Blazer brake pads don't fit!!!

[sky jumper]

hey Blazer freaks - has anyone used aftermarket rear brake pads from Murrays or Autozone? I did a rear brake job today on a 2000 blazer 4wd (with the drum in hat parking brake). funny thing, every brake pad set at BOTH murrays and AZ did not fit into the old caliper bracket. went back to both stores twice, and second time had them pull out a new semi-loaded caliper (w/o the pads, but with the bracket. neither store had a "fully loaded" caliper in stock..hmm wonder why) - and nope, the new pads didn't fit in the new calipers either! they were just a tiny bit too long -- they could've been forced in with, say, a hammer, but then they would be stuck and could not move. and further yet - the old brake pads were absolutely frozen into the caliper brackets...almost as if someone forced them in with a hammer (it took a hammer to get them out). hmmm. so I finally just got the chepo AZ duralast ones and took them to my grinder to shave 0.5mm off each end so they would slide freely in the pad retainers. greased them up good and put it all back together.

so has anyone else with a Blazer seen this?? I can't be the only one, especially since the reman calipers don't even match the pads.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

In the past I have run into a problem where the aftermarket brake pads were too thick to fit. This applied to more than one car. You could not fit both new pads between the caliper and the rotor. Then it was jerry-rig time (grinder, etc.), much as you did.

 

[sky jumper]

right. just to be clear, these pads were not too thick (such that the caliper could not be installed over top of them), but instead were too long, such that they could not be installed within the retainers on either end of the caliper bracket that holds them... and could not be installed on a new (e.g. reman) caliper!

in 20 years of doing brake jobs I've never seen this. makes me wonder what all the cheap-o brake job places are doing? just pounding them in place with a hammer, much like the old pads I took off (that were no doubt a Midas special)?

 

[CharBaby]

I just replaced the rear rotors and pads on my brother-in-law's '02 Blazer and ran into the same situation. I had to make them fit by bringing the pads over to my bench grinder and grinding a little at a time. Make sure that the rattle clip in the bracket that holds the pads is really clean. Had to use the wire wheel on a drill. I then added lots of Permatex Brake Lube. They're OK now!

 

[sky jumper]

unbelievable. how do these places get away with this?

 

[Kestas]

It sounds like somebody (China?) goofed during a production setup to produce the metal backings. What was the country of origin?

The only time I had difficulty fitting pads that were too thick was because impacted brake dust needed to be wire brushed from the slots to make room for new pads.

 

[alreadygone]

Done brakes at my shop over 30 years. See this occasionally. Just about every brand. Don't understand why it's a problem(as long as you grind to fit). Any shop that beat them in with a hammer would learn better REAL fast. More than likely a shadetree "expert". Had more problems before end spacers with pads that were too loose and rattled. Come to think of it, spacers were probably put in use to allow for more tolerance of parts fit.

 

[deepsquat]

another reason to buy brake pads at the dealer!
I used to own a toyota celica ..bought after market pads twice in the 10 years I owened it..both times had to go to the dealer to get ones that wouldn't squeek or through off dust like a tornado!
In fact I just did a job on the rear of my Altima..had been squeeking really bad for a while.( shoes where only 20,000 miles old ) I found one of the shoes had lost a chunk out of it...other then that there was planty of material left.
My ex-wife couldn't get herer Escort to stop squeeking ..told her get the pads from the dealer...that fixed it...one of the few things the OEM is the way to go ./

 

[Whimsey]

I replaced the front pads on my '96 Contour at about 65,000 miles. The rotors were barely worn. For replacement pads I used Ford OEM, not Motorcraft, pads. The OEM pads cost more than the Motorcraft pads. But considering the great life I got out of them and the fact they didn't wear the factory rotors down it was a small price to pay. They stop the car fine without vibration on the original rotors. I did not have the rotors turned when I put the new pads on. My rear drum brakes @ 65,000 miles still have 60% life left on them.

Whimsey

 

[Brett Miller]

GM laid a big egg with the rear disc brakes on the S-10 and Blazer. I know they cost me a couple hundred bucks on my S-10. Drums would have still been going strong.

If I remember correctly, they went back to rear drums on the Colorado.

[ September 06, 2006, 09:57 PM: Message edited by: Brett Miller ]

 

[labman]

Rear disks make more sense on a RWD truck. Glad
GM didn't complicate my life with rear disks on my Cavalier.

 

[Kestas]

Alreadygone has a good point. I too remember buying pads that were loose and rattled in the caliper. I'd rather buy them slightly oversized and grind them to fit. The downside is that not everybody has a grinder at home.

 

[unDummy]

Maybe the problem wasn't with the pads?
Pad dimensions are available if anyone wants to start measuring.

I've had to file fit on various vehicles.
I don't expect perfection from an assembly line.

Too small of a caliper or too big of a pad issues are easily adjusted with a grinder, file....

I'm selective with non-OEM pads and have no problems using non-OEM parts. But, there are plenty of cheapo parts out there. I've also used plenty of OEM parts that were cheap, poor performing, noisy..........
Shop selectively.

 

[alreadygone]

Most of the noise problems I encounter is with OEM from the showroom pads. After we install midgrade aftermarket pads PROPERLY have few noise comebacks.

bob