Questions Re: Brake Pad and Rotor Change

[Bob]

Do I need to replace the bolts that hold the brake caliper in place? I think I remember that these are supposed to be a "one time" part that needs to be replaced each time.

Are those thin round metal clips that hold the stock rotors in place essential or can they be omitted?

Are today's rotors usally "true", or do they usally need to be machined?

[IT L GO]

Originally Posted by Bob

Do I need to replace the bolts that hold the brake caliper in place? I think I remember that these are supposed to be a "one time" part that needs to be replaced each time.

Are those thin round metal clips that hold the stock rotors in place essential or can they be omitted?

Are today's rotors usually "true", or do they usually need to be machined?

Most folks use them over and over. Clean the threads and use Loctite.

No they are not needed. They are used during the manufacturing process to hold the rotor on place as the car comes down the assembly line.

IMO turning of a rotor is not necessary or recommended.
Rotors are cheap just replace them when needed.

.

[MSiska]

Bob...reused mine and changed the rotors out four times. Used red loctite on them and made sure they were torqued to 125ft-lbs.

Don't really need the small clips.

When I changed the rotors out, I made sure to clean/sand/wire brush the rust off the inside of the rim that contacts the rotor. A few of the guys around here that didn't do this thought their rotors were warped. They took the wheels back off (front), cleaned them up and the "warped" rotors went away.

Good Luck with those bolts...they are a mofo!

[DJWorm]

Chevy recommends changing the bolts, however, many, including most racers reuse them. Be sure you clean the threads and apply new Red Loctite if you do. Make sure they are reapplied with the correct Torque specs.

You may discard the clips.

Most rotors today have good quality control. However, as some recommend on this site, if you use cheap $14 rotors I would bet that no one checked them. It all depends on the quality of the rotor.

Turning a rotor is usually not a good thing unless it is to remove a small surface imperfection and is done minimally. A rotors job is to convert kinetic energy to heat and dissipate it. Turning or milling a rotor will remove material and reduces it's ability to do so.

I think however what you are refering to as "truness" is also called "run out". Most rotors are within spec. Some wear to become out of spec. This can be corrected with a Brake Lathe as opposed to a rotor Lathe. A Brake Lathe actually turns the rotor while it is still mounted on the wheel hub. This trues the rotor and brings runout back into spec.

Be aware that run out can be cummulative. ie. All the parts of the wheels such as bearings, hub, spindle, rotor can be within spec but their differences together may add up to produce a cummulative run out, within or outside spec.

One of the most common causes of excessive cummulative run out and misdiagnosed excessive rotor runout is a dirty hub and/or rotor face.

Make sure that you clean and wire brush and sand if necessary all rust, dirt, brake dust and fluids off the mating surfaces before reinstalling a new or used rotor. This must be done each time a rotor is removed. Chevy has a special tool for it.

[Bob]

With the guidance of Panzer, I successfully changed out the front brake pads and rotors yesterday. Everything seems to be correct. I am not experiencing any vibration. I will do the rears tomorrow at Panzer's place. I reused the 21mm bolts and used blue Loctite (did not have any red) and torqued them to 125 lbs. Should I be OK?

[Subdriver]

Bob,
I think you should be fine. Just check them each time you have the tires off to make sure the bolts aren't backing out.
I have never had mine back out (using red locktite) at all.

[Subdriver]

Remember to release the parking brake when you go to pull off your rear rotors! Hard to pull them off when the parking brake pads are pushing up and into the inner "hat" of the rear rotors.

[touring2]

Maybe I haave been lucky these past 10 years, but I have never used loctite on the caliper bracket bolts, nor the caliper bolts. Seems to me there is just enough brake dust on the surfaces to act as "loctite" and grip the threads just great. I always have to break the bolts loose, even after the winter. I use a rubber mallet on the wrench after bruising my hands a few times!!