Brake lessons

[ruttinbuc]

Shaun, I was hoping that you might be able to give us a tutorial on how to do brakes. To me this is one of the biggest rip offs out there.

[wtnhunt]

Drums or discs, Mike?

Yeah, a tutorial would be nice. Lots of experience here with discs, drums, not so much.

[Leo]

Get the Haynes manual for your make and model vehicle

Some vehicles are more challenging then others. I remember some of the Ford trucks had a retaining stud that had to be cut off with a hacksaw before you removed the old pads.

[ruttinbuc]

I have four wheel disc brakes, William. The Haynes manual would be a plus to have for sure, Leo. Especially as my truck gets older.

[Leo]

I also highly recommend the Bendix Titaniumetallic pads.

[redkneck]

There's few things that folks get screwed on more than their brakes by shops IMO. I'd love to find somebody that actually went to one of those Free Brake Inspections and didn't come out with a bill.

[wtnhunt]

I have four wheel disc brakes, William. The Haynes manual would be a plus to have for sure, Leo. Especially as my truck gets older.

Good advice from Leo there on the manual. Those haynes manuals have saved me loads of money in the past. Chiltons used to be ok too.

Four wheel discs should not be too bad Mike. Biggest expense is usually when people let their rotors get shot. Some of those shops will really reem people on rotors.

I put lifetime pads from autozone on the front of my 3/4 ton truck back 8 or 9 years ago, have replaced them twice. With hauling hay and other heavy pulling/stopping without trailer brakes they are gonna need replaced again before too much longer.

[redkneck]

Here's another brake issue. My wife's new car schedules a brake fluid flush schedule (which I plan to follow). My buddy at the parts store tells me that this is one of the biggest overlooked maintenance items. Personally, like most of you, I have never made a habit of this. What does this accomplish?

[Leo]

Here's another brake issue. My wife's new car schedules a brake fluid flush schedule (which I plan to follow). My buddy at the parts store tells me that this is one of the biggest overlooked maintenance items. Personally, like most of you, I have never made a habit of this. What does this accomplish?

The fluid flush removes water that accumulates in the brake line system. Brake fluid is Hygroscopic (attracts water). Water in the system can corrode the components of the system and cause failure.

[redkneck]

Makes perfect sense Leo, thanks!

[Goinghuntin]

Good advice from Leo there on the manual. Those haynes manuals have saved me loads of money in the past. Chiltons used to be ok too.

Sure is true. The first thing I buy for every new (new?) vehicle I buy is to run into O'Reilly's and buy a repair manual

Nathan

[Tominator]

Tried to replace the brakes on the back of my Silverado a few years ago and could not get the rotor off for anything. Turns out it's a common problem with the Silverado. I guess the emergency brake shoe tends to hang up. I had a few guys tell me sometimes the dealer ends up having to cut the whole rotor off, or bang the heck out of it trying to get it off. I just put the second set of brakes on my Silverado not too long ago. Luckily I have a good mechanic and have come away with new brakes for a reasonable price. The labor charge is certainly worth the headaches I would have encountered had I done it myself.

[Shaun_300]

I'll try and get a tutorial up sometime for brakes, there's many different styles of brakes, not all disc brakes are the same, not all drum brakes are the same. And like Chris says, a lot of times it's a lot easier said than done and they should be done at a shop because we have the tools and experience with seized rotors, etc. That's usually the hardest part about them is getting the rotors off. Some will slide off without touching them with a hammer, some won't. Before I've cut them off with a torch, or hit them hard enough with my 4lb mini sledge that they split into pieces. The back ones are a pain in the 99-06 Chevy/GMC fullsize because of the park brake shoe system. I usually use a 5lb slide hammer to get them off. Another trick is run it up on the hoist and hit the emergency brake while the back wheels are spinning with rotors only on them and it gets rid of all the rust buildup and eases removal.

[ruttinbuc]

Thanks Shaun. I need to take the pads off the front and replace them with original equipment. The guy at the shop I went to put on the wrong pads and gave me a hard time about it. He said he would have to charge me for the labor. Rather than grabbing him by the neck and trying to make a fist I told him to stick it where the sun don't shine.

[Shaun_300]

Doesn't sound like a pleasent experience. Let's see, on a Silverado like yours you'd just need to pop the caliper itself off, not the caliper bracket, if you're just changing pads. If they did their job right the pads will pull right out of the slides, just re-lube the slides with the grease that comes in the AC Delco brake box, smear a bit on the backs of the pads too. you might need to push the caliper piston back to fit over the new pads. Sounds like there's already new ones on there so you may not have to. If you do just use a pair of big channel lock pliers to do so.

[ruttinbuc]

Thanks again, Shaun. Come cooler weather I'll give it a go. The only thing I have to do is find the right pads for it. Once that don't scream and dirty the wheel.

[LETMGROW]

Be sure to go with a good quality ceramic brake pad. A cheap pad will have cheap material which will leave dusting on the wheels when mixed with a little moisture makes a real mess.

One of the most important steps in doing a brake job on anything is to clean, clean and clean. The hardware on later model pads and calipers should be replaced everytime you change the pads, pins, mounts and anchors should be cleaned and lubed with a brake lube designed for the purpose. The caliper brackets need to be cleaned of any rust and old lube. We glass bead every bracket before installing hardware. The pads must fit freely into the brackets before reinstalling the caliper.

We machine or replace rotors on every brake job. If we replace a rotor we check every one in a lathe before we use it. If need be, we machine new rotors to be sure they are true. Often, a used rotor will look ok at first glance, but a closer look will reveal the cooling fins are rusted nearly closed. To clean these fins would take time which would exceed the cost of a new rotor.

Calipers can be a headache. Some mid 90's GM models calipers are priced just over $20 each. If in doubt, we replace them and bleed the system. This is good insurance the job isn't coming back in a couple weeks with the pads squealing and rotors fried and warped.

We redo a lot of brake jobs where someone had a buddy do the brakes on a vehicle. Usually we find someone drove the old pads out of the brackets and drove a new set back into the brackets.

We also request a brake job customer bring the vehicle back in every six months to check the brakes to be sure everything is free and working properly.

Here in NY state the roads are covered with salt all winter. This really takes its toll on the underside of vechiles.

Lynn

[ruttinbuc]

Be sure to go with a good quality ceramic brake pad. A cheap pad will have cheap material which will leave dusting on the wheels when mixed with a little moisture makes a real mess.]

Yes, I know. A mess isn't the word for it.

Thanks for your good advice, I appreciate it.