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How to install new Rotors and Pads -- 2008 LTZ

JohnnieMo

SM 2017
PM 2014
SM 2013
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Jun 2, 2011
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The admins can decide if this should be a sticky or not.

This thread is about how to upgrade/swap out your rotors and pads.  It is written for people who can make the easiest job nearly impossible - like myself.  It is applicable for the 2007 to 2013 Avalanche, Tahoe, Suburban or Yukon.  (likely EXT also, but I'm not entirely sure).  It reflects the GMT-900 platform.

For my swap, I chose to go with the best I could fit in the stock calipers (and under 17" rim... although more on that later).

I selected EBC dimpled and slotted rotors and EBC Yellowstuff (racing) pads.  The yellowstuff are the most aggressive pad I could get.  I'm doing this for towing, so I thought aggressive would make sense.  They do dust more than the greenstuff, but that's okay with me.  My truck isn't a show pony.

EBC Brakes GD7372 GD3 Front Rotor (GD7373 Rear Rotor not shown)


EBC Brakes DP41830R Yellostuff Front Pads (DP41780R Rear Pads not shown)


I ordered this all from Amazon for around $700.  

:E:Tip: Be careful ordering from Amazon.  Each box comes with 4 pads, not 2.  So you only need one box of fronts and one box of rears.  Or be like me and get spares by accident!

Rear Brakes

Step 1:

Jack up your vehicle.  I chose to just to the rear end first, then the front end second.  I was also doing a shock swap at the same time (look for that write-up elsewhere).  Place jack stands in safe locations such that the truck is suspended.  I chose to place mine under the rear axle.  Also block the front wheel.



Step 2:
Remove your wheels.  Set them aside.

Step 3:
I tend to remove the brakes in two steps.  Others may do it in one.  First, remove the entire caliper from the hub assembly.  This is done using two 18mm bolts on the back of the assembly.  You may need some good leverage to remove these, or get a powerful impact gun.  Once the caliper is removed, place it on top of something so the line isn't holding the weight.  At this point the old pads may flop around or fall out.  I suggest you try to keep them in place.



Step 4: Pull off the old rotor.  This is no small feat.  If you live in a wet or snowy area, these are likely held on with some rust.  I use a sledge hammer.  However if you wiggle it slowly, it eventually will come.  This step is meant to be hard, so don't worry.  Just ensure your truck isn't going to fall off its jack stands.



Step 5:
Compare your old and new rotors to make sure they are identical.  Mine were.  Look them up and down, inside and out.  The only difference should be the thickness of the braking surface.  Obviously the old one will be worn down a bit.  



Step 6:
Clean off the surface of the hub with a metal brush.  Get off any bumps.  Place the new rotor on the rear hub.  Wiggle it down till it is nice and flush.  Bolt on the caliper again, right where you took it off.  I suggest using some locktight on the bolts.  Blue locktight is best.  Red is harder to remove when you screw this step up.  I recommend leave in the old pads at this point as otherwise the empty caliper may scuff up your nice new shiny rotors (this is what happened to me).  If the caliper doesn't fit, then take them out.  We'll deal with that later.

Step 7:
To insert the new pads, you need to flip open the caliper.  This is done via two other bolts.  These bolts are part of the assembly that slides in and out to centre your caliper.  You only need to take out one.  For the rear calipers, take out the  :E: bottom bolt.  This seems confusing, but if you don't the brake line will prevent you from gaining access.  As you can see, I did the top bolt and thus did this twice.  To remove the bolt, you need a two wrenches, as there otherwise it just spins inside.



Step 8:
If you've done the step correctly, the caliper can now swing open from the bottom.  You can pull out the old pads now.



Step 9:
Before installing your new pads, you may need to sand down the paint a bit.  EBC Brakes are notorious for fitting too snug in the channels if you don't.  I started with some emery cloth, and ended up using the side of a soft cutting wheel on my bench grinder.  Either way, get the paint off.



Step 10:
Apply grease to the top and bottom tabs of each pad.  I believe this is copper grease.  It comes with the EBC pads and will prevent squeaking later in life.



Step 11:
Now slide each pad into the retainer, while still holding up the caliper.  They will fit into little grooves on the top and bottom that are skimmed in copper clips.  The one with the wear indicator goes on the inside.  These only fit one way, so don't force it too much.  If you try to put the pad with the wear indicator on the outside, it won't let you.  (it just makes you think you can and I mess with it for 5 minutes)



Step 12:
In order to make your new pads and rotor fit, you now have to squeeze the caliper wide open.  I used a simple clamp.  Make sure you centre the clamp on the piston to keep it from getting crooked.  This could wreck your piston.



Step 13:
With the caliper now WIDE open, you can pivot the caliper back up and over the pads.  This may take some work.  You may also need to push in the bolt on the back (bottom) to get the clearance you need.  Just take your time and it will fit.  Tighten the bolt using your dual wrench approach again.

Step 14:
Double check the torque specs on each bolt.  The guide pins want 74 ft-lbs, while the bracket bolts want 148 ft-lbs.  Do this now, lest you forget later.

Here is a look at the final assembly


And here is a comparison of old versus new pads:


Step 15:
Bolt up your wheel.  You may prefer to leave it off until you do the other side.  Up to you.

Step 16:
Repeat on other side of vehicle.

Front Brakes:


Step 17:
As with the rears, I chose to jack up both sides and place jack stands under the frame rails on either side.  The front wheels will hang down, so you need to jack it up a bit higher.  

Step 18:
Remove the caliper with bracket.  As before, you've got two 18mm bolts on the back side.  Here is a pic with them removed, to get an idea where they are.  As before, these take serious grunt.
:E:Tip: Turn the wheels for easy access, then use your impact gun.  This makes short work of it.



Step 19:
Compare the old and new rotors once again to ensure they are identical.  Here is a picture of my GD7373.

:E: Tip:  Note that slotted rotors are directional.  This box is labelled Right.  This is one thing I actually managed not to goof up.



Step 18:
Bolt the caliper back on.  Leave in the old pads to insulate.  They should fit.  If not, pop them out and on to the ground.  re-fasten the two bolts with locktight.  Hand tighten for now.



Step 19:
Now we need to pivot down the caliper again.  This time we CAN use the top bolt as the brake lines give enough room.  For some reason I only needed one wrench for the fronts.  Not sure why.



Step 20:
As before, file down the tabs on the pads again.  This will make them fit better.  If you aren't using EBC, you may not need to do this.  Just see how tight they are with a test fit.  Goop with the grease and slide the pads into position.  This time there are wear strips on both pads.  Not sure why.  Maybe this is an EBC thing.  So you can't screw this up.

Step 21:
Once the pads are installed, you need to spread open the caliper again.  This time there are two pistons, so stick a wrench across them.  Tighten until they are all the way open.



Step 22:
Close the caliper!  These ones seemed to close a bit easier than the rears.  Re-attach the pivot bolt to the slide pin.  Again, use some locktight.  Torque to 74 ft-lbs on the slide pin, and 148 ft-lbs on the bracket.



Step 23: Re-attach your wheel and then do the other side.  

Step 24:  Take your truck for a drive and check it out.  With EBC you have a "bed in period" of about 1000 miles.  It means brake like a grandma... no sudden stops.  You can also hasten this by doing a "Pro cut lathe" job.  I have one booked for my truck.  

All done!!  Unless you are me....

-----

I came across a horrible problem when I did my brakes.  On my test drive I noticed a horrible screeching and howling from the rear.  I'll cut to the chase on this one and not give you the two day run down it took to solve this.

The rims, which were aftermarket 17" (for winter) were now rubbing on the caliper (the banjo bolt to be exact).  I guess the tolerance is so tight that the new brake pad width pushed them together.  I ended up carving a groove into each rear wheel:



To fix I installed wheel spacers of 1/4".  It goes to show you that swapping to aftermarket wheels must be done with great care.




My inspiration to install these brakes, and my review of them, can be found here:
http://chevyavalanchefanclub.com/cafcna/index.php/topic,110817.0.html

This thread is only meant to describe the install process, so please keep questions related to that.
 
As mentioned above, I scheduled a brake skim procedure on the new rotors.  On EBC's website they state the following:

There are two main reasons for brake vibration. The first is steering geometry issues and the second is installation or hub run-out issues.

