[m6-lt1]

If you decide to buy the parts and tackle it yourself, I suggest watching plenty of videos on how to do it. While replacing pads and rotors is considered an easy job for someone who is mechanically adept, it is not easy for someone who’s never done it before. First I’ll point out something a lot of others haven’t pointed out, you and your car live in the rust belt therefore your rotors aren’t just going to “slide off” the studs like it would for others. I and others who have done this job before know that in order to get the rotors to come off after unbolting everything, you’re going to have to hit rotors with a hammer fairly hard multiple times in order to get them to come off. The little bolt that you have to use a t20 torx screw driver is not going to rotate when you try to unscrew it. You’re going to have to use an impact screw driver and if you’ve never used one before I suggest paying a shop (not a dealer) to do this job for you. You’re also going to need a lot of force to break the caliper bolts lose as they should be torqued to 148 lb ft which means you’ll have to jack the car high enough to get a torque wrench in there to torque them. Also jacking up these cars isn’t as easy as normal cars. A lot of us use special lift pads to do this.

If you have experience with tools and dealing with extra tight bolts then I suggest you do this yourself. If not then I would either find a friend who can help or pay an independent shop. Like I mentioned earlier if all you need is pads and rotors you can have the parts shipped to your door for under $400.

People who have done this multiple times will tell you it’s an easy job, but I promise you if you’ve never done this before and your car is in the rust belt (even if it is only 3 years old) everything is not going to come apart quickly.

[ZED SLED]

everyday soccer mom cars are around $800/axle so $950 for SS brembos sounds about right. I don't do my own anymore because, well, I don't have to.

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by m6-lt1

If you decide to buy the parts and tackle it yourself, I suggest watching plenty of videos on how to do it. While replacing pads and rotors is considered an easy job for someone who is mechanically adept, it is not easy for someone who’s never done it before. First I’ll point out something a lot of others haven’t pointed out, you and your car live in the rust belt therefore your rotors aren’t just going to “slide off” the studs like it would for others. I and others who have done this job before know that in order to get the rotors to come off after unbolting everything, you’re going to have to hit rotors with a hammer fairly hard multiple times in order to get them to come off. The little bolt that you have to use a t20 torx screw driver is not going to rotate when you try to unscrew it. You’re going to have to use an impact screw driver and if you’ve never used one before I suggest paying a shop (not a dealer) to do this job for you. You’re also going to need a lot of force to break the caliper bolts lose as they should be torqued to 148 lb ft which means you’ll have to jack the car high enough to get a torque wrench in there to torque them. Also jacking up these cars isn’t as easy as normal cars. A lot of us use special lift pads to do this.

If you have experience with tools and dealing with extra tight bolts then I suggest you do this yourself. If not then I would either find a friend who can help or pay an independent shop. Like I mentioned earlier if all you need is pads and rotors you can have the parts shipped to your door for under $400.

People who have done this multiple times will tell you it’s an easy job, but I promise you if you’ve never done this before and your car is in the rust belt (even if it is only 3 years old) everything is not going to come apart quickly.

Good advice. I doubt OP needs to do rotors though given the car's mileage which makes the job a lot simpler. And depending on where OP lives in Jersey, I'm willing to help and show them the process. Got a quickjack and more tools than I know what to do with.

[m6-lt1]

Originally Posted by RamAir02

Good advice. I doubt OP needs to do rotors though given the car's mileage which makes the job a lot simpler. And depending on where OP lives in Jersey, I'm willing to help and show them the process. Got a quickjack and more tools than I know what to do with.

The $950 price tag implies rotors imo. Just as a point of reference I asked my local dealer in pa to do this job and they quoted me $750 for front pads and rotors. They actually gave me the part numbers and I ordered them myself and asked a friend to help. They itemized the quote and they were literally charging me 300 for pads (same part number I found for 160) and 140 per rotor (same part number I found for $70 but had to pay an extra 70 to ship both rotors so still less). The labor they were charging was close to fair but the up charge on parts was absurd.

[ctrlz]

Originally Posted by m6-lt1

The little bolt that you have to use a t20 torx screw driver is not going to rotate when you try to unscrew it. You’re going to have to use an impact screw driver and if you’ve never used one before...

Ahh, yes, that little alignment/assembly screw.
This can be the hardest part of the job. I have broken impact bits trying to remove these and ended up drilling them out. No big deal if you are replacing rotors anyway. You can usually turn the remnant out pretty easily once you get the rotor off.

I had dealer service on my front brakes a few years ago. I noticed they actually put chewed up alignment screws back in! They chewed them up removing them, then put them back! I'll be drilling those out for sure.

BTW, there are countless terabytes of internet bandwidth devoted to the mythology of these screws. I can find no convincing argument to put these back in once you have them out. I am convinced they are only there to keep the rotor from wobbling off while the car is on the assembly line.

I am with m6-lt1. This will no doubt present trouble to a brake job first-timer.

[m6-lt1]

Originally Posted by ctrlz

BTW, there are countless terabytes of internet bandwidth devoted to the mythology of these screws. I can find no convincing argument to put these back in once you have them out. I am convinced they are only there to keep the rotor from wobbling off while the car is on the line.

