My rear brake pads were close to worn out (almost touching the metal tab). at.. 71,000 miles.

So I put new pads all the way around.

I'm suprised the rears wore out first, the fronts still had a decent amount of material, but I had pads laying around for it. So all new ones.

I used the highest rated ones advance auto sells. Starts with an A I think.

Very smooth, no noise what so ever.

 

That is very unusual since the fronts to about 75% of the braking. Wonder if they're dragging a little.

 

You may want to service the brake slides a couple of times a year to keep everything moving freely. As Shark noted, the backs were probably dragging. I have found that it is best to use a high temperature brake slide lubricant, as the lower temperature lubricants can not handle the heat.

Permatex 24115 Ultra Disk Brake Caliper Lube Hi-Temp Silicone Formula, 8 oz. : Amazon.com : Automotive

You made out pretty well getting 71,000 on your pads.

 

SabrToothSqrl You tow a boat from time to time correct? , I'd say 71k is really good... I got 76k out of my pads with minimal towing

 

Yes; I tow a Chris Craft 245 LTD. Approx 6k w/trailer & Gear.

Trailer also has dual axles w/electric brakes on both

Also, only tow 1.5 miles from the house, to the water...

Towing the 2,000 lbs of jet skis... doesn't really count as towing.

I liked how GM made these brakes so easy to work on. Then I remembered where I saw this design before... on my dad's 10 year old Toyota... Way to play catch up GM.

 

AFAIK, GM and others have been using this basic design for longer than ten years.

Personally I like the old Corvette design for ease of replacing pads. Simply pull a pin after removing a cotter key and slide the pads out, install new ones, and reinstall pin and cotter key.

 

how do you move the caliper pistons back, to make room for the new thicker pads?

 

I use a C clamp with a piece of wood to push in the pistons. locate the clamp so that it wraps around the caliper and ensure that it doesn't put pressure on the brake lines, abs wires etc. Support the caliper with twine or a piece of wire and hang it off the control arm.

Since you will be pushing fluid back into the master cylinder, please check the level of the master cylinder before you push the pistons back into the caliper. If you fluid level is too high, it will overflow.

This is also a good time to change / flush the brake fluid in the whole system, since you have to bleed the brakes anyway.

 

I use the old pad to push the pistons (2/side) back, pull it out, and put the new pad in before the spring pushes the piston back out.

On newer, single piston calipers, I use a C-clamp.

If you don't open the system, why do you have to bleed?

 

I used some strong Spring Clamps. Just put um on the Clappers, and you can do something else, while they're moving/holding the Pads back, and you don't have to stay there and crank um.