Bill Dearborn

Don't know which write up you found but there are two ways to replace pads in the Z06/GS calipers. Remove the center pad guide pins and pull out the pads and install new ones. If your pad pins are frozen into the caliper you will have to remove it and replace the pads from the open side of the caliper.

The hardest part of either procedure is getting the pistons in far enough that you can get new pads installed. I found an excellent tool on EBay for $45 that can be inserted between the tops of a pair of pads and pushes them back into the caliper as you turn a screw handle. If you want to look it up it is called:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Disc-...item41578f87bb
Disc Brake Pad Spreader Piston Reset Tool Mercedes, BMW

It works great. I just go down the caliper spreading the pads until I get to the bottom. Once I get the pads out I can put the two ends into the caliper to finish resetting the pistons. The cheap spreaders you get in the autoparts store will not work as they are not designed to work with a fixed caliper that has opposing pistons. Screwdrivers or C Clamps will work but tend to chip the caliper paint.

Bill

Joe_G

Excellent info! Thanks for posting. I will likely get Z brakes one of these days so this comes in very handy.

DrivnXcitment

Also just FYI, the caliper retaining bolts get torqued down to 23 ftlbs. I just replaced my pads today and now I have a weird pulsing rubbing noise. I'm not sure if its a high spot on a rotor, a caliper retaining clip rubbing, or the front outside brake pads chattering. Sigh.....

Oh and 67000 miles and when I removed the old pads they still had a LOT of life left in them. The rears were practially new!

marathon

Thanks, great info and I'm sure the tool is well worth the price. The write up I found removes the caliper. If my pins are easy to remove, do you have a preference one way or the other?

Bill Dearborn

With stock style pads it will be easier to just pop the pad pin bolts out and replace the pads if you aren't going to do anything with the rotor. The caliper mounting bolts can be hard to remove if you don't have the correct tool or enough room. They are torqued to 125 ft lbs and the factory puts thread locker adhesive on them. Can be a PIA to remove if you don't have an impact tool or a long breaker bar. You can get to the fronts by turning the wheels but if you aren't using a lift it gets hard to get the bolts loose on the rear calipers.

If you are using the one piece pads that are available from Hawk, Cobalt or Carbotech you will need to remove the caliper to install them. The Cobalts also require you to remove the antirattle springs since there is no room for the springs with their pad. The Hawks and Carbotech one piece pads are shaped to accept the springs.

When I got my Z it had 13K miles on it. When I was getting ready for my first track day with it I pulled the pad pin bolts and looked the stock pads over before putting them back in. At the end of the following day at the track I was inspecting the brakes and when I went to take the bolts out they were frozen. So if you can get yours out make sure you use some antisieze on them to keep them from freezing in place. Subsequent to that I broke off my Torx bit in the head of one of those bolts trying to get it out.

Bill

marathon

Thanks for the input, I'll be using the stock type Hawk ceramic pads so will try removing the pins first.

odysseus1

Happy that this thread is available. I'm sure it has helped a great many owners. Thanks especially for the screw driver trick. Little things can do so much.

TexasHiwayman

We started on the passenger's front. Thanks to the pictures and info found on this thread, we made quick work (8 minutes to jack, detire, replace pads, re-tire, de-jack on driver's front) on the rest of the brakes.

The whole job should be finished by Wednesday.

We removed the lower bolt instead of the upper bolt on the first brake. The caliper swung down and the pads came off easily. I handed him the pads and inspected the used ones. The wear groove on the outer pad was well down. The groove on the inner pad was way down. To determine the cause, we were going to reassemble the brake and look for uneven movement or some such. We re-padded and tried to swing the caliper down. It kept hitting the nut (the 18mm nut you place your backup wrench on) and would not swing past it. We noticed the bottom pin was sticking out about a half inch. It would not move closer to the bracket. We swapped upper and lower bolts and tried to swing it the other way. It wouldn't go either. That's when we noticed that the lower pin was frozen. Closer inspection showed the pin was bent. It also looked like the bracket might be bent. We tried penetrating oil, dead-blow hammering, and even resorted to begging it to slide. Finally, against all odds, we managed to snap the pin off.

