Brakes

[alerocar01]

ok so my rotors suck so i decide to buy some new ones. i was just wanted to know if it would be a good idea to replace the rotor my self or have it done by the local brake shop.

[cgriffin]

do it yourself it's simple put it on the way u take it off.... :biggrin: thats how i learned to fix things

[jackal2000]

yea and dont be afraid to beat the poop out of it if it doesnt come right off. i had to whack mine a few times with a hammer to get em off lol damn rust

[RoninKouga]

dont do for yourself. - not the brakes ! - its too dangerous if you mess something up.

and be sure to have the braking cylinders cleaned from rust, they use to be stuck at the inside. you can see this phenomenon by checking the disk.. when the inner side is worn out a lil bit more its stuck.

[alerocar01]

now i don't know what to do. :wacko:

[turtles_ride]

you can do it yourself. take one off and try it yourself, its real easy

[bigd6983]

yea just take it slow........have a lot of brake cleaner so you can clean everything off......lubricate the bolts holding the caliper on, lubricate the piston on the caliper before you push it back in.......and use new pads if your replacing your rotors

[turtles_ride]

oh yeah, you have to take your calipers right off to pull off your rotor(obviously) but you don't have to disconnect them from your brake line, use a bent coathanger to hang them off to the side. This also gives you a great oppotunity to paint them while everythings apart! Always a great looking mod, even thru steelies and habcaps.

[kwhauck]

don't forget the anti-seize.........

[green99gls]

Unless you feel like wasting your money needlessly, changing your brakes is one of the easiest self maintanence things one can do along with oil changing. Like everyone has already said removing the caliper is a joke and at that point it pretty much is a no brainer on the new pads. Just pay attention to how you took out the old ones. To push the piston in just use a small piece of wood and a c-clamp to push it all the way back in making sure the brake fluid cap in the engine bay is open to relieve the pressure. But if you feel like wasting your money I can always send you my paypal address

[gre0481]

Alright.


You can take a peak at your cyllinders. If they were rusted, you probably haven't been stopping that well. You would know.

Take off your wheel. There are 2 hex nuts on your caliper, take em off. You might want to use a scoket style allen head, they're torqued tight.

Your caliper should separate in 2 pieces, pull it away from your rotor.
Many people just let the caliper hang. Do not do this, The older a hydraulic line gets, the more pron to cracking it is. Support it somehow, sit u bucket nearby, place it on top. NO DANGLING
Pick up some synthectic caliper lubricant, preventive maintenance is always the best. If you're replacing rotors, might as well get new pads to. 20-50 a set. I go with morse ceramics, you can get the cheaper ones. the cheaper kind just have alot of break dust. (bad for you rims)
When you take off your caliper, If the piston looks rusty, do one of 2 things.
1 - Clean piston with wd 40, or similiar rust lubricant, breakaway. , then spray it with a good brake cleaner next, relube it with a good caliper grease (I recommend synthetic)
2 - Take it in, if it looks that bad, and the rust is horrible, the first suggestion probably won't be enough.
If it looks clean, wipe off the existing grease and relube.
Next. you'll need a large C clamp, Use this to push the piston back inside the caliper.
Put on your new rotor.
Move the caliper back over your rotor (do not twist hydraulic line)
Set the inner brake pad inside the inner caliper. put the other brake pad in the outer part (the part that separates)
Piece it back together, and hand start the bolt back into place. Make sure they're tight, You don't want loose parts, or even worse, missing bolts..

Your calipers on, brakes installed, replace wheel, torque to 100 ft lbs

hop in, start car, pump brakes before you go anywhere...
They'll feel a bit hard at first, they just need to wear in.

I'm sure there is more advice people can add, THis was just the best way I could explain it.

[slowandlow]

i was told 80 ft lbs for alumin rims

[gre0481]

The manufactuter recommendation for most GM models, (haven't seen any at 80 rated at 80) is 100 ft lbs. If they're a good quality rim they should be fine.
Go for 80 if you like. Your rim holds down your rotor :P

[alerocar01]

thanks for all your help. i have decided to do it myself. i hope i have no problems.

[99BLKALERO]

you can do it...but let us know how it went....

[AftermathAlero]

if your not comfortable doing it yourself, bring it to someone worthy. I'd rather ya be safe bring it to someone, then you trying to do it and might end up having no brakes at all. Brakes is one of the most important things on the car.

[alerocar01]

i am bring it to my friend's house and we are going to put the brakes on there. he is good at this kind of stuff.

[gre0481]

Let us know how easy it is, not having done this with an alero before :)

[knowfear]

rotors/brakes on the alero are very simple. i had all 4 of mine done myself in about an 2 hours. (i dont have air tools so i had to do everything by hand) otherwise i would say about an hour tops.

[alerocar01]

how hard is it to put in new brake pads? that is the only part that i am worried about.

[gre0481]

That's the easiest part. After you have your caliper off, they'll pop right out.

Look at the back plate of the pad. compare the old pad and new pad, the one with the sensor (metal clip lookin thing) goes where the other one with the sensor was, the one without, goes where the other one without a sensor was.


It sounds simple becaus eit is that simple :P
There's no adjusting at all. Just sit them in the caliper.

If you get new rotors spray em off with brake clean, they're normally oiled or some other protectant to keep em rust free in storage.

[alerocar01]

got it done. it took about 2 and 1/2 hours and it was well worth it. didn't have any problem which help the process go faster.

[Vtolds]

2 1/2 hours seems like a normal time, it takes less than a hour just to change the pads.

[cannaert]

Easy work. By doing it your self you will save a ton of money. And the more you do it the better you will get. I can change the whole set of pads in an about an hour. Two hours for every thing for me. The biggest thing with brakes is when you replace a caliper. Then you need to bleed the system with can be real quick or take for ever. But if you doing pads and rotors for the frist time go slow and do one side at a time.

[DRA-GON]

did mine the weekend , passanger side done in like 25 mins , drivers side almost an hour ( had to smash it with a maul for alittle while) :hide:

[alero_ecotec]

well, it looks like i will never again pay the dealership an arm and a leg to change my pads, which squeal like a stuck pig (beand new) by the way