rawatenator

I have a 92 Firebird 5.7, and i've notied that when i'm driving at speed and suddently brake, the car swerves. This means my brake calipers need to be changed, right? I'm looking at autozone to find out which calipers to buy and I see there's a wide range, some with brackets, some without. Which should I get?

https://www.autozone.com/brakes-and-...-caliper-front

I'm assuming I also need to replace the brakes at the same time. If so, does the brakepad choice depend on the calipers I choose?

Thanks,
R

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Probably need new hoses actually. Calipers don't fail as often as the hoses.

GeneralDisorder

iTrader: (1)

Agree - if you haven't done hoses - RUN, don't walk (or drive), to the parts store for new hoses. I won't even drive (more than around the block) my 91 Formula that is awaiting stainless hoses and a system flush. Too old to trust. I have had good luck with the Russel performance brake line kits. They even had the correct hose kit for my 86 with 9-bolt and Delco iron calipers.

GD

Tootie Pang

iTrader: (2)

Severe uneven braking is most likely caused by contaminated pad or stuck caliper piston.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Maybe, but the problem I've run into, is the steel fittings on the hoses where they bolt to the caliper or to the hard lines on the chassis. The fluid passage in those steel fittings is tiny. Brake fluid absorbs moisture and debris over time, the steel corrodes, the corrosion restricts the passage, and fluid can't pass through the tiny hole in the fitting. Then you get either a dead caliper, getting no fluid from the system, or you get a locked up caliper when pressure can't return to the system.

I have had several blocked hoses in recent years. Every time I've had a frozen caliper, the piston magically moves freely when the hose is disconnected or the bleeder is opened. Anything is possible, but from my experience it's usually the hoses. FWIW.

naf

iTrader: (7)

with rebuilt calipers as inexpensive as they are, no reason not to change them out with the hoses. gotta flush them anyway.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

I can think of one reason not to change them.



Well, that and $20, two trips to the parts store, dealing with core charges, all for a part that usually just needs the guide pin bushings cleaned and greased...

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

The reason for a pull to one side is most often the rubber hoses.

They rust on the inside, and the initially TINY passage closes off; fluid can't get pushed down to the piston when you use the brakes; it eventually gets past the obstruction; then when you take your foot off the brakes, the pressure stays in the piston because the fluid can't go back, so it takes the piston a long time to retract. The effect is, you hit the brakes; the car pulls HARD toward the side with the good hose; eventually the fluid makes it to the other side, and the car straightens out again; then when you take your foot off the brakes, it pulls HARD toward the side with the bad hose.

Stuck calipers and bad guide pins can produce similar effects but not near as dramatic.

Hoses are less than $20 apiece. Calipers are around $15 apiece. Calipers WITH BRACKETS - such that ALL the sliding moving parts are new and rust free and not sticky - are like $25 apiece. Chump change.

EFFFFF abuncha "which ones do I buy". Buy THE WHOLE SHOOTING MATCH; for like $100 or so you can have ALL COMPLETELY NEW the hydraulic parts of the front brakes. Everything but the rotors. Which I would recommend looking VERY CLOSELY at; ANY signs that they are not PERFECT, just change those out too. That means, rough spots, gouges, uneven rusted spots (VERY common if the car has sat around... wherever the pads were while it sat, tend to get VERY DEEP rusted sections)... You can have your front brakes working just like the day the car rolled out of the stealership way back in the 20th century for WWWAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY under $200.

These cars' front brakes SUCK, except for that ONE virtue: they are DIRT CHEEEEEEEEEEEEP to maintain.