08-10 SS Turbocharged General Discussion Discuss the 2008 - 2009 Chevy Cobalt SS Turbocharged. On sale since the second quarter of 2008.

SS TC Rear Caliper. Frozen or Secret?

Old Nov 8, 2010 | 11:10 PM
  #26  
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I'll be honest, though I've used mine on a few cars, the only time my 'balt has seen new brakes the dealer did it under warranty.
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Old Nov 9, 2010 | 07:39 AM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by 08SStc
i dont know about you guys that use the cube. but i bought the same or at least similiar cube. the only one pepboys or autozone had and the not one of the six sides fit my rear brakes.
lol I agree, I got mine at pepboys. none of the sides fit so you arent crazy. I used an air saw and a clamp and "trimed" the side that was closest to fitting... now it fits
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Old Nov 9, 2010 | 11:25 AM
  #28  
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i just ended up using a clamp to compress and very carefully twisting with vice grips. only took what i figure was an extra 2 mins per side.
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Old Nov 9, 2010 | 11:31 AM
  #29  
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Needle nose pliers are easy. If you're having trouble crack the bleeder and do it. Makes it very easy. Should bleed the brakes anyways if you have 20k miles on them. Don't need fancy tools. Elbow grease+patience+needle nose pliers is it.
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Old Nov 9, 2010 | 12:19 PM
  #30  
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Sub'd not just for hilarity but good info
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Old Nov 9, 2010 | 06:16 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by ronn


Fellas....
The GM part I posted is a friggin $10 and change. Come on.
Just order the thing AHEAD of time and be done with it.
Agreed with ronn, the cheap Brake Cube does not work (atleast the one I got didn't) I will be buying this tool before my next rear brake job.
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Old Nov 9, 2010 | 06:36 PM
  #32  
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I can't quit laughing at this.
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Old Nov 10, 2010 | 03:52 PM
  #33  
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This is why people shouldn't try and service their own cars. Here's a guy who has no idea what he's even doing, he's servicing his brakes, and then he's going to be out on the road again with the rest of us. Its ludacris.

If this clown stood on that caliper piston compressor hard enough, he may have damaged the parking brake mechanism inside the caliper. May end up having to replace the caliper itself, and obviously BLEED the system.
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Old Nov 10, 2010 | 05:47 PM
  #34  
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I'll probably get this:
18 Piece Disc Brake Pad and Caliper Service Tool Kit

I work on enough rear brakes that it would be nice not to use the cube. I have the cube, and I Dremeled one side so that it fits our rear calipers, but it's still a PITA. With the right tool, it's not too hard at all.
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Old Nov 10, 2010 | 07:05 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by 08SSTCRD
This is why people shouldn't try and service their own cars. Here's a guy who has no idea what he's even doing, he's servicing his brakes, and then he's going to be out on the road again with the rest of us. Its ludacris.

If this clown stood on that caliper piston compressor hard enough, he may have damaged the parking brake mechanism inside the caliper. May end up having to replace the caliper itself, and obviously BLEED the system.
I don't know about you, Hot Dog, but I'd bet most of us learned by trying and asking questions. Maybe you should get off your high horse, the air up there must be too thin to think straight.
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Old Nov 11, 2010 | 10:41 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by Sox-Fan
I don't know about you, Hot Dog, but I'd bet most of us learned by trying and asking questions. Maybe you should get off your high horse, the air up there must be too thin to think straight.
Its not worth having careless people try and work on their cars to try and save a few bucks because they think they can "figure it out". Thats stupid and ignorant.

Most states require professionals to have licenses to do work on electrical systems and gas systems in homes. This is to prevent idiots from burning their own houses down or their neighbors house. Common sense says if you have no clue what you are doing, you should put the tools down and let a professional do the work.

Unfortunately, there is no such law for automotive repair, so we have idiots trying to work on their own vehicles and then driving them on the road with the rest of us.

Would you say the same thing if this guy serviced his brakes and then they failed to work properly causing an accident that seriously injured or killed one of your family members?? Of course not, which is exactly why he shouldn't even be touching the brake system on his car.

We're talking about systems that stop and turn metal objects weighing up to 2 tons from causing high speed collisions with people, vehicles, and other objects. Only an idiot would reccommend that someone with no training or experience service these systems.
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Old Nov 11, 2010 | 11:12 PM
  #37  
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Wow, I'm glad that I don't live in your world, sport. We'd still be neanderthals, afraid to try, afraid to learn.
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Old Nov 11, 2010 | 11:17 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by Sox-Fan
Wow, I'm glad that I don't live in your world, sport. We'd still be neanderthals, afraid to try, afraid to learn.
You're totally missing the point.

People shouldn't experiment on things when their own safety or the safety of other people is at risk.

We're not talking about learing to wash a car here, we're talking about safety related service. Get a clue.

