[dpal]

Had my tires rotated at the dealership on Friday ($20) and asked them to check the brakes b/c of some front end squeaking. All good.

Did my own 30K service on Sunday. Still squeaking.

Back to the dealership this morning. Front brakes GONE. Huh? I asked to see it. Yup, it's true. Metal on metal. WTF?! I was just there on Friday! The service guy felt bad, so he didn't charge me the $61.88 evaluation fee.

... But they want $585 + tax for new front pads and rotars. NFW! (The guy actually said he'd give me 10% off parts ... a total of $41 off. So their parts alone are over $400? Please. Ridiculous.)

Never done my own brakes, but I've seen it done and I'm not afraid.

Pretend I'm stupid: What do I need? Pads/rotars from CarQuest down the street ok? What about jacking up the front end? Do I need to buy a jack or use the one that came with the truck? Jack stands? Breaker bar for lug nuts, or is what came with the truck fine? Need to bleed the lines after or not?

$600!! Are you SERIOUS!? I bet I can get the parts I need for under $200. I can't wait until I get the follow up "customer satisfaction" call.

 

[Clint]

I'd go raise hell with the GM and service manager first,be nice but very firm.


See if you can find someone who knows how to do it to stand over you and guide you.
Jack stands are better than trusting the factory jack.
This may be obvious but NEVER put your feet under the car working on it. My friend (competent working on cars)was working on his brakes and I stopped by and said get your legs out (sitting on ground) from under there. Well his father called me about a half hour after I left to tell me the car fell and broke his leg just below the knee.
Yes you can do it but if someone else is there and should you need a store "run" you won't be in a bind.
Not sure what the quality of car quest rotors are. Good Luck.

Clint

 

[EB_05_NISMO]

I did my brakes for the first time with someone who knew what they were doing. My rotors and pads were $485 (I bought expensive ones) and it took 2-3 relaxing hours. It was fairly easy. I used jack stands, a breaker bar, torque wrench, brake grease, new synthetic brake fluid, brake cleaner, and high temp antiseize (for the rotor where it makes contact on the hub).

How are peoples brakes going in 30k, city driving, lots of towing? I guess I drive like an old man, mine went 70k+ and I still could have gotten a few thousand more miles out of the fronts, rears looked to be more than 50%.

 

[dubie2003]

Brakes are not bad. I would download the FSM so you know what you are getting yourself into first thou.

Just buying them from CQ may not be the exact answer thou. If you go with a standard store brand, I would want to get a rotors with a 2yr warranty and pads with lifetime.

I would also recommend that you get a good jack and a set of stands with wheel chucks. A breaker bar for the lugs and a TQ wrench for TQing everything else down. Make sure you use anti-squeek on the back of the pads and some other type of grease on the "slides" and possible anti-seize on the hat between the hub/hat and the hat/rim.

 

[frontire]

I would also get a C-clamp to depress the brake pistons, otherwise, you'll never be able to slide the caliper back over the rotor. Since the rotor will be thicker (brand new) and the pads will be thicker (brand new), the brake pistons will need to be pressed back so the pads will be able to slide back over the rotor.

 

[basik]

You don't need much to do it yourself. Jack/jack stands, some sockets/wrenches, C-Clamp, and the parts...

Parts are pretty cheap... you can buy the highest end pads Autozone's for like $60 bucks with limited lifetime warranties, and rotors from them are like $45.

So you're looking at $150 if you have or can borrow the tools.


I'm sure you could go to NAPA and get it for similar price.

 

[goody]

I had a ma & pay auto mechanics shop do my back brakes when somebody got drunk and drove my truck with the ebrake on for 20 something miles...anyway for the ebrake and new regular back brake pads/machines rotors etc..was $187.50 out the door.

 

[kannibul]

I would also get a C-clamp to depress the brake pistons, otherwise, you'll never be able to slide the caliper back over the rotor. Since the rotor will be thicker (brand new) and the pads will be thicker (brand new), the brake pistons will need to be pressed back so the pads will be able to slide back over the rotor.

...and if you've added brake fluid...that fluid will need to go somewhere...and it eats paint.

 

[Clint]

...and if you've added brake fluid...that fluid will need to go somewhere...and it eats paint.

turkey baster will remove the extra fluid in that situation.

Clint

 

[tanner817]

just look up how to change pads and rotors on youtube. pretty easy. 4 bolts after u get the wheels off. pretty cheap. i trust carquest over autozone and napa. even if theyre a little more expensive. make sure to open the bleeder when u depress the piston so your not pushing dirty brake fluid up to your abs unit and clogging the ports.

 

[dpal]

I've checked 5 places. Everybody wants over 500 balloons to do the front pads/rotars.

That just seems outrageous. I need a reality check please.


Thanks for the feedback above. All the more reason to find the time to tackle this myself.

 

[basik]

Brakes are one of the easiest ways to save money in vehicle maintenance... That 500 bucks is exactly why anyone that knows how just does it themselves... It's highway robbery. I'm no mechanic, and I've replaced pads/rotors on maybe 4 different vehicles... but I bet I could still do the fronts in under an hour... As I stated before parts only run 150... Call it 200 even... that's 300 bucks for labor/profit... not counting the profit from the parts.... an a skilled mechanic with proper tools I bet does it in 1/3 the time or better.

