Being that its an older car, you are probably going to need it.

Edit:
For pulling, I'd first have it aligned. Brake Check offers that 80 dollar liftetime alignment fee (when a normal alignment is 40 bucks) so it pays for itself after 3 times. If it still pulls and the pads and rotors are good, I'd suspect a sticking caliper.

You can do only one caliper replacement, but I think that is one of the deals where its better and safer to do both at the same time, as you would with rotors and pads. But with care, I think you should be fine IF you actually need a caliper.

The hoses and all that, are very unlikely to wear to the point of replacement, especially for a '91 but anything is possible. Unless they are leaking around the seals, or look to have deep cuts in them I probably would leave the hoses alone. It might be a good idea to flush your brake fluid to clean out any moisture and junk.

[ July 09, 2003: Message edited by: Bliggida ]</p>

[FireFighter]

go to advance auto parts, I work there, I'm not sure of the prices for stuff for your 91 but I got ripped by mr tire because I looked up all the parts they replaced and new rotor( they just shaved them) and it was still a lot less and its not hard.