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Brake Job DIY

Z

Zinister09

New member
I need new pads/rotors and wheel bearings on my 04' Grand Prix GT. I got a quote from a shop and they wanted $1,500+ so I am going to attempt the job with the help of my father in-law. I have never done a brake job before but I have changed the spark plugs and consider myself a smart guy. I've already gone to Advance Auto Parts website and put the parts in my cart:

Carquest Wearever Platinum Pro Ceramic Brake Pads
$85 front/back

Wearever Brake Rotor
$140 front/back

Moog Hub Assemblies Front Wheel Hub (2 QTY)
$270

TOTAL $495

My questions are:

1. Am I getting in over my head with this job?
2. Are these parts quality or should I look for something better?
3. Are there any tools I should buy in order to make the job easier?
 


you can get better parts at napa. those brakes aint all that. i had a set and they sucked.

brakes are super easy, if you dont have the caliper tool to push the piston back in you can use a c clamp and a old pad to push it back in.

do have a breaker bar or a short pipe for the caliper bracket bolts, those are on pretty tight with thread locker. make sure you make them real tight when you re install them.

dont forget some caliper grease too, clean then grease the caliper slider pins and the metal ends of the pads where they slide on the bracket..

the hubs are a fair price, and a good brand.
 
Pretty easy. Lots of info on Internet. Sometimes you don't need rotors if you caught it soon enough. 34 or 36mm deep socket needed for hub.
Prices seem high. Check rock auto for a lot of options. I think my raybestos hub was 65 bucks. You don't need to do in pairs if only 1 is bad.


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1- Probably not, if you consult a manual of some sort for the complete walkthrough so you don't miss anything and have official torque specs.

2- I wouldn't go ceramic, they are hard and can eat rotors but to each his own. I do a lot of stop and go driving and prefer soft, quiet semi-metallic pads. Breaking the pads in can be the most important part of the brake job. See pad manufacturer's website for info. Shops don't normally do that. Also watch out for new rotors that are bent or warped, it happens!

3-You may need a hammer and block of wood also, sometimes axle splines stick in the hub especially if the bearing is bad. I like a little "anti-sieze" there. Be aware that not every kind of socket will get to those hub bolts, its tight so try to have a good selection of tools handy.

Don't forget lug re-torquing after some miles, where studs are new. Hub wiring may differ from the original, a little head-scratching on that is normal. Be very careful with the ball joint's boot and stud to avoid damage. Pay attention to the connector and car end of the harness because if moisture can get near the connection it can turn on the ABS light just as easy as a bad sensor in the hub.
 
The rear calipers pistons are the screw style and either require you to rent/buy the tool or use pliers to twist the piston back into the caliper. But the right tool makes it really easy. Plus I think auto parts stores rent them.
 


I have an 04 gp gt2 I just did all those things its fairly easy and straight forward u are going to need a 33mm socket and 1/2 breaker bar for the center nut on the wheel bearings Timken is top the line for our bearings moog is good suspension but not bearing i break hard and abusive as hell and take my car to the Topeka road course alot and so I use ceramic brakes and I have yet to change rotors pads every 9 months cause I do a lot 100-0 stops but there life time warranty duralast gold c max from auto zone 55 for fronts and I paid for brakes once and have never paid again. I slide the car through turns a lot and cheaped out on bearings first time and 5 months later had to replace went with Timken second time have not yet needed to replace 14 months later
 
Thanks for all the advice. The mechanic told me only one of my bearings were bad. Would it make sense to replace both front bearings while I'm at it or just replace the bad one?
 
Zinister09 said:
Thanks for all the advice. The mechanic told me only one of my bearings were bad. Would it make sense to replace both front bearings while I'm at it or just replace the bad one?
Click to expand...

If ones bad I've learned the other is not far behind if u have the money and time mine as well your going to have it apart for brakes any ways
 
When I had one bearing go bad I just replaced the bad one, didn't feel like i needed to spend another 100 bucks to replace something that wasn't broken.
 


I don't agree with the part about Moog. They are the only bearing that didn't need to replaced because the sensors failed before the actual bearing did.They are the only bearing with a 3 year warranty at advance auto. The other bearings offered 1 year or none. Used a coupon code or use Rock Auto and price matchAt this point why not just buy reman calipers from an Impala or camaro and order the larger rotors pads too?
 
I took Jerseydoggs advice and went to NAPA's website and the total came out to $330 for Premium rotors, performer ceramic rear pads, ultra premium ceramic front pads and front wheel hub assembly. I will just replace the bad bearing.
 
crazyguy03 said:
I don't agree with the part about Moog. They are the only bearing that didn't need to replaced because the sensors failed before the actual bearing did.They are the only bearing with a 3 year warranty at advance auto. The other bearings offered 1 year or none. Used a coupon code or use Rock Auto and price matchAt this point why not just buy reman calipers from an Impala or camaro and order the larger rotors pads too?
Click to expand...


I agree. They're cheap Chinese POS!! I'm also going with what many people have said in their reviews of them. Why pay the same amount or even more money for a inferior product?


Also if it ain't broken don't fix it. I learned that the hard way after I bought cheap Chinese bearings. I only had 1 bad bearing but bought 2 new ones. Turned out both new bearings were defective. So I wasted 180 bucks. Then I had to spend 380 to get them taken off and new ones put on.
 


Zinister09 said:
I took Jerseydoggs advice and went to NAPA's website and the total came out to $330 for Premium rotors, performer ceramic rear pads, ultra premium ceramic front pads and front wheel hub assembly. I will just replace the bad bearing.
Click to expand...


all you need to do is hit youtube to watch a vid or two. brakes are a great intro to working on your car. and they are easy.

if you search hard enough theres a vid of a guy with no arms doing a brake job with his feet only, no help at all. so thats who your up against lol if that guy can do, you can too.

you'll want to torque that axle nut back to 116 pounds

and i missed the 04 year, your back pistons screw back in, the tool is like 10 bucks, or use needle nose pliers opened up all the way and put then in the little holes for the tool. if you search 04 grand prix brakes you'll find something on the yt.
 
I think you're on the right track so far with getting higher end parts. Pay attention to the warranty on your brake parts, i think the ultra premium can be returned for any reason at any time - no questions asked. A nice feature on a better quality part.

Also, I think you're fully capable of tackling these tasks; I'd say plugs are on par with brakes. The first time I did brakes i thought "that's it?!" I haven't done hubs but if you do some research beforehand I think you'll be fine. You could consider just addressing one issue at a time instead of trying to do everything in one day. Day 1 tackle the front brakes knowing if something goes poorly you'll have plenty of time or if you finish early you might be able to move on to the next item.

Good Luck!
 
If I were doing it, I would do the front hubs first, and then the front brakes before putting everything back together since you have to take the calipers and rotors off to get to the hub. Why do it twice?

All of this is very easy to do actually if you have the right tools on hand. Unless you have two different size axle nuts. Then you have to go buy another damn socket because you thought both sides would be the same so you only bought a 34 MM socket, but then discover that the right side is a 36 MM. So at this point, you can 'rent' a 36 MM and buy a 34 MM axle nut to match the other side and just return the 36 MM socket when you're done with it.
 
the 36 mm socket works just fine on a 34 mm nut. 2 mm is like no play on the 34 mm nut.

stock is 34, aftermarket axle nuts are 36mm.
 
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