Worst Brake job ever 84 GL SW

[smelly_cat]

Replace pads and turn front rotors on 83 GL SW

How I spent Saturday by SmellyCat

The ole GL was was locking the right front wheel when braking so I decided to fix it once and for all... Brake jobs are easy on toyotas and Hondas, so I figured 2 hrs tops, What could go wrong?

I have replaced the pads in the GL a few times but never turned the rotors. Now I know why!

 

First loosened the wheel lugs, which had been last set by the tire store and bent my tire iron and pretty much set the tone

for this day. Set the E brake , loosen the 4 bolts holding the rotor to the axle /lug plate. Then there is a great big nut

holding the plate to the axle, I dont have a socket and can't find my big adjustable wrench, Raid my neighbors tool box.

nothing, Decide to abort this job. Then find a big monkey wrench used for turning pipes. Presto.. off the jumbo nut came,

 

Feeling pretty proud of myself until i discover the lug axle plate is pressed on. ARG!.

 

I hammer on it a bit. Spray some liquid wrench, pry with a crow bar. decide to abort. But no, I'm no quitter. Drive to

town, go to autozone, they rent tools for free. Nuckle head store clerk and I go look at the tools they have and he says

they dont have a puller that will work. Goto to Advance, nothing, then i go to this cheap china tool place and splurge 9

bucks for crappy puller. In business again. Drive home, Figure out how to use the puller. nothing. then spray,

hammer,tighen puller. BOING! off comes the rotor. Oh yea!. release E brake and take off pads . jack left side of car and

 

Discovered that I should have loosened the 4 axle /lug plates bolts and the big axle nuts on both sides before I took the

rotor and pads off the right side. Somehow go them it loose. While using my new 9 buck puller , i hear a crack. now the

puller is in 3 pieces, Grrrrr.

 

Back to town with the rotor i did get off. Maybe an example of what I'm doing will score me a free rent puller at advance.

I see the 1st store clerk but ask a diff one . He says ya you need a ABC puller or something like that. we go to the shelf.

I pay a deposit, go home , BOING off comes rotor 2.

 

I am in hour 4 of this job by now. Back to town, with my worn rotors,

THe store that has a turning machine, first makes fun of my little subaru rotors. they thought they we so tiny and cute. and

decide to let the girl clerk turn them. Its her first time turning rotors. then they decide to measure the rotor wear,

I say "Im paying cash" and "Im not buying new ones", just turn them $%##%& rotors. (maybe I'm starting to get frustrated). Im in luck, no rotors need to be done ahead of me so they start turning righ away. By the way new rotors cost 31 bucks each and have to order.

 

I go to eat , shop at goodwill, Bought a industrial vacuum cleaner for $4.99, My old vacuum was destroyed when one of my kids was sucking up loose change and quarter lodged in the impeller and exploded it. 20 hard black plastic blades fell out out of the vac and the motor smelled like an electrical fire when you ran it anyway.

 

Back to Brakes. 45 minutes later. I get to the rotor store and they are still turning the first rotor since it was tapered, (I have had worn rotors and warped rotors and glazed rotors, but tapered is new. They had to turn it 3 times, Now its the width of grahm cracker, but I dont care., I decide to hang around till the 2nd one is done, While waiting i wander thru the Chevy dealer car lot and consider crushing the subaru and spending $39,000 on a new 4x4 truck. 40K for a truck!, can you believe that?

 

Back at the brakes..Got 2 freshly turned rotors, I can see the front wheel bearings with all the stuff removed, and they don't look all globbed with grease , my chilten book is worthless on the subject, I post a question on the site, " should I smush a handfull of wheel grease in there" and wait. ding, some one viewed it, no answer, Ding viewed again no answer, So i

give up, start putting the rotors on. Smashed my thumb. WHich still hurts today. When I'm finally done , i see that I got a

response 2 minutes after I gave up on the post question, . Just part of this great day . Yes put some grease in there

 

OK.. start puttin in the new pads ...Oh yea.. I need to screw in the brake cylinder, I can't find my channel locks. GO to

3 neighbors before I find one I can borrow. Start screwing the piston in , It turns maybe a 1/6 of a revoulution each time.

My hands are tired , the channel locks slip and I squeeze the side of my hand in the channel locks, What a pretty red blood blister. I get it all together, bled the brakes. They are squishy, but they stop, I'm just pumping them a few times when I stop. I figure the brake cylinder needs to turn it self out and close the gap I made when I screwed it in.

 

Its Sunday, the start of a new day. my hands really hurt, maybe some cold beer will help. Thanks for reading this! I feel much better now... Smelly cat

[Bucky92]

I will trade you..I dont mind brakes ...you want to try and get my XT6 running right again??

I have had many moments like that with these cars..lucky enough..with the exception of the XT6..it hasnt been quite that bad.

 

Good luck

[Gloyale]

I will trade you..I dont mind brakes ...you want to try and get my XT6 running right again??

I have had many moments like that with these cars..lucky enough..with the exception of the XT6..it hasnt been quite that bad.

 

Good luck

 

I'd take that trade:grin: . I saw an XT6 driving around here the other day. I gave the driver one of these:headbang: , she just looked at me like I was crazy. She probably doesn't know how cool her car was, or reconize my 89 GL turbo as a Suby. Sad because that's on more six that will probably get junked next time it has a propblem:mad:

[smelly_cat]

Bucky, Deal, but instead of brakes, get my 85 toyota van going. I changed the head gasket and and I can get it started. I wish it had a carb and not FI. SC

[Gloyale]

I wish it had a carb and not FI. SC

no way, Import carbs from the 80's suck, and are waaaayyy less reliable and more difficult.

[nipper]

Smelly, just an FYI for the future. Responses are slow on the weekend, especially in the nice weather. YOu may not get a response sometimes till monday.

 

 

nipper

[Mykeys Toy]

Smelly,

One of the best investments I have made was to meet a few of the local suby freaks. several of which I would call friends. and many others I just haven't had the time to get to know.. When I have a serious problem that just plain has me dazed and confused I can make a few phone calls which either gets things figured out or fixed whithin a day and maybe a oddball part to go with it. then I have time to either give them a hand with whatever they are doing and learn a few more things while I am at it of hang out and b.s. for a while which I really don't do often enough. ( sorry Ken )

 

Mike

[daeron]

sounds like a blast!!!

 

When in doubt, add/change lubricant.

 

Sea Foam Deep Creep is better than PB Blaster, it makes PB look like WD40.

 

Nasty epic, but glad you got it done in the end. The rotors werent any thinner than spec, were they? If so, then I wouldnt expect very good brakes.. The reason they are only supposed to grind down to a certain point is because the calipers will not squeeze the pads any closer together than that.

 

And, finally..

 

Where in GA are you? I have a buddy from Athens :cool: