Guys I recently purchased a 2012 GS and want to replace stock padletts on my calipers. The question I have is has anybody chosen the 1 piece pad instead of the individual padletts. Are you happy with your choice of this one piece pad, was it worth the additional cost? Which pads are easier to install (One pieces/padletts). Any Tips/techniques for doing both pads sets.

thanks

Mike

 

You might post this in the Z06 section - as your car has the same brake as a z06. I am sure you will get lots of opinions.

I would say go with the 1 piece pad. Much easier to deal with, and you could even try ceramic so you are not getting all the sooty brake dust.

 

Roger that just thought that I would get some advise from fellow GS owners. I'm looking to go with the ceramic's, thanks.

Mike

 

I'm going with 1 piece Ceramics, more surface area if anything.

 

The idea of the padlet is to let the pistons against the rotor surface independently to avoid issues you get when the pad wears unevenly, etc. Perhaps it's not that important, but I wouldn't discount padlets right away. After all, I'm sure it would be cheaper for GM to use single piece pads, too.

 

I had GM ceramic pads on my C5 that I got from Gene Culley. There was a noticable difference in stopping and pressure required with these pads, but once you got used to it, it was OK. I don't track the car so it was fine with me. The decrease in brake dust was really so much better.
My car now, 06 C6 Z51, only has 17K miles on it, so I have a ways to go before I change the pads. Probably will go with ceramic again though.
As OZER says, if GM put padletts on the braking system, there had to be a reason. Do some research.

 

Replacing GS / Z06 Brake Padlets:

I wrote this how-to after installing Hawk ceramic padlets in my 2012 GS.

It is not necessary to remove the calipers when replacing brake pads, so in this procedure, we are not going to be removing the 2 large caliper mount bolts .

1. Locate the guide pins on the caliper. You will see 4 pins on each of the front calipers, and 3 pins on each rear caliper. That is just for the outside of the calipers, but there are the same amount of guide pins on the inside (backside) of the calipers too.

2. Use a Torx-45 bit attached to a 3/8” socket wrench to remove all these guide pins .. Be advised .. some people will tell you that you only need to remove the center guide pins, but after doing this job, I can tell you that you want to remove all of them. Actually, the guide pins were really very easy to remove.

Note: 2007 and earlier models may have Allen heads instead of Torx heads on these guide pins

3. The old padlets can now be grasped with a pair of pliers and removed.

4. Once the padlets are all removed, compress each piston using a small C-clamp. This will make it easier to install the new padlets. A small block of wood may be used on the outer side of the caliper to protect it if the C-clamp you are using don’t have plastic parts that contact the calipers.

Note: The reservoir on the brake master cylinder should be no more than 1/2 full prior to compessing the pistons in the calipers. Otherwise, fluid may flow out of the master cylinder when the caliper pistons are compressed.

5. Clean each guide pin you remove with brake cleaner, and apply a little High Temp Brake Parts Lubricant to each guide pin (this is usually included with the new padlets).

6. First, install the lower guide pin

7. Then insert the padlet, and then the next guide pin. There should be some movement of the pad when the pins are installed properly.

Note: You will see a little tab on each padlet. That tab points to the outside of the caliper.

8. Proceed by installing the padlets from the bottom to the top of the caliper.

9. When all the pads are pins are inserted, torque the guide pins to 30 ft-lbs.


Replacing Brake Padlets With the Calipers Removed:

To many, this is actually the perferred method of replacing the brake padlets.

If you do elect to remove the calipers, you will need a vey long # 21mm wrench and/or a # 21mm socket with a 1/2” drive ratchet in order to remove the 2 caliper mount bolts. The re-torque spec on these 2 bolts, I believe, is 129 ft-lbs.

If the calipers are removed, I was told that you do not need to remove any of the guide pins in order to remove or replace the brake padlets, but personally, I can't see how the padlets can be reomoved with the guide pins still installed.

Note: I attempted to remove my calipers, but the caliper mount bolts were so damned tight, I could not remove them even by hammering on the 1/2” drive wratchet with a large hammer

… good Luck!
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Here is the $6.00 clamp I bought at Lowes. It's small and cheap, but it works GREAT on the pistons in our calipers:



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