My first time doing brakes on a car with a friend we had to drill the passenger side out. Of course we did not have a replacement screw. We installed the rotor on that side and I can confirm not having that screw did not hinder the brakes in any way. This was on an 8th gen Civic SI.

[Theroider]

So, I noticed a vibration/steering wheel shimmy when braking quickly and also coming to a stop. Had it in for an oil change today (supplied my own 10 quarts oil and filter from that AutoZone oil deal. They charged $20 labor. According to the MPVI I’m down to 3mm on both fronts and 6mm on the tears. Quote is $951 less 10% coupon for pads and rotors.

FYI, I’m not a DIYG especially when it comes to my son’s brakes.

I think I should do what I did with the oil and buy my own pads and rotors and get quotes on the labor.





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[LT1ornothing]

Originally Posted by Theroider

So, I noticed a vibration/steering wheel shimmy when braking quickly and also coming to a stop. Had it in for an oil change today (supplied my own 10 quarts oil and filter from that AutoZone oil deal. They charged $20 labor. According to the MPVI I’m down to 3mm on both fronts and 6mm on the tears. Quote is $951 less 10% coupon for pads and rotors.

FYI, I’m not a DIYG especially when it comes to my son’s brakes.

I think I should do what I did with the oil and buy my own pads and rotors and get quotes on the labor.





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If you google a highly reviewed 5 star brake shop near you and ask for labor quotes, you can load a shopping cart on rockauto lwith pads rotors and shipping, add the shops labor quote and compare that to the stealerships total cost. I'm pretty sure you can save yourself an easy $250 if you make the effort.

[s346k]

holy filter replacement cost. who the hell actually pays for that?

[Theroider]

Originally Posted by s346k

holy filter replacement cost. who the hell actually pays for that?

Yeah, the SA also added fuel injector service and throttle bottle service. I think they totaled about $350. Crazy thing is people have them done.


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[TP2SS]

Forget drilling the alignment screw out, buy a Dremel tool and a supply of the small cut-off wheels! Best tool investment you’ll ever make! You can start by cutting a slot that will accommodate a large flathead screwdriver first, if you still can’t get these screws out you can just grind the head off and remove the leftover stud with pliers once the rotor is off. I’ve done this exact thing in the past. So many more uses for a Dremel, I can’t imagine being without one!

[ckt227]

Originally Posted by Theroider

So, I noticed a vibration/steering wheel shimmy when braking quickly and also coming to a stop. Had it in for an oil change today (supplied my own 10 quarts oil and filter from that AutoZone oil deal. They charged $20 labor. According to the MPVI I’m down to 3mm on both fronts and 6mm on the tears. Quote is $951 less 10% coupon for pads and rotors.

FYI, I’m not a DIYG especially when it comes to my son’s brakes.

I think I should do what I did with the oil and buy my own pads and rotors and get quotes on the labor.





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Forget the brake quote. $133.90 for two filters. Unreal. Maybe $20-$30 bucks for the filters and then a $100 plus in labor to install. I'm not much of a DIY person but F that. I can install filters though. I know dealers charge crazy high labor prices and that would be a surely less than 10 minute job. Even if you were the first one there for service at the dealership with nobody ahead of you they would still take 2 hours to replace 2 filters.

I have 2 dealers I use to buy cars from. One the sales dept is awesome but the service sucks. I took 2 different new cars for the free oil change/tire rotation. On the 2020 Blazer they didn't rotate the tires (I mark them with a silver Sharpie on the drivers side and I can only guess what oil they used.) I had a 2021 Tahoe on order coming in so I let it go. My 2021 Silverado Trail Boss, same thing at same dealer. Complimentary one free oil change/tire rotation. I told them to check the front brakes for warped rotors or something else as the wheels vibrate/hop and shake when braking especially at low speeds. Had appointment, waited 3 hours. Was told the brakes were fine with no issues and they used the GM full synthetic oil. I then pointed out to the service advisor the brakes were never checked and the tires were not rotated. I just got the stare of a deer in headlights. I then asked for the service manager. Nice enough guy, very apologetic when I pointed out what had not been done as I showed them the sharpie marks on the tires and that they never even looked at the brakes, they couldn't have with the tires never off.

He offered to check the brakes and rotate the tires and some free oil changes. Needless to say I declined. Did not want a pissed off service advisor and mechanic touching my truck. Ironically enough for whatever reason I did not get the survey.

If you want to know, it was Roger Dean Chevy in Cape Coral, FL. Great sales, crappy service. My other go to is Estero Bay Chevy in Bonita Springs, FL. Great sales and service, but it's always busy and takes forever to get an appointment.

[ctrlz]

Originally Posted by TP2SS

So many more uses for a Dremel, I can’t imagine being without one!

Harbor freight makes a nice cheapie for occasional use. And they sell plenty of accessories. Not as good as the nice dremels, but holds up pretty well. I have both.

[Theroider]

Update. I have the part numbers and price break down on the invoice. Parts total about $600 for 2 rotors and 4 pads. Labor is $350.

I’ve done some online shopping and found the parts to be $400 which includes shipping.

Dealer is giving me at this point 10% off which takes him down to about $850. I can probably get him lower, too.

I’m not sure it’s worth it to go out on my own to save about $100. Piece of mind, as they say, is priceless.


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