So me and my boyfriend spent the better part of the day hunting down rear pads for my car. They are destroyed with only 21k miles. we are in a ongoing battle with GM right now and hope to get this problem resolved and shed some light on the problem many are having. But i wanted to pass on the info we learned yesterday. After going to all the parts places in the area and getting the wrong pads every time my boyfriend decided to do some part number crosses. as it turns out 08 and newer SS's have there own brakes. all other cobalts before and lower models have the same. this includes the HHR(all trim levals even SS, Ion, G5, and the Pontiac Pursuit. this part number is 1033.

Now the 08 and up Cobalt SS shares its rear brakes with the Saab 9.3 2.0 turbo. im sure it shares more than that with it but im 100% on the rear pads. the part number is 1095. This is the same set of pads the dealer charges 120 bucks for. we got them at autozone for 26.99. The autozone pads are temporary untill we and gm figure out the underlining issue with the brakes. once that is done the car will get a set of hawk pads all the way around.

just wanted to pass the info along to those of you that have to do the brakes them selves after the dealer told you to take a hike. once i get my case resolved with gm i will pass the info on to you. for any of you having the same problems please call gm customer service and file a complaint. the more people who do this will help Gm relize there is a issue with these cars. the number is 1-800-222-1020. they have been more than helpfull and have promised me this will be fixed but well see.

Alexandra

 

i think your referring to the tc right? yes the rear calipers are different than previous years...as for 120 on pads...that crazy. good you have it figured out though

 

Many post have been made about the rear brakes on 08 & up ss's. These are performance brakes which means pads are made out of aggressive materials NOT found in everyday pads. The performance pads will not last as many miles as you may be acustomed too, also pads are not ussually covered under warranty because they are normal wear items. Now say if you are in the same boat as me the sliders on the calipers seized up my outer pads are at about 40% remaining and the inner pads are gone(I'm at 15k miles and drive aggressively) down to metal then they should be replaced under warranty because the caliper seizing caused premature wear. In all honesty 21k miles on the rear pads is only slightly below what most people have been getting 23-25k. So anyway best of luck with the dealer!

 

Its not only that the rear pads are worn, its that one pad is worn more than the other on the same side. And they are grooved very badly which means there is an underlying issue. this could mean that the braking system is not working right and messing up the rear brakes. And these rear breaks are hardly performance brakes by any means. gm dropped the ball on that. If my front disc brakes are super awesome and do most of the stopping and they are fine, then there is no reason my back ones are like this at 20k.

 

Welcome to December 2008!!!!

Yes the SS/TC uses the same pads as the Saab 9-3 with big rear brakes, this same pad shape is also the same as used on the Solstice an Mazda3/VolvoS40.

The rear pads on the SS have a heavy metallic content, and are unique to the SS afaik, even when yoiu order pads for it from the dealer you dont get the same pads as whats on the car. In my opinion it is this heavy metallic content, along with the lack of a dust sheild thats causing this issue.


The brakes are high performance, they work very well, its just that the pads are very aggressive and road debris/dirt collects on the inner pad and gets ground in.

 

On every GM car that I've ever owned the rear pads outlasted the front pads by at least 2 x mileage )>= 50Kmiles. The exception is the 08 Cobalt SS < 20K miles. This is on the order of at least < 1/2 x mileage.

GM messed up this one which explains allot regarding the current state of the company.

The last car I owned was a 2001 Grand Prix GT, the one before that was a 94 Grand Am. (that's as far back as I'll go) and both had rear disks and I've always ridden them hard.