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Vans & Minivans GMC Safari & Chevy Astro GMC Safari/Chevy Astro
1889 messages, Last post on Nov 13, 2009 at 9:04 AM
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Replying to: awdastrojunk (Jun 01, 2008 5:47 pm) |
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Okay, so hopefully this post will help take the focus away from the backbiting going on  ... Every man has his tools and what works for him, so let's just leave it at that? Anyway, as far as having the right tool, I sure could have used one today. My van has recently started making the most horrendous grating sound as well as shuddering horribly while braking. Time for new brakes! I had recently stuck my hand through the wheel and noticed that the rotors were also going to have to be replaced (before any one jumps on me for not paying attention or jumps to conclusions, let me get to the end of the post first ). I had just bought the van and I have only put about 5K on it since I got it. When I was test driving it, I didn't notice anything in particular, at least not to the level I was experiencing, wrong with the brakes. Then several weeks ago, it started making these sounds and shudder when the brakes were forcibly used. They didn't seem so bad with easy stops. Panic stops however were not fun to experience. That's when I stopped and checked the pads and the rotors out. The pads appeared fine, but the rotors didn't look so hot. They weren't overly grooved out, but they were pitted and the outer edges were pretty rusty. I knew I would have to replaced them along with the pads. But there was nothing dire (I was afraid I was metal on metal) about the situation so I have just been living with the van's poor stopping abilities the past few weeks. I finally stopped by the auto parts store today to get new rotors and pads to rectify my problem. As a side note, somewhere along the way, I also noticed that the van also has rear disc brakes instead of drum. They are next on the list, but I really haven't taken a close look at them. But since the van is on jacks right now, I might as well. Anyway, I get home and proceed to jack up the van and take the tire off. Now I am facing a caliper setup I have never seen. (My experience portfolio isn't very large, but large enough that I feel comfortable doing these sorts of jobs) After calling a friend and poking around the caliper setup, I realize that instead of the standard Chevy front end setup that I am used to from my S-10 and the full size van and the full size truck and the previous S-10 which utilized a wheel/hub all in one rotor and a caliper over the top, this has a bracket mounted to the spindle with a front wheel drive like rotor under it and the caliper mounted to the bracket, with the pads being mounted in the bracket. I also realized that the allen key I have gotten out will be no good as I now need an 18 MM socket and a T55 Torx head. Groan. Back to the tool box. Now I proceed to TRY and take off the bolts. First the caliper bolts. They won't budge. I HATE torx heads. HATE THEM. I hate them even more than allen keys. They always seem to strip. Maybe I just don't know how to use them, but they always seem to strip, or slip out of the bolt you are trying to remove. Anyway, the caliper bolts will not budge, It doesn't help that I can't get any leverage underneath the wheel well. I crank the wheel so that the bolts are atleast facing towards the outer edge as much as possible. Still not much clearance, but better. I still can't get them to budge. I beat the socket wrench with a hammer. No go. I grab a larger box wrench to create a cheater bar. Still no go. I WD-40 them. Still no go. I switch to the 18MM bolts holding the bracket and can't even get them to budge. This is getting ridiculous. I knew the bolts would be tight, that's to be expected but this is unreal! A simple 30 minute job is turning into an hour now. I get mad and call my buddy back up. He has a couple of tools I don't have including an impact wrench. I spray the bolts down with WD-40 again to let them sit and penetrate while I go get the impact wrench. I come back and go back at it. The impact wrench pulls off the 18MM bolts. I take off the caliper assembly and realize that I am going to have to get the caliper apart from the bracket in order to change the pads. So I put the caliper assembly back on the spindle and bolt it down so I can try and get the caliper bolts out. I hit the top torx head with the impact wrench and it slowly comes off. YEA!! Only one more bolt to go. By this time I am feeling pretty good. I go to take off the bottom bolt and WHAM! It won't budge. My air compresor comes on to keep the gun going. It still won't budge. I stop. Glare at the bolt. Get my cheater bar set up and try and break it free. It keeps wanting to slip and I can just feel the pain of a SNAP and a CRACK. So I stop trying with my rigged cheater bar setup. I call my buddy back up and he's surprised that the bolt won't budge. He has a longer cheater bar that I can come and get. (He's laid up with a busted foot, otherwise he'd come help). Before headed over, I hit the bolt one more time with the impact. It shears the torx head socket in half. (It wasn't designed for use with impact wrenches. Good thing I've got another, although still not designed for use with an impact) I go an pick up the larger cheater and show my buddy my old rotor. He's mystified by the pitted look. I tell him the pads "look" almost new - meaning that they look like they had just been changed. But something was causing my shudder (warped rotor-like shudder). He agrees that the rotors are indeed shot. I get back home with my last option with this longer cheater bar. I apply imense amount of leverage to try and break the bolt free. (also all this time I have been applying liberal amounts of WD-40.) The wrench slips and I crack myself on