[fstr n u]

I read the long thread on brake noise in this section and thought i would take a stab at it. I am not a mechanic, but with enough crown royal in my system can be whatever i want to be

Kidding aside, i went to a local Partsource and picked up a bottle of blue Brake Quiet Paste and a bottle of Silicone Brake Lubricant (high temp)...and a few bottles of brake clean.

1. Loosening the lug nuts on the wheels and then getting the rear end of the SRT8 off the ground slightly (...i also blocked with 2x4's the front wheels so the vehicle wouldn't roll on me).

2. Removing the 2 bolts that hold the caliper onto the axle (18mm or 19mm head..can't remember)

3. With the bolts out that hold and align the caliper onto the brake rotor, i had to use a soft mallet hammer to persuade the caliper off of the rotor on the driver side...the passenger one came off a little easier.

4. I had a wood stand (7 inches) ready to rest the caliper onto as it was still connected to the parking brake line and the normal brake line (which you DON"T need to disconnect).

5. At this point twist/turn the caliper so you can see the back side of the caliper and you will see 4 hex bolts that hold the 2 pieces of the rotor together. Undo those as you would any other screw/bolt...they may take a bit of effort. I found a hex set that had an adapter to my socket set (to give me more leverage and torque to remove the hex bolts).

6. Once the hex bolts are out, set them aside and you will see that one end of the caliper has a metal fitting between the left and right side (leave that alone), and the other side will open up just enough for you to slide the brake pads off the pins as well as the metal cross shaped alignment bit between the 2 brake pads.

The pins stay in place, don't remove them. When you take the brake pads out, look closely at how that metal cross shaped alignment piece fits in there on top of the brake pads and under the caliper pins.

 

[fstr n u]

7. Once you have the brake pads out, clean the backing plate of each the inner and outer brake pad with brake cleaner as this will help to remove any brake dust/oil/grit that has accumulated on the surface. Set these aside where they can dry off and won't get dirty again.

At this stage spray brake clean all over the inner aspect of the brake caliper and (i used a toothbrush) make sure you clean off as much brake dust/grime as you can around the pistons. Don't worry if you get it on the pistons as it evaporates pretty quickly and you can wipe if off with a cloth.

I took this opportunity to also brake clean and wipe off the 4 hex bolts (threads) and the 2 bigger bolts that hold the caliper onto the rotor assembly.

8. Now take your Brake Quiet Paste or whatever thick paste you may use and apply it to the backs of each brake pad (don't get any on the friction surface of the brake pad (that would touch the rotor). Set aside and allow to get tacky.

While you are at this stage, i took a small amount of Brake Lubricant (silicone high temp) and rubbed it all over each of the pins in the caliper (after making sure you cleaned off as much crud as you could). I also used a small amount of this Brake Lubricant and rubbed the entire thread section of the hex bolts, the 2 big bolts (from the caliper assembly)...and i also degreased the cross shaped alignment tool and applied a small amount of Brake Lubricant to every aspect of that as well.

9. This is where things get a little frustrating..but any of you can get this done. Be patient and use a second set of hands if you need (though you shouldn't)

10. Slip the brake pad over the pins starting with the one that goes on the inner aspect of the caliper (it should have the goopy paste on the backing that touches the pistons), then with some fiddling, get the metal cross piece in there as best you can (it won't get on perfectly don't worry), while trying to get the outer brake pad onto the pins as best you can.

11. Try to align both halves of the caliper as best you can while making sure the pins line up with their respective holes in the outer aspect of the caliper. You won't be able to use your grip strength to bind everything together as the metal cross piece is fairly strong.

So what i did is on the end of the caliper with the adjoining metal tube (bottom - where the brake fluid flows through) i put one of the hex bolts in and finger threaded it in and while trying to hold both halves of the caliper as close to aligned as possible, used my hex tool to start screwing both halves together. At this point just get the one hex bolt threaded in far enough that it will hold (and don't strip anything). Then get another hex bolt into the other end of the caliper and try and get it threaded in part way.

12. This is where i ran into some temporary frustration. The metal cross piece that sits between both brake pads may need to be pulled/poked/moved or shifted with a small screwdriver to get it centered and levelled. If this makes no sense to you right now...it will when you get there. But as long as you have each end of the caliper threaded partly with the hex bolts, you will figure out quickly how to align this piece.

13. Once you have the metal cross piece aligned as best you can, now get the last 2 (or all 4) hex bolts into their respective holes and snugged down. I don't know what torque spec, but i snugged mine down pretty good.

14. Once the brake caliper halves are together, slip the whole caliper with brake pads back onto the brake rotor and reinstall the 2 big bolts that hold the caliper in place.

