StanNH

On another Corvette board, there's a thread about the notorious Z51 brake squeal. One of the posters said that this is no longer considered normal on 2008 cars set up with the Z51 package.

I was unaware of the 2008 Z51 package having different pads than previous years. Did GM actually make a change in 2008 to eliminate this brake noise?

MagRedC6

I believe it was even earlier than the '08 model, 2 or 3 years ago I thought they changed to a different set of pads for the squeal issue.

AutoCutter

Yea, my pads on the 08' Z51 don't stop nearly as good as they did with the 05' Z51. They also don't dust as much and don't squeak, but I am going to order the 05' Z51 pads from Gene once I track down the parts number.

HorsePower Junkie

A forum member whose brother is a GM C6 engineer says the brake pads are now ceramic on the Z51.

nwc6

When I had the calipers off to paint, the pads didn't look ceramic to me. IF they are ceramic, then they are emitting a lot of rust-brown dust on the wheels and down the side of the car.

Bob1949

Changed pads to ceramic. I do'nt think so.My 08 z51 has lots of brake dust,but do not squeel at all. Stopping grip is perfect.

talon90

Stan, as you recall GM was doing a customer satisfaction campaign for those with the Z51 in late 2005 and early 2006 where they would change out the pads for those that were dealing with squeaking.

The brake pads were listed as a change for the introduction of the 2006model year Z51 package. I'm not aware of any additional changes to the Z51 brakes after that. That's not to say that there wasn't one, but they specifically listed it in the feature list for the 2006 introduction.

JT-C6

I know my 2006 Z51 has the squeal. At the C6 owner's workshop in BG (NCM C5/C6 bash) in 2006, they were swapping some people's pads with different compounds which at the time appeared to help for the most part. I did not get mine swapped.

I think I had then heard from Paul "c4c5specialist" @ Carlisle later in 2007 that the compound changing experiment was a bust and the situation simply stayed as-is with no actual official changes or factory fix. He had said this during one of his C5/C6 technical talks in front of an audience so perhaps others heard the same thing.

PowerLabs

My 2006 Z-51 squealed. Then when I had my calipers powdercoated I re-greased everything and applied anti squal compound to the back of the calipers; it has not made a sound since.

larvette

I have an 08 Z51 and the brake squeal was very loud, could not get rid of it. The dealer changed front and rear pads to gm ceramics. No more squeal. The pads have a anti squeal shim on them.

RACN1320

I've got a bone stock 08 Z51 and I don't have any brake noise

james1990