Bozo

April is when I do all my maintenance and yesterday figured that I would replace the front brake pads. I've done it several times before usually along with the rotors but it hasn't been that long and I was surprised to be hearing the scraping noise a few months ago. Anyway, the caliper bolt dust boots have never been replaced so this time I spent more on a higher quality brake pad set that included the boots - which was not the case in all the previous sets that I had installed. So when I went to take everything apart - the bolts were badly stuck and it was a bear getting them out. But then - I could not figure out how you are supposed to get the boots out. It hadn't occurred to me that this was not only never shown in any video on the job that I have ever seen, but I didn't think it would be a problem - until yesterday when I went to get them out. Are you just supposed to grab them with a pliers and totally destroy them when you pull them out? After getting worried that I would mess things up, I just decided to keep the new ones in the package and just lube the old ones up using my little finger inside along with the actual pins. The stuff I bought specifically for this is a little green PERMATEX caliper bolt lube - which doesn't work very well based on how stuck the bolts were. Then I looked at the old pads - major uneven wear. Like one side was almost new and the other barely anything left - which must be where the noise was coming from.

So my questions are: 1. How are you supposed to get the boots out and the new ones in? and 2. Am I using the wrong stuff for greasing the bolts and the inside of the boots? That's what this stuff is for and seems to act more like glue than grease. I won't be taking the front apart again for at least a year. After I got done, my parking/emergency brake was way too lose so now I have to try and hope I can adjust them otherwise it won't pass the state inspection.

tech2

not sure you model year? my 05 cavi I used sylgld brake lubricant. I pushed the pins out using channel lock pliers...when the pins are flush...use a small socket that will fit inside the bore...put the socket on the pins and squeeze it the rest of the way out with the channel locks.

if your ebrake is loose after replacing the rear brakes...the drum star wheels were not adjusted up tight enough. It will also give you a deep brake pedal as it takes a lot of fluid movement to get the wheel cylinders to contact the drum.

Kazoocruiser

I am not really sure how your calipers are designed, (pictures always help) but on my truck, the calipers contain bushings that the bolts go through to attach the caliper to the anchor bracket. The boots hide the bushings that HAVE to be pushed out before the rubber boots can be removed.

From your description of things, it appears that you have stuck bushings, which is preventing the calipers from sliding freely on the bracket, in effect, keeping the caliper in a semi-engaged status.