15. Get your wheels back on, torque to spec (85-100 lb/ft)

16. Take out for quick test drive. My brake pedal felt spongy the first 2 times i depressed it as the pistons/brake pads were seating themselves on the rotors...but the pedal feel was back to normal quickly and the noise was gone.

17. And now you are done.

Oh...and i forgot to mention, when you have the caliper off the rotor, i applied a liberal amount of brake cleaner to the surfaces of the rotor i could and wiped off with a rag...the inside aspect of the rotor is hard to clean as there is a dust shield there...i left mine in place and cleaned what i could see.

The total time spent from jacking up my vehicle to getting it back on it's wheels was 3 hours and 15 minutes. I think with practice i could get this down to around 2 and a bit hours...but no faster.

 

[Mike05V]

Interesting. I don't believe you're ever supposed to split Brembos in two. No need for that to remove pads. There are one time use o-rings between the two halves and there's something about Brembo not selling new ones. As I recall this is an issue across various platforms. I know the Nissan 350z crowd had a major issue with this if you google it. There are threads on here as well of I remember correctly. Anyway, if you got the old o-rings in there and it's not leaking then it will probably be ok.


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[Mike05V]

Ok guys. What am I missing here? Maybe I've had too much Crown myself but I've owned 4 or 5 vehicles with Brembos now and changing pads is like a 10 minute process per side. Tap the pins out from the back and they slide out. The calipers stay bolted I place and like I said above you never split the halves unless you have a rebuild kit and then it's questionable if the kit comes with the correct orings. I have to go back and re-read the original post. Did I see any mention of bleeding the brakes?


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[fstr n u]

Mike05v: Maybe you have a completely different SRT8 from mine.

I have 50,000kms or around 35,000 miles on my stock SRT8.

The brake calipers weren't split in 2 completely. All that was done was the removal of the hex screws that hold the 2 halves of the caliper together allowing the caliper system to open up for maintenance...this would be similar to opening up one end of a Ziploc bag.

I tried pulling and hammering the pins out, but they wouldn't budge. And with a 1 piece caliper i would think they would come out...but this is a 2 piece design for a reason.

The pins that originate from the inner aspect of the caliper are much like a rivet...they don't move in their respective housing...if they did they would fall out and you would have no "guide" for your brake pads to sit in.

And i'm not sure what O-Rings you are mentioning...there weren't any with my setup when i took everything apart. I didn't have to bleed off any brake fluid/pressure to do this.

And there's no way i could swap out pads in 10 minutes...but maybe i have something to learn. With any automotive work i do, i don't rush, and i don't want anyone who's trying this for the 1st time to think this is gonna be a 30 minute start to finish job...because it isn't for a DIY'er like me. I don't have any air tools, everything i did was via hand tools.

I hope if there is an easier way to do this for anyone else who has to do it, someone does it, and posts pics.

 

[WIPLASH]

All I did when I changed the pads was pop the two pins out remove the metal retainer, remove old pads, squeeze the pistons back, then install the new pads, reverse process and that's it.

 

[Mike05V]

Sorry to the OP but this thread is driving me crazy. Here is a link for a DIY to what yungsrt and I are talking about. Same process as any car with Brembos I've owned. Makes it very easy to swap on race pads at the track which is why I believe they designed them this way.

http://www.300cforums.com/forums/408448-post1.html

Also if you search you can find reference to the factory service manual which states the calipers aren't serviceable and should not be opened. As soon as you crack the caliper fluid should come flowing out as there are internal tubes allowing fluid flow between the two. Inside there are o-rings to ensure the seal. They're supposed to be one time use. Also, while letting fluid out, you allow air in and the brakes need properly bled after reassembly.


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[Mongoose9400]

What about in pic below step 6. Shows a tube on the left going from each caliper half. What's that all about?


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[MLBarrett]

Sorry to the OP but this thread is driving me crazy. Here is a link for a DIY to what yungsrt and I are talking about. Same process as any car with Brembos I've owned. Makes it very easy to swap on race pads at the track which is why I believe they designed them this way.

http://www.300cforums.com/forums/408448-post1.html

Also if you search you can find reference to the factory service manual which states the calipers aren't serviceable and should not be opened. As soon as you crack the caliper fluid should come flowing out as there are internal tubes allowing fluid flow between the two. Inside there are o-rings to ensure the seal. They're supposed to be one time use. Also, while letting fluid out, you allow air in and the brakes need properly bled after reassembly.


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Your link looks easier. What is "bed in the brakes"?

 

[WIPLASH]

Bed in the Brakes means to transfer brake pad material to the surface of the rotors. This is done by doing 60-70MPH to 5-10 MPH runs. Brake as hard as possible without engaging ABS. Accelerate as quickly as possible to 70 then push the brake as hard as possible to 5MPH, do this at least 4-5 times to create enough heat to transfer some brake pad meterial to the rotor. Then coast for at least 10 minutes without touching the brakes or stopping to cool off the brakes. This will ensure that there is an even coating on the rotors.

 

[MLBarrett]

Bed in the Brakes means to transfer brake pad material to the surface of the rotors. This is done by doing 60-70MPH to 5-10 MPH runs. Brake as hard as possible without engaging ABS. Accelerate as quickly as possible to 70 then push the brake as hard as possible to 5MPH, do this at least 4-5 times to create enough heat to transfer some brake pad meterial to the rotor. Then coast for at least 10 minutes without touching the brakes or stopping to cool off the brakes. This will ensure that there is an even coating on the rotors.

Thanks. I was going to take it in a pay over $110 to get my front rotor and pads put on but I think I'll take a stab at it.

 

[Montag84]

Sorry to the OP but this thread is driving me crazy. Here is a link for a DIY to what yungsrt and I are talking about. Same process as any car with Brembos I've owned. Makes it very easy to swap on race pads at the track which is why I believe they designed them this way.

http://www.300cforums.com/forums/408448-post1.html

Also if you search you can find reference to the factory service manual which states the calipers aren't serviceable and should not be opened. As soon as you crack the caliper fluid should come flowing out as there are internal tubes allowing fluid flow between the two. Inside there are o-rings to ensure the seal. They're supposed to be one time use. Also, while letting fluid out, you allow air in and the brakes need properly bled after reassembly.


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I followed the same how-to when I did all new rotors and pads back in October. The pins pop out pretty easily with a punch or small screw driver and a hammer.

 

[cmn1]

Mike05v: Maybe you have a completely different SRT8 from mine.

I have 50,000kms or around 35,000 miles on my stock SRT8.

The brake calipers weren't split in 2 completely. All that was done was the removal of the hex screws that hold the 2 halves of the caliper together allowing the caliper system to open up for maintenance...this would be similar to opening up one end of a Ziploc bag.

I tried pulling and hammering the pins out, but they wouldn't budge. And with a 1 piece caliper i would think they would come out...but this is a 2 piece design for a reason.

The pins that originate from the inner aspect of the caliper are much like a rivet...they don't move in their respective housing...if they did they would fall out and you would have no "guide" for your brake pads to sit in.

And i'm not sure what O-Rings you are mentioning...there weren't any with my setup when i took everything apart. I didn't have to bleed off any brake fluid/pressure to do this.

And there's no way i could swap out pads in 10 minutes...but maybe i have something to learn. With any automotive work i do, i don't rush, and i don't want anyone who's trying this for the 1st time to think this is gonna be a 30 minute start to finish job...because it isn't for a DIY'er like me. I don't have any air tools, everything i did was via hand tools.

I hope if there is an easier way to do this for anyone else who has to do it, someone does it, and posts pics.

You really did go a little too far. All you had to do was pop the 2 pins and the pads slide right out. Maybe not a 10 minute job but no more than 20.

 

[fstr n u]

1st off, the Brembos on the 300C SRT8 were a 1 pc design as best i can see...they are different than what is on my 09 SRT8.

2nd, i tried using a punch on my pins and they wouldn't budge. On both driver and passenger side calipers, one of the "pins" was firm, no rotational movement, no wiggling...nothing...but the second pin in both caliper would rotate in it's spot and could be wiggled side to side up and down or whatever you wanted to do with it.

3. There are no brake fluid lines "inside" the 2 halves of the brake calipers that would leech out brake fluid...there are 2 pistons on each half...that's it. There was nothing else.

4. The metal line at the bottom of each caliper is the line that allows for an even flow of brake fluid between both halves of the caliper.

5. The actual separation of the calipers allowed me to very easily clean every surface of the caliper...as like many of yours, mine was completely black with brake dust and soot.

6. I called a local garage who's worked on a few of these vehicles (and not saying they are right) they always separate the 2 piece calipers and give them a thorough cleaning and greasing when doing pads.

Regardless of how people do it, these brakes definitely need to be cleaned more frequently than most that is for sure. My next step will be to get a lower dust type of brake pad in the future.

 

[cmn1]

1st off, the Brembos on the 300C SRT8 were a 1 pc design as best i can see...they are different than what is on my 09 SRT8.