GEOMETRY ISSUES ? One in seven cars suffers geometry problems during its life that can affect steering and cause brake vibration. These are NOT a product quality issue!!!!!!.These can happen by simply nudging a kerb or by driving over a pothole. EBC is not alone in recognising this problem but is the only brake supplier on the planet prepared to offer diagnosis and a SOLUTION.

INSTALLATION OR HUB RUN-OUT ISSUES ? These cause what is known as DTV. The videos below show how to correct for brake vibration caused by DTV (Disc thickness variation). DTV develops in a car after 3000-4000 miles caused by runout built in to the car or due to incorrect alignment of the rotors at install. This is quite a common fault on modern cars and many cars require this at every rotor change. Drivers also confuse hub distortion with a rotor quality issue but in 99% of cases the DTV is a car problem, not a rotor quality problem. You can replace the rotors as many times as you like trying to solve vibration and the problem will only go away for a few thousand miles and then return. This means you have purchased new rotors in good faith but the problem IS NOT SOLVED AND WILL NOT GO AWAY PERMANENTLY until you perform this procedure. After this skimming of the rotor surface you will have smooth brakes , more effective brakes and ZERO vibration. It is even a very worthwhile practice when fitting new rotors to have all four rotors skimmed into perfect alignment on your car with this inexpensive procedure.

Rotor distortion due to DTV is very common, in fact ONE IN SEVEN CARS has a steering geometry problem either when it is built NEW or after nudging a kerb or hitting a large pothole (very common after road surface damage after winter snowy periods). Uneducated people still say ?My rotors are warped?. Well the engineering facts are ROTORS DO NOT WARP, they are made of cast iron, they are very tough and can be run to red heat and cooled time after time and they will not distort, we do this day in day out on our dynos in the EBC lab. Thats why the whole world still uses cast iron as a vehicle brake rotor material, there has never been anything to beat it and probably never will be.


Reference: http://ebcbrakes.com/articles/pro-cut-lathe/

So I decided I would drink the koolaid, given that my last rotors were pulsing after a mere 5000km.  As such I booked in at Lads Auto in Calgary, Alberta who would do it for $125 on their Pro Cut Lathe.  

They provided a couple pictures for me, which was quite nice.  Overall a nice place to get servicing.  I also had them flush the brake lines.  They reported back that only minor skimming was necessary.





I'll complete the EBC break in procedure soon, and then give some feedback on performance.  Unfortunately it will be many months before I put on 5000km and can report back on whether or not this was $125 well spent.  
 
VERY VERY nice write up man!!! I want to swap over to EBC rotors and pads when I can because I absolutely hate the duralast severe duty I have on now because of the brake dust and squeaking at slow speeds. I hate it!  Will definitely remember this one when I swap mine. Now you said for the fronts you rotated them up but the rears you rotated down. howd you get them to do that? Just take out the top one on the backs and the lower bolt on the fronts?
 
09chevyavy said:
VERY VERY nice write up man!!! I want to swap over to EBC rotors and pads when I can because I absolutely hate the duralast severe duty I have on now because of the brake dust and squeaking at slow speeds. I hate it!  Will definitely remember this one when I swap mine. Now you said for the fronts you rotated them up but the rears you rotated down. howd you get them to do that? Just take out the top one on the backs and the lower bolt on the fronts?

Exactly.  There are two pins and you can take out one or the other.  It's easier to remove the top one if the brake line has enough slack to allow it to pivot down.

EBC Yellow stuff pads will dust a LOT.  So you may want to go with something like the green stuff.
 
So if I didn't have bad luck I'd have nothing at all....

Picked up the truck and the front brakes are grinding and vibrating.  Not really bad, but bad enough for me to know something isn't right.  I drive to work and then snap some pictures:

Front Rotor:




Rear Rotor:


So as you can see, the fronts almost have a "phantom" slots and dimples now.  My mind is completely out of ideas as to why.