the head with my fist (at least it wasn't the cheater bar). I get mad, grab my hammer and beat on the bottom the caliper. Then I give up and go inside. I'm hungry, grumpy, tired and beyond frustrated. What should have been a 30 minute job has now turned into 3 hrs. Whoever put these brakes together last seemed to think that tighter must always be better. As I thought about it, the tire was also very difficult to remove. I was mystified why the pads look so new and the rotor aside from the rusted outer edges and inside on the back side, appeared to be in okay shape. It was very pitted however. So I am thinking that the brakes were the last time the tire was off and instead of new rotors and pads, they just did pads. Then over-tightened every thing and then put the wheel back on and over tightened that as well warping the rotor. I probably applied in the upper end of the 100's (like 150-170) ft lbs or torque to remove the wheels. I don't really know because I didn't have a gauge, but I have removed a lot of wheels in my lifetime that have been properly torqued and this wheel, was definately WAY over torqued. continues next post... |
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Anyway, I have now given up and gone back inside to vent my frustrations. I get online and realize a new caliper/bracket setup will cost me close to $200 for a set (replace one side, you have to repalce the other right?) Just for one lousy bolt that won't come off. I don't want to do that, but if I can't get the bolt off, what am I to do? Groan. After about 45 minutes or so, I go back out side to get the truck ready to sit over night and cleanup a little so I can tackle it again tomorrow. Just for the heck of it, I hit the bolt one more time with the impact. The bolt STARTS TO TURN and then COMES OFF!! YEA! FREAKIN YEA!!! Hallaluja. The WD-40 finally penetrated enough for it to do it's job. I pull the caliper assembly apart and pop out the old pads and pop in the new pads and put everything back together. Well almost. I left the other side for tomorrow and I need to replace the once stuck caliper bolt. The head is pretty thrashed and halfway stripped. I don't want to put it back in and have it strip completely the next time I have to replace the brakes. So thats tomorrow's job. But first I'll jack up the other side and spray the snot out the bolts on the passenger side, because I'll bet they are just as tight. Then let them sit for a while. Maybe then they won't be such a bear to remove. Also I am going to find the doofus who screwed them on so tight and screw a bunch of bolts into his head really tight.  ... So there's my very long saga.... ENJOY!!
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Yea! I finished the brakes this morning. Only took a few minutes (about 20) to finish up. The bolts on the other caliper were indeed a little tight, but they came off. New pads and rotor swapped in, tires back on and a short test drive later all seems well.... Now if only it went this well last night.
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just brought a 1989 chevy astro starcraft and the wiper switch is faulty,very temperamental,does anyone have one for sale or know where i can get one ,found some stockists in america but wont ship to uk!! please help , cheers |
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Replying to: the_big_al (Jun 27, 2008 3:16 pm) Thanks for posting your exerpiences of how to replace brakes on your van. Man, you sure do have patients. And lots of it. For me, I do a much different approach. The high level steps are: In the morning, I drive my van to my local auto-shop, tell guy to inspect and if needed, replace the brakes. Before end of day, he calls and tells me that my van is ready for pickup. I walk to the local auto shop (which is only 15 minute walk away), pay the bill and drive my van home. Only thing I do NOT like is "paying for the work". But overall, each auto shop in my area always use the higher quality brake pads and best of all, I don't get my hands dirty. If wondering, I used to change my own previous brakes. But, had way too many experiences of slipped wrenches and skinned knuckles. Thus, I now let the full time auto mechanic brake repairs today. Luckily, the 2 auto shops in my area "are trusted", and always give reasonalbe rates. Thanks for posting your brake replacement experiences. I enjoyed reading your well constructed posts. Like all of your posts on this forum, I enjoyed reading them. Thank you. .
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Replying to: spike99 (Jun 04, 2008 6:33 am) Ya - the dirty hands suck. I still have grime encrusted at the tips of my fingers. I do sometimes wish I could find a "trusted" auto shop, but since moving I haven't found one to replace the one I used to have. |
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We have a 2001 GMC Safari and the whole entire pad from the back of the van to the front of it are SOAKED! We took a 6 hour trip this weekend to MN when we noticed we have a GREAT BIG problem! My husband has torn everything out, all of the seats, carpet and pad. Where should we start to look for the leaks? We know that the seal/weather stripping has to be replaced in the back of the van but we are wondering how could soooo much water be on the inside of the van. (granted it rained about 60% of our trip) I have read some of the similar postings but am not sure what step is next in this long process. P.S. I enjoy our van very much and am a little distressed about this. I have to drive my husband's pick-up  , so any advice to speed this up would be very wonderful! Thank you for this site!
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Replying to: hulscher (Jun 09, 2008 7:46 pm)
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Replying to: hulscher (Jun 09, 2008 7:46 pm)
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