When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
^^^
I like the Snap-On business model BUT it means high prices! Bought the 10 point socket a forum poster said fit - from Amazon. Same one used on Porsche Cayenne, Audi SUV brake calipers. Paid $16 delivered in 2 days. Saw the same one on eBay for ~$10 but directly from China shipped in ~3 weeks.
However, IF you remove the center bolt so you don't have to remove the caliper to remove the pads you'll have to deal with the strong double sided tape that holds the pads to the pistons. I had similar tape on my early 2014 Z51 front brakes (note not used after ~ mid 2014.) Unlike the video where he broke the bond by putting the tape in tension, I could not get the pads to budge leveraging upward with the tape to piston being held in shear! My method was to use a stiff paint scraper and hammer as shown below (took a lot of force
PIC Left From My Early 2014 Z51 Pad Install PDF.
That Nut is NOT Because of High Torque. Reportedly comes out easy as it just prevents the calipers from spreading.
Did you get the socket? Its 10 point but is it 8 9 or 11 MM. If you got the socket, please post the Amazon P/N. Thanks in advance.
^^^
That's a pic of what I bought. Same one from Amazon that a poster said fit! It does not give a mm size. It is also used on the Cayenne, VW and Audi equivalate SUV. Can buy a bit cheaper from China via eBay but wanted to get what he said fit! $16.
Don't have my C8 yep BUT like I did on my Grand Sport will have low dust pads purchased before it arrives so I can change pads day 1 and not have to clean the rotors of OEM brake pad residue.
Still waiting to see a comment about how someone who removed the center pin got the pads unstuck from the high temp piston to pad tape.
^^ Be interesting to see how each fits! Also when you remove the center pin and not the caliper to change pads how you break the holding force from the double sided brake tape.
^^ Be interesting to see how each fits! Also when you remove the center pin and not the caliper to change pads how you break the holding force from the double sided brake tape.
I would use a sharp scraper. A little heat from a heat gun could help.
^^^
The same tape was used on the early 2014 Z51 front pads. Mine was built in September 2013. Later 2014's did not use the very strong two sided brake tape. When I changed my pads the solutions suggested were not easy, like a hack saw blade etc. Tried a solvent, no help. Finally sharpened a stiff paint scraper and used a hammer. But took a lot of force. Not sure a heat gun will help as you can look up the specs and the one 3M sells can handle very high heat!
The reason for no slotted or drilled brake rotors in the C8 is because they require pads with copper content for a couple of reasons, including the longevity of the pads.
Many research results indicate that copper has a good ductility, which is conducive to the formation of stable, continuous and uniform friction transfer film on the counter surface, and plays a role in stabilizing the friction coefficient and reducing wear loss.
SSB 6557 adopted in Washington State in 2010 limits the amount of copper that is allowed to be used in friction materials, to be eventually phased out to trace amounts, due to the negative impact of high copper levels on aquatic life.
Drilled and slotted rotors make more noise, more dust, wear pads faster, retain dirt and water in the grooves, are more expensive, are very tough to re machine.
Therefore, GM couldn't use copper pads and therefore chose not to use drilled/slotted rotors on the 2020 Corvette.
Thanks
? Buy cermic pads, as easy as that. The reason behind slotted and drilled, they are cheaper, the C8 still has the same LH rotor on both the LH and RH. The theory you are saying is just that. They do not wear pads faster and they do not cause more dust, the pad material does so when you go to Ceramic you will not have anymore with either a solid rotor or drilled/slotted.
^^^^ Think you meant the reason for the C8 using solid and not slotted and drilled rotors is the lower cost!
Also on my prior C6 Z51 and C7 Z51 and Grand Sport slotted and drilled were mostly (if not all) for "BLING!"
Not using them on the C8 has nothing to do with copper free pads, IMO! Investigated Copper and Iron possibly causing "rotor browning. " It's probably more excess Iron contaminant in a raw material. This is part of what I found:
Why Copper Free Brake Pads: "Why do some pads use components that could be considered harmful to the environment? Part of the answer is that some materials effect on the environment were not fully realized until a few decades ago.
Two states have legislation limiting its overall content in brake pad formulations. The main focus of new laws in Washington state and California revolves around protecting the environment. Studies have shown 35 to 60% of the copper in water run-off is caused by brake dust! Much of the dust that is emitted into the air is blown onto areas next to the road, or is washed into the storm drains when it rains. Most storm drains flow directly into creeks, rivers and marine waters without wastewater treatment. Copper and other harmful materials can hurt and kill small marine animals and even render some fish without a sense of smell.
Marine Invertebrates: Invertebrates, which represent more than 95% of the known species on Earth, are animals without backbones. They are diverse, interesting, colorful, and unusual, marine life. In invertebrate marine life, copper alters their biochemical and biophysical properties even at very low concentrations. Water with even 0.018 ppm copper can be toxic to some invertebrates. In California and Washington, brake pads in 2025 must have less than 0.5% copper.
