i've never installed brakes on a car before but figured i'd give it a try. that apparently was a bad decison. i'm in the middle of chaning all the pads/rotors on my 02 camaro ss but ran into problems. for the install im using my chilton book for 93-02 camaros and this website http://www.installuniversity.com/ins...ds_mwarren.htm the issues are that the book and site have slightly different methods for the install. here are my problems thus far

1) the book says to use a c clamp to squeeze the pad/caliper in order to reposition the caliper piston. it says to do this to the old stuff before its removed from the car. supposidly this will cause the brake fluid in the container under the hood to rise and i'll then have to syphoon it off? the website says to take all the old stuff off, put the new stuff on, then use the clamp on the pistons directly and reattach the caliper, which will also cause the brake fluid to go up. my questions are which method is the best and how do i know when i've clamped enough and prevent myself from over squeezing it? also, what should i do to get rid of the brake fluid, suck it out with a turkey baster or something?

2) the website says to put loctite on the caliper bolts but the book doesnt mention that, what should i do?

3) the book says to put anti-squeal stuff on the pads before installing them but the website doesnt. i have ceramic pads which supposidly dont make any noise, so i dunno what is best.

4) this may seem a little stupid but for the life of me i cant get the damn rotors off the car! i took off the calipers and the brackets and just assumed the rotors would slide right off but it's like they're welded on or something. is this just rust? should i spray some wd40 around the center and bang on it with a hammer till it pops off, or is there something i'm not doing right? (oh yeah, neither the book or website mentioned it but i found that each wheel has 3 washers which are like locked to the lug screws in order to prevent the rotors from coming off. they were a bitch and a half to remove, but i got them off, but STILL cant budge the rotors at all).

any help you guys could give is greatly appreciated!

 

When you depress the piston with the c clamp, you can leave the old pad in place and the piston will become flush with the caliper. Remove the cap on your master cylinder under the hood and monitor the level. If it seems like it will overflow just use a turkey baster or the like. You are squeezing the piston in to allow for the extra thickness of the new pads to clear the rotor.

I have never used loctite on the caliper mounting bolts and have been doing brakes for 35 years. Just make sure that you tighten the bolts enough.

I just did the brakes on my 97 and I used the anti squeal compound. Its cheap insurance against the irritating chatter and squeaking. Your call

The rotors are more than likely corroded on. I sprayed some penetrating oil around the hubs and the lug bolts. I then tapped around the rotors with a hammer on the outside edge to work them loose. Just dont use your popeye strength with striking. With a little effort they will come loose. I would either replace the rotors or have them turned so the new pads have a fresh surface to seat on.

 

When you do brakes for the first time (or on a car you have never done before), do one wheel at a time, so that you can use the other for reference if you run into trouble about how something goes together.

 

Be VERY careful with the brake fluid. If it gets on the paint, it will eat through it in seconds.

 

Loosen the bleed valve before you compress the piston. Put a piece of rubber hose on the bleed valve and drain it into a container so you don't make a mess. I run the hose into an old oil bottle with a hole drilled in the cap that holds the hose in place and another hole for a vent so it's pretty much foolproof. Then when its not in use, I push the other end of the hose into the vent hole and it's sealed. No mess.

My friend, a very knowledgeable mechanic who manages a brake shop told me never push brake fluid backwards through an abs equipped car which is what you are doing if you don't open the bleed valve.

 

thanks for the input guys, once i got some pb blaster to get the rotors off things went pretty smooth