2001 Suburban Front Brakes

Ok, so I have done brakes before, but on a '75 Triumph, not a truck...

Do I need to pull the brake line and remove the caliper to change the pads, or is there a better way?

Is it normal to only have 1" wide wear on the inner side of the rotor, as opposed to the whole pad width?

Is it normal for the driver's side to wear faster than the passenger's side?

Is it normal for there to be rust appearing on the rotors after 3-4 days of sitting?

Thanks

Bob

1. You will not need to remove the brake lines to replace your brake pads. I'd suggest picking up a Haynes or Chilton's repair manual for your vehicle and looking at the front brake pads replacement section. Have confidence, however, because the job is actually a very easy job.
2. The wear caused by friction between the brake pads and brake rotor should be the entire width of the brake pads. If this is not your case there are several causes and all will require someone with a fairly thorough knowledge of disc brake systems to properly diagnose.
3. Whether the right front or left front brakes wear at a higher rate than the other side, barring any mechanical problems, is normally caused by driving habits (i.e. trail braking into turns).
4. The rust that is forming on the friction surface of your rotors after a couple days of sitting is very normal. This exposed metal is unprotected from the elements and corrosion.

I hope this helps. Feel free to email me if you need additional information.

Thank you, this will be helpful. I was planning on picking up a Haynes manual at some point, so this is an excellent time for that.

I think I will feel better if I replace the rotors too, so I hope they come off fairly easy. I think they are the originals, and I don't like how they look. If I can do this, and get a few more years out of this truck, then I will be happy.

If the wear pattern continues to be a problem with the new pads and rotors, then I will have a shop look things over.

Thanks again for the help. I will let you know how it goes, or if I have other questions.

Bob

Is it normal to only have 1" wide wear on the inner side of the rotor, as opposed to the whole pad width?

Its actually pretty common to see that on the inner rotor. Most of the time the pads are frozen to the caliper bracket. There will be metal shims that the pads rest on, if you take off those shims you'll find a lot of corrosion underneath. Clean off all that corrosion, apply a little high temp anti-seize, and the new pads should slide into place and move will little to no effort.

Excellent... I will pick up some high temp anti seize. Thanks for the info.