Benefits of Copper: Despite its drawbacks, copper performs several functions: It adds structural integrity to the brake pad material, reduces fade so that brakes remain effective through extended braking events, transfers heat efficiently, and helps brakes be more effective in cold weather. Copper also has properties that help prevent brakes from squeaking and shuddering.
Brake pad manufacturers are finding other materials to provide those braking properties. For example, Stainless Steel Swarf (small chips, turnings of SS) can replace copper with similar performance. Some have already introduced “copper free” brake pads, including Bendix, Bosch, Brembo and Hitachi who state: “we have developed “copper free” brake pads with a stable friction coefficient by substitution of materials that perform the thermal conductivity and lubricating priorities with improvement in the change in friction surface.
My Experience With Iron Contamination: Iron contamination of the brake pad raw materials could be a cause of the brown rotors. While managing in a welding materials R&D laboratory in Ohio I passed an open pit mine of a material we used in some of our welding fluxes. It was on the way to the Drag Races in Thompson Ohio, it was sand! The company we purchased from had various grades they sold at different prices. The highest grade was sold to folks making silicon commuter chips; it had very low iron content. Iron is a contaminant in the silica sand. In welding, it can influence the flux performance so we purchased a low residual content product that had low iron. We paid more than the “sand” they sold for concrete etc. that was a brown color.
When I passed this very large open pit mind you could see areas of pure white sand and the more common brown sand. We purchased product with a guaranteed maximum iron and other unwanted containments. As we did with all steel welding wire that came into the plant we checked the chemistry of the sand and other ingredients. That is the cost required to make a quality product. In fact, we were delivering some of these products to weld 10-inch-thick Nuclear power vessels and Nuclear submarines.Recent Info, Copper free Pads:
Brake manufacturers have developed new, low-copper and copper-free brake pads. Many of these new reduced-copper and copper-free friction materials actually perform better than the last-generation friction materials they replace. Improvements include better stopping power, improved wear resistance, and reduced dusting and noise.
Latest Copper Free Pad Info:
Finding ways to reduce copper in existing friction materials led to new ways to improve overall braking performance. Thus, consumers get not only a new generation of environmentally-friendly friction materials but a significant step-up in braking performance. Most consumers who have had the new reduced copper pads installed on their vehicles report a noticeable improvement in how well their brakes perform. Repair shops are also seeing fewer comebacks.
One solution replaces Copper with by Stainless Steel Swarf (stainless chips from machining etc) in the brake-pads. In tests adding 5 to ~10% SS swarf showed performance properties of brakes pads, including wear resistance improved significantly with higher levels."
Agree with your conclusion, to get low dust IF not Tracking use ceramic pads designed for Street use.
^^^^ Think you meant the reason for the C8 using solid and not slotted and drilled rotors is the lower cost!
Also on my prior C6 Z51 and C7 Z51 and Grand Sport slotted and drilled were mostly (if not all) for "BLING!"
Not using them on the C8 has nothing to do with copper free pads, IMO! Investigated Copper and Iron possibly causing "rotor browning. " It's probably more excess Iron contaminant in a raw material. This is part of what I found:
Why Copper Free Brake Pads: "Why do some pads use components that could be considered harmful to the environment? Part of the answer is that some materials effect on the environment were not fully realized until a few decades ago.
Two states have legislation limiting its overall content in brake pad formulations. The main focus of new laws in Washington state and California revolves around protecting the environment. Studies have shown 35 to 60% of the copper in water run-off is caused by brake dust! Much of the dust that is emitted into the air is blown onto areas next to the road, or is washed into the storm drains when it rains. Most storm drains flow directly into creeks, rivers and marine waters without wastewater treatment. Copper and other harmful materials can hurt and kill small marine animals and even render some fish without a sense of smell.
Marine Invertebrates: Invertebrates, which represent more than 95% of the known species on Earth, are animals without backbones. They are diverse, interesting, colorful, and unusual, marine life. In invertebrate marine life, copper alters their biochemical and biophysical properties even at very low concentrations. Water with even 0.018 ppm copper can be toxic to some invertebrates. In California and Washington, brake pads in 2025 must have less than 0.5% copper.
Benefits of Copper: Despite its drawbacks, copper performs several functions: It adds structural integrity to the brake pad material, reduces fade so that brakes remain effective through extended braking events, transfers heat efficiently, and helps brakes be more effective in cold weather. Copper also has properties that help prevent brakes from squeaking and shuddering.
Brake pad manufacturers are finding other materials to provide those braking properties. For example, Stainless Steel Swarf (small chips, turnings of SS) can replace copper with similar performance. Some have already introduced “copper free” brake pads, including Bendix, Bosch, Brembo and Hitachi who state: “we have developed “copper free” brake pads with a stable friction coefficient by substitution of materials that perform the thermal conductivity and lubricating priorities with improvement in the change in friction surface.