So I decided to call Pro Cut myself and ask.  They almost immediately knew the problem and had a service bulletin for it:
http://www.procutusa.com/pdf/S-9Drilled_slottedrotors.pdf

Basically, if you are running slotted and dimpled (or drilled) rotors, the skimming procedure must be done one side at a time.  If you machine both the inside and outside at the same time, if the slots and dimples are not symmetrical, you get inconsistent pressure, and thus, phantom slots and dimples.

Sigh...

So it goes back in tomorrow.  It's frustrating that I have to do this all myself.  So much for Lads Auto.  At least they won't likely make this mistake again.

On the plus side, Pro Cut was absolutely pleasant to deal with.  They sent my call directly to their top service guy.
 
Okay, most recent update.

Even using the machine properly, the Pro Cut machine itself is not stable enough.  It's inherent design creates "wobble" on the unsprung suspension.  The cutting head changes direction frequently and causes bouncing.  The result is that they can't get a clean job done and the truck vibrates when braking.

The shop foreman elected to do a normal lathe turning and that fixed the problem, however the result is that my rotors are now too thin after three rounds on the lathe.  So he is ordering replacements.  

My hat is off to Lads Auto for correcting this, as it is going to cost him $500 at least.  However I have to advise to EVERYONE that the Pro-Cut lathe is dangerous to your prized new rotors.  In this case, Pro Cut destroyed my new EBC GD Sport Rotors.

Edit: Procut later acknowledged the machine was old and out of repair.  They replaced it for FREE to the shop and followed through my entire experience to make it right.

 
Definitely nice write up! My breaks drive me insane they squeak and seem rough when stopping.. Had them checked out there fine.. Have to sub to keep this thread as a reminder to tackle one day (y)
 
What does PRo Cut say now?
 
So in the saga that won't end, I contacted EBC Brakes to see if the rotors were ruined.  They responded that they would send me replacements free of charge as a show of good faith!!  :eek:  (y)

WOW... is all I could say.

So they are going to send in new ones.  The shop machined the rotors on a bench lathe to get them flat again, so the truck is useable in the meantime.  

All three of us - myself, the shop and EBC are trying to figure out what went wrong.  I haven't been able to reach Pro-Cut just yet.  So far I'm not sure what the problem is.  It could be the machine, it could be the procedure, it could be my truck, or it could just have been human error. My suspicion is that you can't do this procedure with the truck on a hoist.  I think you need to have weight on the suspension to prevent the oscillating.   Regardless, I'm not sure I want to try this skimming procedure again without some huge assurance that we found the problem.
 
Just have a couple comments.  I used the EBC pads and rotors on my 2008 LTZ.  They worked flawless right out of the box.  No need to have them lathed or anything like that.  Also those two holes in the fatory rotors that aren't for the lug bolts, are 3/8 or 5/16 standard threaded and you can screw a couple bolts in to push the old rotors off.  Thus no need to smash the alignment out of it with a sledge hammer.  Been on about 15k miles and they stop wonderful no squeaks.
 
elerten said:
Just have a couple comments.  I used the EBC pads and rotors on my 2008 LTZ.  They worked flawless right out of the box.  No need to have them lathed or anything like that.  Also those two holes in the fatory rotors that aren't for the lug bolts, are 3/8 or 5/16 standard threaded and you can screw a couple bolts in to push the old rotors off.  Thus no need to smash the alignment out of it with a sledge hammer.  Been on about 15k miles and they stop wonderful no squeaks.

Great tip! Thanks. 

How long have you been using the rotors? Any pulsation?
 
No problems.  I put the new rotors on in the same orientation as the old.  Basically I lined up the taped holes where the old ones were in relation to the hub assembly.  I also put 2 lug nuts on with some washers for spacers and torqued them down before I set the caliper assembly in place so that when I stepped on the brake to set the pads the rotors wouldn't move.  The factory rotors come with these little tin keepers that slide of the lugs to hold the rotor in place when you take the wheel off.  I didn't have those so I held the rotor in place with the lug nuts when stepped on the brake for the first time.
 
Great write-up and follow up with the shop and EBC.  I'm so glad to see EBC stepped up with new rotors.  I've never gone through all the issues you've had but thank you for posting all the issues and fixes.
 
Just an update for everyone. There was some confusion as I thought ebc was sending four new rotors but they only sent two. As such the shop had to get the two rears for me. I'm still waiting on that.

