has anyone ever replaced front brake rotors on their alero? if so what is involved, any help would be appreciated. also the same for the front wheel bearings.

 

The rotors are pretty easy. I don't know about the bearings.


Remove the wheel. Then remove the brake caliper. There are two bolts (15 mm I think) on the inside that hold the caliper to the hub. They are pretty tight, but not terribly hard to get to. Once those are out, the caliper will slide off the brake rotor. Do not let the caliper hang by the brake line, use some wire to hang it from the strut or something.


The rotor should just slide off the hub. Before you put the new rotor on, remove all rust from the hub with a wire brush and scotchbrite.


You should be installing new pads with the new rotors. Open the brake reservoir and siphon out about half the fluid. With the caliper off, they'll be easy to put in. Before you remove the old pads, use a C-clamp to push the piston back into the caliper. Check your reservoir midway to make sure it doesn't overflow.


Reinstall everything in the opposite order. Be sure to tighten the bolts holding the caliper on, and refill the reservoir! After bedding in the pads, check everything for tightness, and your brake fluid level again. Then go enjoy!

 

Wheel bearings go through the same process as the rotors. However the nut on the end of the axle needs to be removed. Best done while the tire is still on, and on the ground - lot of force needed to remove it. Once you have the rotor off, there are three bolts that are located BEHIND the steering knuckle. Disconnect the connector for the sensor, unclip the sensor jack from the bracket and carefully remove the bearing assy off of the end of the axle while carefully threading the wire and connector from the sensor through the hole in the knuckle that the end of the axle is protruding through. Try not to put too much pulling force on the axle to prevent cv joint and boot damage while pulling off the bearing assy.

 

also keep in mind after doing a brake job its always a good idea to pump the brakes till the brake pedle becomes hard again. other wise u might find your food goes to the floar when u try to stop the first time.