This is an excellent write-up. This was my second attempt at changing rotors and pads on my Monte since I got it. The last time didn't turn out so well. When I was done the pedal would go all the way to the floor and barely stopped the car. I foolishly drove it to a shop to have the brake lines bled and all was good. Still not exactly sure what I did wrong. I have changed rotors and pads on my other cars before with no problem. This time, I followed the these directions step by step and they stop perfectly!

 

Might I add the suggestion to remove a bit of the brake fluid before compressing the piston. First time I did the brake on the Monte Carlo by myself, I didn't notice the brake fluid had been topped off at some point, so I compressed the cylinder and ended up having a few ounces of brake fluid drip out of the reservoir. For all subsequent brake jobs, I use a turkey baster to remove a few ounces of fluid before starting and top off the cylinder when I'm done.

 

Well now that you mentioned it, I did have about a cap full of fluid on the carport when I was done. But, when I was done and checked the fluid level, it was fine. Wasn't sure if that tiny bit came out when I jacked the car up with the resevour cover off.

 

As The_Maniac mentioned, you need to apply Threadlocker to the bolts the caliper bracket to the spindle. I failed to do this several years ago on my Buick Regal and the bolt worked its way out of the brake mid-drive. Next time I applied the brakes the caliper rotated out and punched a brake-caliper sized hole through the inside of the wheel and brought the car to a screeching halt.

 

REALLY? Jebus! I have done 40 or so brake jobs in my life and have never had that problem before. Wow! I'm going to start putting thread locker on just so I don't have a story like that.

I can't imagine it would take a lot to hold them in and they can be a BITCH to remove sooooo I'm going light with the thread locker.

 

where is the best place to jack your car up from, i have a 2000 mc ss and i went to jack it up and couldnt find a solid part or non aluminum frame? picture please?

 

Any pinch weld is a place to jack up but typically, I jack up just under the engine cradle with my hydraulic jack and put jack stands at the pinch welds. There is another post on here with that same Q with pics

 

Nice write up, Shandley. The only thing I would suggest is to clean and lightly grease the retainer clips where the pads slide and also the pad backing plates were they make contact with the caliper housing and piston. This helps to prevent squeaks, rattles and insures the pads will slide freely. I would also lubricate the caliper mounting bolts so it can slide freely.

If you are doing a pad only replacement you don't need to remove the caliper. Compress the piston, remove the lower caliper bolt then rotate the caliper housing upward to access the pads.

 

What size C-Clamp did you use? 4in 6in etc.

 

I used 4" (1440-4 is a 4")