How to change your brakes on your 2007 Tahoe

[fuel74]

Nice write up - thanks. I need to do this soon. Decided when I bought this Tahoe to learn how to take care of it myself. To many iffy service visits.

 

[llllljrlllll]

Nice write up - thanks. I need to do this soon. Decided when I bought this Tahoe to learn how to take care of it myself. To many iffy service visits.

That's how you do it bro, satisfaction of doing it yourself, saving a little bit of money, and getting dirty......and you have the excuse for a couple of beers.....

 

[llllljrlllll]

Hey moderators, can we make this sticky. come on over 20k, more than any write up....

 

[Mussin]

I highly reccomend that people try to do thier own brakes, it really easy. I also just use the old pad and a large "c" clamp to compress the pistons back in flush to the caliper housing. Ive never had to remove the resiviour cap though. Then again I always do my own brakes so I dont add fluid when the brakes are wore. Once you do it you will wonder why they charge so much for a brake job?

Jeremy

 

[joshuaryan]

Thanks for the post, I've done brakes many of times but have never pulled the cap of the brake fluid reservoir. I'll keep that in mind for next time.

 

[Freedom Motorsports]

Just found this thread researching something and I would like to add for everyone. If you are going to go through the expense of installing new pads, definitely have the rotors turned or replaced. There is nothing worse than being in an emergency stop situation and lose almost all brake "grab" due to an improperly seated set of brake pads.

Also, when I do a brake job, I always remove the cap during the job. I have never seen the seals fail from one of my customers. As for water contamination, this IS an issue with leaving the cap off for any length of time at all. Brake fluid absorbs water very quickly. However, when putting on new pads/rotors. I ALWAYS FULLY flush the brake and power steering fluid (on hydroboost equipped trucks) and new pad/caliper hardware. It is cheap insurance when installing new hard parts to replace the fluids at the same time. You will get the most out of the new hard parts doing so. The pad/caliper hardware does wear out and get weak over time, installing the new hardware will also help to ensure that you are keeping the pads properly aligned in the caliper bracket.

Lastly, make sure you properly clean and grease the caliper guide pins before reinstallation. If they are not properly cleaned and greased they can seize and leave you with a non functional caliper.

With brakes, there simply is no good reason to take chances only performing part of the job. Whether you buy synthetic fluids and upgraded performance brake parts or regular OEM replacement parts. Properly servicing your entire brake system at one time will save you more money than you realize over the life of your truck.

 

[Mgyver1]

For 2007-2009 Tahoes, etc-

Discard front rotors at:

1.437" for RPO code JH6
1.083" for RPO code JD9

Discard rear rotors at:

1.083" for RPO JH6
0.709" for RPO JD9

If you need help finding your RPO codes use this link: http://www.compnine.com/vid.php

Torques specs for caliper bolts are:
front caliper to bracket: 74 ft-lb
front caliper to knuckle: 148 ft-lb
rear caliper to bracket: 28 ft-lb
rear caliper to knuckle: 148 ft-lb

For the Tahoes, Yukons, etc that have rear brake pads the part number is 1194, ceramic is the OE material. Parking brake shoes are 781.

Lug nut torque is 100 ft-lb.

My manual says the lug nut torque spec is 140, and I believe that's true for all GMT900s