My Experience With Iron Contamination: Iron contamination of the brake pad raw materials could be a cause of the brown rotors. While managing in a welding materials R&D laboratory in Ohio I passed an open pit mine of a material we used in some of our welding fluxes. It was on the way to the Drag Races in Thompson Ohio, it was sand! The company we purchased from had various grades they sold at different prices. The highest grade was sold to folks making silicon commuter chips; it had very low iron content. Iron is a contaminant in the silica sand. In welding, it can influence the flux performance so we purchased a low residual content product that had low iron. We paid more than the “sand” they sold for concrete etc. that was a brown color.
When I passed this very large open pit mind you could see areas of pure white sand and the more common brown sand. We purchased product with a guaranteed maximum iron and other unwanted containments. As we did with all steel welding wire that came into the plant we checked the chemistry of the sand and other ingredients. That is the cost required to make a quality product. In fact, we were delivering some of these products to weld 10-inch-thick Nuclear power vessels and Nuclear submarines.Recent Info, Copper free Pads:
Brake manufacturers have developed new, low-copper and copper-free brake pads. Many of these new reduced-copper and copper-free friction materials actually perform better than the last-generation friction materials they replace. Improvements include better stopping power, improved wear resistance, and reduced dusting and noise.
Latest Copper Free Pad Info:
Finding ways to reduce copper in existing friction materials led to new ways to improve overall braking performance. Thus, consumers get not only a new generation of environmentally-friendly friction materials but a significant step-up in braking performance. Most consumers who have had the new reduced copper pads installed on their vehicles report a noticeable improvement in how well their brakes perform. Repair shops are also seeing fewer comebacks.
One solution replaces Copper with by Stainless Steel Swarf (stainless chips from machining etc) in the brake-pads. In tests adding 5 to ~10% SS swarf showed performance properties of brakes pads, including wear resistance improved significantly with higher levels."
Agree with your conclusion, to get low dust IF not Tracking use ceramic pads designed for Street use.
Yes, I didn't say for race pads, just for the street and yes the rotor issue was absolutely a cost thing, which I think is really stupid. They could have at least used the same ZO6 rotors the C7 had non Ceramic.
Speaking of copper, if you have a problem with moss, or have green crap growing on a shaded section of your roof, copper can be used to eliminate it. Simply clean it off to start (bleach and water on a cool roof does wonders; hose clean after it sits for awhile) and take bare copper wire and stretch it horizontally across the roof. I used copper roofing nails at the ends and wrapped the solid core wire around them. Small diameter bare wire (#14 AWG) works fine. When it rains, enough of the copper leaches out and makes the roof below the wire unfriendly for moss. I spaced the copper wire about four feet apart, so I have 4 rows. No more moss, green stuff and no more maintenance!
^^^
FWIW, zinc does something similar. That's what no mildew a short distance below galvanized flashing around a skylight etc. We bought roof shingles that have zinc included in the asphalt gravel mixture!
Assume you have the 1521 pads. Put 100 miles on them, you may find a light grey dust . It will eventually go away.
As for the sqeek, did you install the backing shims?
Hopefully you 2nd post will be good news!
I installed Carbotech 1521 pads on my 2014 Z51. I was having to clean the dust with OEM pads every 3 or 4 trips to town or they not only looked bad they were pitting from the dust. . After and for the 3 1/2 I had it, 85+% dust and only washed my wheels when I washed the car. NO wheel pitting. Installed on my 2017 Grand Sport and on week one when I got my C8! Same with the C8 wash the wheels when I wash the car.
Pic below is the ceramic brake pad lub I put on the Carbotech pad backs and not a peep in 8 years of C7s and 2 years with my C8.
I also bought and installed Carbotech 1521 pads for my Z51 and installed Girodisc rotors at the same time. Made a HUGE difference in the amount of dust generated, and no squeaks. Don't believe everything you read until you've tried it yourself.
Assume you have the 1521 pads. Put 100 miles on them, you may find a light grey dust . It will eventually go away.
As for the sqeek, did you install the backing shims?
Hopefully you 2nd post will be good news!
Yes to the 1521.....dust just as bad, if not worse than the OEMs w/ 5,000 miles on them. Sqeeking finally went away after about 1500 miles. I did not Burnish them, as advised not to.
Yes to the 1521.....dust just as bad, if not worse than the OEMs w/ 5,000 miles on them. Sqeeking finally went away after about 1500 miles. I did not Burnish them, as advised not to.
So i should have bought the "powerstop" Z26 pads, instead of the carbotech 1521.? How was i to know. The carbotech claimed low dust. Guess low is a relative term.!
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
Socket
Be interesting to see how each fits! Also when you remove the center pin and not the caliper to change pads how you break the holding force from the double sided brake tape.
Think you meant the reason for the C8 using solid and not slotted and drilled rotors is the lower cost!