I've also talked to pro cut. I told them about my ongoing issues and they transferred me to the vice president of service. He in turn had the local rep call me. The rep is now going to look in to what happened. The good news is the shop is very keen on figuring this out too. I'm hoping to have this all wrapped up in a couple weeks.

It's been slow and despite all the problems everyone is doing their best to help.
 
I'm not sure if anyone is still following this saga, but I have a new update.

The shop has now received all 4 new rotors for my truck and we are installing tomorrow.

Pro-Cut's regional rep went to visit the shop and determined the lathe was old and not maintained well.  So the "mistake" on my truck was a perfect storm of problems:
1. The lathe was old
2. The lathe was not maintained properly over the years.
3. The dimpled/slotted rotors are extremely complex to skim
4. The process used was incorrect.

Pro-cut and the regional rep stepped up by replacing their lathe for free.  He also trained them on the newest lathe AND in how to do my particular EBC rotors.  He also asked for a follow up to see that I am happy.

So the truck is going in tomorrow for hopefully the last step in this saga.  I've truly been impressed by Lads Auto, Pro Cut and EBC in doing their best to make this right.  Let's see if I still feel this way tomorrow  (y)
 
I would say that the guys at that shop either love you or hate you right now  :laugh: they got new toys but i doubt they came without an a$$ chewing for not maintaining the old one
 
wyotonka said:
I would say that the guys at that shop either love you or hate you right now  :laugh: they got new toys but i doubt they came without an a$$ chewing for not maintaining the old one

Ya I wonder too..... Ultimately they screwed up. They did not understand the service they were selling and torched my rotors. At that point they could choose to make it right or walk away. Thankfully they chose to make it right. Since then I've saved them half the cost of the rotors and got them a new machine. That's a lot better than the $1000 for rotors plus my money back.

In the end I think we both win because we worked together.
 
Well the truck is all done. I replaced the pads again too so I have to get through the break in period to know much. It feels about like it did before the last skim job. No more vibrations!

I'll report back after the break in period and then periodically over the next few years to see if the long term DTV (disk thickness variation aka pulsing) is gone.

Turns out the machine is only on loan to the shop from Pro Cut. However they really like it.

At this stage, my recommendation to other seeking a pro cut skimming procedure to call pro cut directly and find out who in your area has the newest machine and most current training. Pro Cut will know who uses their machines often and well. 
 
elerten said:
Also those two holes in the fatory rotors that aren't for the lug bolts, are 3/8 or 5/16 standard threaded and you can screw a couple bolts in to push the old rotors off. 

I know this is an old thread, but I'm FNALLY getting around to replace the brakes before I sell my Avy later this year :(

I can confirm the threads on the rotors are 3/8-16 thread.
 
For what it's worth, I ended up with DTV again with some wicked pulsation after about 15,000km from when I replaced everything.  I'm pretty sure this was due to a hard braking event, while towing my boat, in the mountains.  I contacted EBC and told them this - they sent me two new free front rotors again. 

I elected NOT to do the procut job on those rotors this time.  Since then I've enjoyed extremely smooth braking, no pulsing, and no issues -- granted I haven't had a hard braking event since.

I am 100% AGAINST using the pro-cut methology on brake rotors.  For all the hassle it causes, I experienced no upside.  I don't think pro-cut causes DTV, but anytime you skim a rotor, you run the risk of changing its performance.  I see no upside to the cost or the hassle.
 
Thanks for the write up.  Just did rotors, pads, lubed guide pins on my 2013 1500.

A few comments:


1)  Check the torque specs, they vary from front to rear and are specific for 1500 vs. 2500.  See attached pic.  (specs were different than the spec listed above):



2)  My passenger side rear rotor was difficult to get off.  I initially thought it was just rusted on, so an hour wailing on it with a sledge hammer to no avail.  I also cranked a bolt through the rotor onto the hub via the threaded hole on the rotor face.  This caused the rotor to move, then I noticed the park brake assembly was holding the rotor.  Turned out the parking brake was holding the rotor inside the "hat" of the rotor.  I ended up spinning the hub back and forth and it freed up the parking break from the rotor hat.

HTH

Regards,

SpottyJ

 

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