dodgethis Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Hey Guys this is my first How to Tutorial on doing Brakes and Rotors on the front. Finally got some time between school and exams, and work, and family etc. This is Tutorial and How to change front brake pads and rotors on a 1998 chevy lumina. It has the 3100 with 66,000 miles on it. Ok A quick synopsis. The car was given new wagner break pads with the original gm rotors on it. This is not the best thing to do because the rotors were warped with me knowing and its just not a good idea to put "new" pads on warped rotors. It is just better to put all new stuff together. I always suggest new rotors and new pads when doing a break job, or at least re surface the rotors when putting some new pads on. Ok lets begin. Get some Brake cleaner and spray down the rotor and caliper before you break into it. It ain't to healthy breathing in all that break dust. First we will have to jack the car up. First, under the car i jacked the car up on the side where you see the notch to put your emergency jack. I just fitted the floor jack's teeth with notch to make sure it wouldn't slip off. I then placed a "Jack Stand" right next to the floor jack to the right of it. I did this for added safety just in case. I didn't take a pic of the jackstand. 2nd Use your lug wrench that's with your spare tire to pull the lug nuts off the car. I thought this is pretty simple so I didn't include a pic of it. 3rd. Once the tire is placed out of the way, you should see your rotor and the caliper bracket in front of you. A 13mm or 14mm Socket will be needed to take off the two bolts to release the caliper from its housing. You will not need a (1/2 drive) breaker bar for it, I just used a regular socket wrench and it came write out. Also, you will need to get a T60 bit (Thanks for the clarification guys) and a breaker bar to get it off the back of the caliper bracket housing. "Thanks w-body's_are_the_best for the update" as shown in below pictures At this picture you can see one of the caliper bolts that holds the caliper on the bracket housing. 4th. Be sure to grab you some wire (I just used a coat hanger that was cut) to hold the caliper up. Do not let it dangle because it will pull and wrip the brake line right out. It is not made to hold the weight of the caliper. Below is a picture of how it is hanging to keep it out of the way. 4 1/2th, You should be at this point with the caliper off. I used a lug not on the rotor just to remind myself if i was tighting or loosening. I did not want to tighten one off the bolts when I thought i was loosening them. (Yea i know about righty tighty lefty loosey, but its better, safer than sorry). 5th You should be able to get your caliper braket off from using the breaker bar with the T60 bit. The Breaker bar i used was 10 inchs long. Once you do get it off you can pull the whole rotor off, just like you would pulling a tire off. Here is a pic of my old GM Rotor (BTW It was warped bad). I went and took a picture of both put together to see the difference. I could see a definite difference on size. I could more surface area compared to the old gm rotor. I like the new silver shine to it. I also want to mention that i used a towel to pick them up when i put them on the axle. The oils from the hands and even finger prints is not good for the new rotor, and can actually really screw up the "settling" when your seating your brakes in. 6th Ok The Caliper that is being hung by a wire is going to have to let go of the old break pads. The inner break pad will fall out easy. It is the one that just sits next to the pistons on the caliper. You will need either a flat head screw driver or some thing flat to get the other break pad off the caliper. It will be a little rough because of the metal clip is tight on the side house of the caliper. In the event you break the clip dont worry about it, because you will never use that break pad again anyway. Once you get the old off, you need to get a 6 inch C clamp to push back the pistons. Do not put the C clamp into the piston hole. It is very easy to screw up your piston by doing it that way. It is better if you just put the C Clamp on the side of the piston ring edge. I would tighten the C clamp very slowly. (Some just put the new Break pad on the piston and use the C Clamp over the new pad and tighten that way). Either way is fine in my opinion, but just be careful. I however like to do the piston ring edge however. 7Th. Once you get your break pads on the caliper set it aside while hanging. Take the caliper bracket and screw it back on top of the rotor. (I would put Anti-seize on the T60 bolts to prevent rust on them and head ache later.) The bracket is the reverse of how it is pulled off. Finger tight the T60 bolts and then turn the wheel slowly to get better angle to torque the bolts back on the bracket. Then use the 13 or 14mm bolts to put the caliper back in place on top of the bracket. (Don't forget to put anti-seize on the bolts when you put it back in) You should to this point below 8th Put the wheel back on and torque the lug nut back on the wheel. Don't forget to put the hub cap back on if you have one. Then just do the same for the other side of the front. Give me some thoughts if you see any errors, Its my first How to for anyone doing front brakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted November 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Sticky it mods, if you find it worthy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutty Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 links no work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted November 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 pic fixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Fury Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 I personally just take the whole flippin assembly off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutty Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Looks good! Only things i would add would be to hit the rotor with some brake cleaner to get the oil off them from packaging. And i would also grease the slides and pads, and also use some disc brake quiet. Another trick to get the piston back in using the C-clamp is to use one of the old brake pads and put it in front of the piston and compress it that way, so that the piston doesnt get cracked or chipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted November 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Looks good! Only things i would add would be to hit the rotor with some brake cleaner to get the oil off them from packaging. And i would also grease the slides and pads, and also use some disc brake quiet. Another trick to get the piston back in using the C-clamp is to use one of the old brake pads and put it in front of the piston and compress it that way, so that the piston doesnt get cracked or chipped. Posted on: Today at 11:00:05 PM Nice thought cutty never thought about doing it that way about the old pads used to push the pistons back, guess that would be better thing since you going to throw it away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutty Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Just some tricks i picked up for being a mechanic for so long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted November 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 This first how to, is just my small way of saying thank you to W-body. I love this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRONDOG442 Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Ughhhh not to sound like a dick but there is already a FAQ write up about this !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutty Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 My cutlass was the first car i ever started working on 10yrs ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted November 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 lol If there was i didnt see one, I mean i believe you if there is a write up, but I bet the write up wasn't on a 98 lumina ? hehe My cutlass was the first car i ever started working on 10yrs ago. Yea Cutty, This Lumina is the first car I have the balls to work on. I tell ya what a rush it is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutlassdude96 Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 you didnt mention that you need to spray the new rotors off before installing them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 moving to the correct section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w-bodys_are_the_best Posted November 23, 2008 Report Share Posted November 23, 2008 A 13mm or 14mm Socket will be needed to take off the two bolts to release the caliper from its housing. You will not need a breaker bar for it, I just used a regular socket wrench and it came write out. Also, you will need to get a T60 bit (Thanks for the clarification guys) and a breaker bar to get it off the back of the caliper bracket housing. Isn't that bolt a 12 MM? IIRC all of my cutlass's were a 12 MM IIRC. never worked on a Lumina, but it should be the same I would think. You should add if you're going to do this job, invest in a 1/2 drive T60, when I did my brother's 94 cutlass rotors, we tried using my 3/8 drive T60, wrecked 2 3/8 ratchets, one 3/8 breaker, and my friends 1/2 to 3/8's reducer I finally bought a 1/2 drive T60 bit at NAPA for $8. Worst rotors I ever saw, the rotors were wore through to the vents on the rotors which ripped the piston out of his caliper and destroyed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgethis Posted November 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2008 as a matter of fact your right, I did use a 1/2 drive t60 bit on the 1/2 drive breaker bar. I will include that into the how to. I'm not sure about the 12mm, you might be right about it, but im not sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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