If he wants to "learn", then he should buy the proper tools and a service manual and follow it exactly, or have a certified technician help him do the job to ensure its done right.

Doing it by himself in the parking lot and just guessing how to do the work is just plain stupid.
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Old Nov 12, 2010 | 07:15 AM
  #39  
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I did my own brakes and i've never done them before? I dont see a problem here.

I made sure to test my brakes repeatedly on a closed course. meaning the empty road my cousins shop is on
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Old Nov 12, 2010 | 08:11 PM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by 08SSTCRD
You're totally missing the point.

People shouldn't experiment on things when their own safety or the safety of other people is at risk.

We're not talking about learing to wash a car here, we're talking about safety related service. Get a clue.

If he wants to "learn", then he should buy the proper tools and a service manual and follow it exactly, or have a certified technician help him do the job to ensure its done right.

Doing it by himself in the parking lot and just guessing how to do the work is just plain stupid.

I'm not missing your point. I disagree with it. My point is that your head is up your ass.
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Old Nov 12, 2010 | 08:27 PM
  #41  
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It's not rocket science and well, while I agree there are more detrimental things DIY backyard shadetree types could do (like work on ABS or AIRBAG systems) This is one of those things that even if they do **** it up, if they somehow manage to put it back together the car will still STOP when they hit the brakes.

Besides, I encourage everyone to attempt their own repairs, it's how I make my living, when it gets out of hand and the wife says you need to get a professional to fix it, I get a service call and you get your car fixed for a good price and there's no harm no foul except maybe a couple mangled parts.
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Old Nov 13, 2010 | 12:05 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by Sox-Fan
I'm not missing your point. I disagree with it. My point is that your head is up your ass.
Then you are an idiot if you can't understand the importance of properly servicing an automobile that puts other people's lives at risk on the road.
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Old Nov 13, 2010 | 12:11 AM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by army_greywolf
It's not rocket science and well, while I agree there are more detrimental things DIY backyard shadetree types could do (like work on ABS or AIRBAG systems) This is one of those things that even if they do **** it up, if they somehow manage to put it back together the car will still STOP when they hit the brakes.
I had an idiot come into the shop the other day. Put the brakes together wrong and sprayed disc brake quiet all over the FRICTION SURFACE of the pads. Want to know how well the car stopped?? Barely at all. The guy should NOT have touched the car. He did, nd not only did he ruin a set of perfectly good brake components, but he also put his life and everyone else's life at risk because of his ignorance and stupidity. Not worth it.

As I already said...there is nothing wrong with working on your own car if you have the proper knowledge, experience, tools, and reference materials to do the job properly. However, it seems a lot of people think they can do things just by guessing, which is just plain stupid.
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Old Nov 13, 2010 | 03:37 PM
  #44  
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I used a coat hanger, scissors, and frozen hot dog
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Old Nov 13, 2010 | 05:53 PM
  #45  
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The bigger picture to me is when you noticed the scoring at 12k why didn't you take it to the dealer for warranty work? This is what it's for.

I had to take mine in three times before they got it correct, but I didn't even have to touch the brakes, and each time, they gave me a free loaner car.

They even told me if I wanted to buy performance pads and rotors that they would install those instead of the stock ones.
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Old Nov 19, 2010 | 04:21 PM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by CaptainXS
After 12k miles my rear brakes were all scored and worthless, but that is no news to anyone. But at 20k they were metal on metal, and grinding bad, so i finally located a set of rotors and got some new pads.

Pulled the wheel and caliper today, went to go compress the caliper and NOTHING! it actually twisted the plastic handle right off my lil autozone brake caliper compressor tool...

so i thought "oh darn it i must have the ebrake on!!" but nope.. ebrake off.
then i thought "oh maybe these are like those import brakes that you have to bleed to compress" so i crack the bleeder and put a c-clamp on her.. and again NOTHING. I got like 5 drips from the bleeder with the clamp twisted down. but visibly the piston hasnt budged a fraction of an inch....

So... Do i just have a siezed caliper? or is there some bizarre trick to compressing these that i dont know about (much like the beloved spare tire that only fits on the rear axle, so to fix a front flat you need to use a rear on the front and the spare on the rear.. just met a fellow at the tire shop who learned that the hard way, thanks GM!)

I am stuck here now with my car torn apart and up in the air... As difficult as it was to get rotors for this car, i dont even want to think about the headaches and cost of a new caliper!!!

So please someone tell me that i just have to hold down the lock and trunk button on my key fob simultaneously while compressing the caliper to open the bleeder check valve... Cuz if these are frozen i am majorly screwed.

(but the odd thing is that the brakes worked... parking brake and pedal brakes work in the rear... (i know because the grinding noise of the rotors gets crazy loud when i step on the brakes... and if my parking brake didnt work my car would be in the neighbors front yard)

I am so confused... someone please help...
https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/08-1...recall-187787/ look here lots of info
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