2nd, i tried using a punch on my pins and they wouldn't budge. On both driver and passenger side calipers, one of the "pins" was firm, no rotational movement, no wiggling...nothing...but the second pin in both caliper would rotate in it's spot and could be wiggled side to side up and down or whatever you wanted to do with it.

3. There are no brake fluid lines "inside" the 2 halves of the brake calipers that would leech out brake fluid...there are 2 pistons on each half...that's it. There was nothing else.

4. The metal line at the bottom of each caliper is the line that allows for an even flow of brake fluid between both halves of the caliper.

5. The actual separation of the calipers allowed me to very easily clean every surface of the caliper...as like many of yours, mine was completely black with brake dust and soot.

6. I called a local garage who's worked on a few of these vehicles (and not saying they are right) they always separate the 2 piece calipers and give them a thorough cleaning and greasing when doing pads.

Regardless of how people do it, these brakes definitely need to be cleaned more frequently than most that is for sure. My next step will be to get a lower dust type of brake pad in the future.

Not to argue with you but I have my original Black Brembos and a red set from a Charger, the only difference in them is the color. They are all the same. You have something wrong with your pins or you really have no idea how to remove the pins. On both sets the pins are easy to remove. Your local garage has no idea what they are doing then because all you have to do is remove the 2 pins and there really is no reason for them not to come out other than user error. You can continue to do it your way but your method will not make it for approval in the DIY section. Sorry.

 

[WIPLASH]

I used a punch hit with a hammer to push the pins out to remove the pads. To remove rotor, the caliper must be removed. This is accomplished by removing the two bolts holding the caliper then carefully placing the caliper on a platform (jack stand, etc), do not let the caliper hang in the air without support or it can result to a broken brake line. The next step is to remove the rubber o-ring holding the rotor in place (do not throw away, you will need to re-install it). The rotor can now be remove from the hub, use a rubber mallet if it's stuck. Reverse process and your done. This is the abbreviated procedure. It should take 15-30 minutes per axle including cleaning, wheel mounting and how much beer consumed

 

[MLBarrett]

I used a punch hit with a hammer to push the pins out to remove the pads. To remove rotor, the caliper must be removed. This is accomplished by removing the two bolts holding the caliper then carefully placing the caliper on a platform (jack stand, etc), do not let the caliper hang in the air without support or it can result to a broken brake line. The next step is to remove the rubber o-ring holding the rotor in place (do not throw away, you will need to re-install it). The rotor can now be remove from the hub, use a rubber mallet if it's stuck. Reverse process and your done. This is the abbreviated procedure. It should take 15-30 minutes per axle including cleaning, wheel mounting and how much beer consumed

That's what's up. Tell y'all what I'll do the above in 2 weeks and post the process.

 

[Jack_Toepfer]

The pins do come out. Yes, they are tight, as they should be. You'll see a small crush sleeve when/if you ever get them out which insures that the pins will not come out accidentally. Using a punch was the way I did it. Get the perfect sized punch and you're less likely to "punch" the powder coat on the caliper.

Separating the caliper as he has done it, will not harm anything. You can clearly see the transfer line still attached to both sides. Assuming this connection is not compromised, there will be no loss of fluid and will not harm to the unserviceable o-rings. I don't know how an o-ring can't be serviced, it is in fact a rubber washer, and not made of unobtainium. Harbor Freight sells them for like $0.05. (My comments surrounding the o-ring are based on past experience doing brakes for the last umteen years, this particular o-ring may actually be made of unobtainium).

It would have been easier to remove and service the pads by first (and only) removing the pins.

It would be easier to clean and lube everything had he split the caliper and also removed the pins. Splitting the caliper was a great idea for getting the entire brake system as clean as possible. I will be doing the same when I re-do mine.

I would have put that blue stuff on everything that wasn't a contact surface between the pad and rotor. I would have also roughed up the rotor (or had it turned) before putting it back together, brake clean isn't abrasive enough to remove the existing glaze. A scotch brite pad or some sandpaper work well. The time and elbow grease you're putting into the rotor also give you ample time to inspect them very closely for cracks or other problems.


This isn't rocket science guys, it is brakes. OP - Thanks for the work you put in.

 

[meeper]

brembos are a quick pad change design and there is no reason to take the caliper apart, you just remove the pins and slide the pads out, you don't even have to remove caliper from the car usually....

 

[LAFNGA5]

i messaged brembo awhile ago before i took mine apart to paint or powder coat. they said not to seperate them as the bolts are torque to yield as well as the seals could be damaged

not sure why you wouldve disassembled them like that but oh well now. next time lay off the crown and research a bit first, dont really want to mess around with brakes as not only your life could be affected but others as well