I've checked 5 places. Everybody wants over 500 balloons to do the front pads/rotars.

That just seems outrageous. I need a reality check please.


Thanks for the feedback above. All the more reason to find the time to tackle this myself.

 

[RockHawk JHKU]

Agree with everyone else. Disk brakes are very easy (drums are a little harder, but we don't have to worry about that) to change.

I really want to echo an earlier suggestion: buy jack stands. They are relatively cheap and are so much safer than suspending the car on jacks. Plus they come in handy for other things you might choose to do yourself as well (rotating tires comes to mind). A 4-armed lug wrench is also worth its weight in gold (unless you happen to have an airgun) and will last a really long time.

 

[q-ball]

just did my fronts. got my parts from car quest, $95 for both rotors, and $55 for the pads, rears are about the same cost wise. you will need a jack, breaker for the lugs, 14mm i believe, and a 17 or 19mm also...and a torque wrench!!!

and a c-clamp to compress the pistons!!!

 

[ToddG]

I would also get a C-clamp to depress the brake pistons, otherwise, you'll never be able to slide the caliper back over the rotor. Since the rotor will be thicker (brand new) and the pads will be thicker (brand new), the brake pistons will need to be pressed back so the pads will be able to slide back over the rotor.

just did my fronts. got my parts from car quest, $95 for both rotors, and $55 for the pads, rears are about the same cost wise. you will need a jack, breaker for the lugs, 14mm i believe, and a 17 or 19mm also...and a torque wrench!!!

and a c-clamp to compress the pistons!!!

Definitely have a LARGE c-clamp on hand.
I went to change the front pads on the wife's Mazda a few years ago.
After I had it jacked up, on stands, rims off and tools ready to go it occurred to me that I let my buddy borrow my huge c-clamp and I never got it back.
Needless to say he received a quick phone call and was at my house within 15 minutes to hand over the c-clamp.

And use a block of wood between the clamp and the piston head so you don't cause any harm to it.

Disc brakes are cake, just take your time and you'll be fine.
Do one side at a time in case you need reference of an assembled set-up.

Oh, and open your brake fluid reservoir to relieve pressure when compressing the caliper piston.

Hopefully I won't need brakes for a while (31,xxx on the ticker) but when I do them I have intentions of doing a write-up for CF here if one doesn't exist by then.
I know, doesn't help you now.

 

[Sartor]

I changed pads rotors bearings and seals... took about 1 and a half hours.

parts total: about 230$

tools used: 3/8's drive 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, pry bar, lug wrench, jack stands, ball pin hammer, rubber mallet, blade screw driver, c-clamp, old pad used to compress pistons, six pack, cooler, tunes from my portable stereo, and a couple buddies to laugh at me when i get hurt.

I think thats it...

 

[rod83]

Brakes are pretty easy man. I havent done them on my truck yet, but on other cars i have done it on go about like this:
Pop the hood and take the reservoir cap off, loosen the lug nut on the wheel, jack the truck and put a jack stand underneath it. finish taking the lug nuts off and remove the wheel. Now to the brakes, there should be 2 bolts on the back of the caliper and maybe some kind clip holding the pads in (would go look but my truck is in the shop) take the clip off and remove the bolts. then you can pull the caliper from the rotor and the pads should fall out. now set the caliper to the side, but dont let it hang from the brake hose(maybe need to zip tie it to the spring or something) at this point the rotor should pull off, there might be a screw or something holding it to the hub, but maybe not. put the new rotor on. Now you can take your C-clamp and position it on the caliper and compress the piston. slap the new pads in and put everything back together the same way you pulled it apart. as long as you dont break into the system, you wont need to bleed them. These brakes may be a little different, but that is basically how you would do it. If you have a torque wrench the lugs get tightened to 80 ft-lbs, if not then just make sure they are good and snug, and torque them in a star pattern. hope this helps you.

 

[tanner817]

why did they say u need brakes? and rotors? the only reason noone would resurface those is if they have hot spots. but you said they told u the brakes were gone. hope mine dont wear out that fast

dont leave the reservoir cap off while your doing everything else. just while your compressing the piston. if you leave it off more than half an hour it will accumulate enough moisture to ruin all the rubber parts in your system.

 

[rod83]

Dot 3 and Dot 4 absorb moisture, but it would take it longer than 30 minutes to go bad. It also wont ruin your seals. In fact moisture enters the system through the rubber seals and brake hoses. It does however lower the boiling point of the fluid, and could cause the fluid to vaporize. vapor is gas which compresses easily and would make your braking spongy. Your supposed to flush your brake fluid every 2 years or so. Its easy to do, but takes 2 people. I said to take it off at first so you didnt forget and the cap pop off with out you knowing or making a loud noise and you being like "WTF just happened?" Having the cap off for an hour shouldnt hurt anything, but i could be wrong.