I'm used to our old cars and need to know if a newer one is all that different. The car is my mom's 2000 Plymouth Breeze. The front brakes are grinding badly and the calipers are hanging. It needs pads, rotors, and calipers. Sears quoted ~$380! Thus, my dad will be pricing the parts (and other garages) to see if it is worth it for me to do. It does NOT have anti-lock breaks. Due to time constraints and weather, it makes more sense to replace the calipers than rebuild. I've done this sort of thing many times on 70s GM cars. For the 2000 Breeze, I'm guessing the rim holds the rotor on (front wheel drive) and the bolts are metric. Otherwise, it should be the same as my old Skylark. I'd hate to get into it and find I need a special tool or something odd like that. Does anyone know if there are any surprizes for a front brake job on this car?
truzi, all it looks like you need is either a breaker bar w some sockets or an allen wrench. a c clamp and a screwdriver and maybe some penetrating oil and brake cleaner. Nate
not familiar with the particular car, but most domestics use a caliper bracket that mounted to the spindle with two bolts, and the caliper mounts to it with another two. usually regular hex bolts, possibly allen. dissasembly is quick and painless. rotor should come right off. if it's pressed on the hub good, a few hammer whacks to the center should get it loose. if the rotor's trashed, anyway, it gets a lot easier to remove. if you can do a brake job on a buick, you can do it on a newer car, as well. some imports (usually euro cars) can get a little funny in their mounting setups, otherwise it's all the same stuff.
Thanx. I didn't think it would be much different, but I had a Toyota that required a special tool for the rear discs (due to the parking brake). My mom had an 88 Cutlass Cierra, and it was so bad that I broke a rotor in two peices trying to beat it off the hub. It was scored too bad to reuse, but still, I was surprized how stuck it was. Just wanted to make sure these newer ones were still basic. So long as I don't have to buy a torx bit It'll be a quick job. Bleeding will be fun in the cold, though.
The ones I can't stand are the late 80s early 90s GM rear drums with the INTERNAL torx socket required to remove the wheel cylinders. Seems easy to strip to me. Was the Torx invented as a better grip fastener or just to make things difficult????therefore take it to the dealer??? Bruce
Thanx for all the opinions. We were leary of Sears' assertion that the calipers were "dragging." My dad found a good deal at a Marathon station, so I won't be doing it. They confirmed our doubts about the calipers.
brakes brakes on the smaller chrysler cars are poor quality !! if the brakes are in the condition that u say , then by all means , replace with all new quality , made in the u.s.a parts , not offshore !! remember to check the rear drums .
