Basic Maintenance: Brake job

[Wraith2097]

Alright so I head over to the local Midas because they are advertising a brake special. I figure "Hey great! My brakes are screaching like a bish so I'll have them done". I walk in and ask for an estimate for front pads and rotors (98% of the time they tell you you will need new rotors). They qouted me over 300 bucks for the job. Now, I've looked into doing the job myself and I know that the parts needed are nowhere near that price. Nor should the work be insanely long. I've never had the brakes done on my bird before, so I'm curious, are they jacking me around?

I have one of those haynes manuals on the way and have been considering doing the work myself, but I've never done it before and I kinda want my bird to stop when I want it to. Is it that difficult of a job? I am moving cross country soon where there will be no friends or family nearby to help out. So the budget will be tight and learning this stuff would be insanely helpful.

I've read up on it at multiple websites and the basic rundown I have is this: I get the car up on jackstands, remove the wheels and unbolt the calipers (I'm assuming the bolts are on the back). Then remove the calipers and slide off the rotor. I then replace the old rotor with the new one (After having it turned at a shop, as I've been told not all rotors are 'True' out of the box). I remove the clips holding in the brake pads, add pad grease to the back of the new pads and replace old with new. Finally, everything is put back as it was and hopefully I have earned the ability to stop again.

I have read that there is a piston compression tool and some other tool I should buy or rent from a shop, but I'm not sure exactly what they are or understand how to use them. Can someone enlighten me?

[Dominic]

You can use a big C-clamp to compress the pistons in, just try to do it squarely and not too fast. Also make sure your brake fluid resivoir in the front of the car was never topped off because when you push the pistons back in you will put more fluid in the resivoir and it can overflow.

It sounds liek you've read up enough, and it shouldn't take long. You may or may not need new rotors - you have a 2001 firebird right? How many miles are on it?

Brembo rotors from tirerack are excellent I hear and are not pricey. No need in flashy stuff just to stop well. Go with ceramic pads for low dust, anything else for high performance such as hawk or satisfied pads.

The pistons, once they go in, stay in until the pedal is depressed. Before driving away and testing the new pads, pump your pedal a few times to move the pads near the rotors - otherwise you'll be without brakes until you do [img]smile.gif[/img]

[still-asleep]

try this site... it's very good:

http://www.installuniversity.com/ins...sity/index.htm

go under "install documents" on the left, and then click on "brake pad and rotor swap" under the braking section.

[Red]

or search for brake job. Someone did a great step by step on how to do it. The actual piston compressor tool is only like 8 bucks from autozone, so just get that. It evenly distributes the pressure so it isnt as likely to bend your pistons.

Around here at les schwab i was quoted 180 to do the fronts, that is for new calipers and pads and turning the rotors. They said if i wanted new rotors (stock ones) they were about 120 ea. Lots of places wont wanna reuse your calipers because "they may stick", so they try to sell you new ones when you can just rebuild them easily.

I went to autozone and got quotes for the caliper rebuild kits, piston compressor, carbon metallic high performance pads (w/ 2 yr warranty), high performance rotors (w 2 yr warranty) and the break cleaner and anti squeal stuff for a total of 125 and change for the whole front end. Call ahead and have them set the stuff aside, then pick it up that same day and you can get an extra discount. I got an extra 10% dropped off.

[Wraith2097]

Yup 01 firebird here. Its about to hit 37k miles but I have not had it very long and have no idea when the brakes were last done. The fronts have been squeeling for a bit now so I'm guessing I might as well replace the rotors. I checked out tiretrack and brembo rotors are 64 each. Thats a pretty good price I'd say, so I'll head in that direction. I also decided on the hawk performance ceramic pads.

Thanks for that link, very useful. I have only two questions now. First, is it really best that I have the new rotors turned before I install them? Secondly, how do I know how far to bring in the pistons? Is it just until they press against the new pads? Thanks for all the help guys, I feel a lot more confident about doing the work myself.

[zlexiss]

Thumbs up to the install university site. That and the Hayne's got me through my first brake job pretty nicely.

Now I just look up the torque values, since I do my brakes at least once a year due to wear from road racing [img]smile.gif[/img]

I'll second the Brembo rotors as being quality parts. You won't need to get them turned new.

Push in the old pistons all the way, with new pads and rotors you'll need all the space. Just put a c-clamp on the old brake pad and crank. If you only push one piston at a time, sometimes the other one pops out on you.

[Wraith2097]

Thanks for all the info. As soon as the bank opens I'll go ahead and order the pads and rotors, then stop by a shop and grab the grease, stands, and a clamp or that tool. I've been wondering, how can I tell if my calipers need any work? What do I look for?

[TheV6Bird]

Regular Brake Job: http://www.installuniversity.com/ins...ds_mwarren.htm

Caliper Rebuild: http://www.installuniversity.com/ins...er_rebuild.htm

[Red]

i got all the prices because i also plan on doing this in a few days. I have been reading up on it, but havent done it before. My haynes said something about just inspecting them for wear. Mainly, just check those for wear as well as the retainers and the anti squeek springs (i think thats what they are called). If you dont have a haynes get one soon, it has step by step pictured instructions.

Whether they are worn or not be sure to lube them well. I figure i went 5+ years on these brakes, so whats another 10 bucks to replace the retainers and pins with the rebuild kit to be sure they will last a few more. Even if they are fine now, i would rather pay 10 bucks then have them stick and ruin the rotors [img]smile.gif[/img]

(plus i'll repaint them well and put my decals on while they are off.)