Flash back 3 years. I had bought my 06, 6 weeks before. I was driving in the rain at night when the first hailstone exploded on my windshield. A minigun burst of hail followed. Shooter marble size. Nothing to get under....except that overpass. Jump the curb or lose the exterior (and the interior when the windshield or rear window went. It hailed steadily for almost 20 minutes.). Straightened the wheel and hit it at about 3 MPH. Over 45,000 miles ago.

Flash forward. Everything lines up well. No other damage. I decided to get a new bracket and not drill the pin out of the old one. A Supercar deserves no less.

PS Have tried to post pictures before but still can't figure out why it's not working. Will try to add them tomorrow.

ceesix1

can any one tell me what the torque value is on the bolts

vetteright

For base & Z51 they are 23 ft lbs for the caliper bolts, 129 ft lbs for the caliper bracket bolts, and 100 ft lbs for the wheel lug nuts.

ceesix1

Thanks for the help!

gsx1300r

thread mark for intellectual capital.

Besides points previously echoed as benefits - I find it somewhat surprising we go from GM adding locktite to us adding antisieze. I have not removed my calipers / brake pads yet but hope to start doing so today. I love antiseize - but have small concerns about what it does to torque values.

One of my brakes squeal more than 3 others and a second one chimes in when it wants too. Car is 06 Z51 and has 22K miles / presumably stock pads. Seems L rear caliper / pad is also in a slight bind / pops from dead stops on occasion. I'll clean and brake lube areas that need to allow movement. Brake fluid has been completely and recently replaced. Rotors and existing pads will get emery papered as I go through the rotor surface treatment and Caliper replacement that I have from Corvette Pilot - Mike Golding. Sweet improvements on the way - just keeps getting better!

Thanks also for PIC's!, torque specs and other tips!

Thanks all!

Question - I've heard recently that it is not a good idea to resurface rotors any longer. The surrounding comments were they are made so inexpensively these days that resurfacing typically compromises them *and* after market rotors are so reasonably priced (relatively speaking / or assuming $ is not the factor of concern / which it always is - but work with me?) that the thing to do is not resurface rotors and replace them when they are out of spec.

Feedback???

markmott

I cant find anybody that will turn cross drilled rotors.

gsx1300r

I now have my rear brakes and rotors off - rear rotors are curing. I will be cleaning my pads and polishing the stainless 'buffers?' I coarse wire brushed rotors with drill motor. I will also add rear GM Splash guards and clean wheel wells; likely more cleaning too. (Incl Polish new spyder replicas and Mich tires.)

I now suspect the popping could be due to the emergency brake pads being too tight (and cruddy!). I cleaned the spinwheel (name?), pads and parts I could get to without pulling the axle. The Driver side spinwheel is not readily moving and I'm unsure which direction I should try to force it (I have no service manual at present either) to allow the pads to retract into Emer brake drum a small bit.

I guess these re-adjust themselves old style by backing up and pulling brake?????? (if things are operating correctly?)

Someone feedback please?

glass slipper

It's never been a good idea to resurface rotors. If the rotor doesn't meet the criteria in the FSM, that is the only time to resurface them...as stated in the FSM.

gsx1300r

My steel worker Buddy says: "Poor people have poor ways." I guess I've had a set resurfaced in my 52 years? But it was indeed long ago and actually I cannot remember for myself. I did work in a service station and we were requested to resurface on occasion however. Today, my life is different; I can afford to make wise (to me) choices.

Thanks for feedback on resurface - I am hoping for feedback on the emergency brake, if that is the likely culprit for popping and how to adjust it! (No needs on rotors at this time!)

ScaryFast

What? Since when? Rotors have a minimum safe thickness, perhaps this is what you are referring to in the FSM. As long as they're thicker than that specification you can resurface them over and over.

When they get too thin they crack from the heat.

Joe_G

I've never had good luck with resurfaced rotors, the have always warped again. I figured out to buy new along time ago.

StKnoWhere

The "Warped" Brake Disc and Other Myths of the Braking System

tazlittleking

Thanks! Very awesome pics and explanations. Have no mechanical background and did this in a snap! Dealer wanted $600 to replace my front pads. Bought some Hawk pads for $100 and did it myself.

lifted on the side like this http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...-the-side.html

also since I had the wheels off I did racing side mesh like this http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...t-install.html

So freakin happy right now its not funny! Thanks again!