♚ Regal GS - Brembo Brakes ♚ Master Thread ♚

[IndyGS]

Man, I really wish Rock Auto would carry the OEM pads. GM Parts Direct seems to operate at glacial speed. I ordered the new pads last Friday, and didn't get a tracking number until today. I had them shipped to my work, thinking that they would arrive sometime this week. Now, because of their foot dragging, they are set to arrive on Friday, when nobody will be here for the 4th of July. And our shipping department isn't open on the weekend, so it looks like I won't get them until next Monday. I realize that this is, in part, my fault for not buying them sooner, and not getting the shipped to my house. But when a company advertises $183 for pads, then tacks on $44 in "Shipping and Handling" fees, I kind of expect them to step pretty lively about it. 5 days "processing" and then sending it the slowest shipping method possible doesn't seem like $44 worth of value to me. Every time I've ordered from Rock Auto, I've gotten a tracking number within 24 hours.

 

[nizerims]

About a month late but I finally got the part number for the GS front rotors...... GM Part Number: 92245928 Part: Front Disc Brake Rotor

I changed my front rotors and pads with NAPA Ultra Premium....
Rotor part number: UP 880756
Pads part number: UP UP7902M

Rear rotor part number: UP 880771
Rear pads part number: ADO AD8547 <- Adaptive One pads.... They didn't have Ultra Premium

My

machine tells me that GM used the same size rotors and pads on all of the following Brembo equipped vehicles:

2014 Chevrolet SS Base 6.2L V8
2013 Buick Regal GS 2.0L L4
2012 Buick Regal GS 2.0L L4
2014 Chevrolet Camaro SS 6.2L V8
2014 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 6.2L V8
2013 Chevrolet Camaro SS 6.2L V8
2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 6.2L V8
2012 Chevrolet Camaro SS 6.2L V8
2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS 6.2L V8
2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS 6.2L V8
2009 Pontiac G8 GXP 6.2L V8

(Pretty rough crowd we run with?!)

That info might make finding some dope-ass front pads a little easier for some of you.


Alrighty then,

ALL of the NAPA stuff fit perfectly and I DID bleed and get new fluid into the whole system. Everything is working great.

Some tips;

The 2012 Service manual says to use DOT 4 brake fluid, but the reservoir cap says DOT 3 ..???? I already bought Pentosin Super DOT 4, so that is what I'm brakin' on this year.

Service manual also says BEFORE you bleed the system (with the ignition OFF) apply the brakes 3-5 times until the brake pedal effort increases significantly, in order to deplete the brake booster power reserve.

You also MUST bleed the system in the following order; REAR RIGHT, REAR LEFT, FRONT RIGHT, FRONT LEFT.

This is a little bit of old fluid, out of the Left Rear with about 35,000 miles on it...... (YUCK)

Next time I do brakes I will be purchasing the Brembo Caliper Hardware Kit ... NAPA part number: UP 83797A or GM part number: 89047711

(looks exactly like)

<-- don't look directly at the watermark 😀

Reason being, at exactly 21,000 miles (late last fall) I changed the OE Brembo front pads to a new set of "low dust" Brembo pads and put on my winter wheels. At that time the front pad pins were extremely easy to pop out of the caliper. This time it was a smothers brother to get the pins out. When I did get them out I noticed they had gotten attacked by "white rust" and brake dust and it would be smarter and easier to replace them with new ones next time. Plus a small portion of the pin is made out of plastic and,,,, plastic, yeah, I don't trust that shit!


The piston in the rear caliper is a wind back so you probably need to get some new tools. (new tools, YES!) You can get a cheap caliper wind back tool set on the interwebs for like $20 or over the counter for $40-$100. Look for a set like this.....

You can't use the 'ole C-clamp method to drive the piston back into the rear calipers. The piston needs to slowly spin counter clockwise while it is being compressed or you will definitely break it! I'm not even sure you could get a C-clamp on there the way our e-brake is mounted to the back of the calipers. If you're good with your hands you might be able to use a piston compression tool and some large pliers to spin the piston, but I would be afraid of chewing holes in the piston boot.

 

[bennyblaze]

awesome and thanks for more info Nizzy!!!

 

[fgriff1]

Hello, well my 12 GS Brembos pads were at 30% so I wanted to change before the rotors were toast. did a lot of research and ended up going with Akebono performance ultra premium ceramic, ASP1001. Best move I did. so far 200+ miles and the dust is almost zero! It as if the car never braked. Braking is very strong, but not grabby like the OEM pads were. a little pricey, but not bad; $74 at tirerack.

I also looked at Carbontech, but they were more than double. Raybestos has a great ceramic pad that I have on my wife's G6, but not for the GS.

 

[NHRATA01]

I'm at 23K, last check the fronts still had a bit of material but I'll probably swap them out before wintertime to one of the lower dusting pads.

For the rear calipers, I've used a pair of pliers before to twist and compress, worked on the Seville I had prior to the GS. But with how strong the fronts are on these cars, I bet the rears don't get a lot of wear, probably last 2-3x as long easily. I did a brake job on the wife's Traverse at 75K, the fronts probably had another 10K but the rears were only about half worn.

 

[cubaniche]

Awesome info guys!

Niz, great info as always bro! I'm tired of the new low dust pads they put on the 14 GS from the factory. They start to fade pretty quick. I miss the grab the brembo's had in my SS/TC. But to get that feeling back I'm going to have to go to the old OEM pads. I hand wash the car weekly so I think I can deal with higher dust producing pads if it means better performance in stopping this 3600lb behemoth.

 

[TwoLitre]

You can find that brake retraction tool at Harbor Freight for about $24.

Granted, they're not the best quality tools, but for a job like this and the at-home maintenance guy, they'll work just fine and have a nice price.

 

[Walt G]

If you buy your brake pads from AutoZone, they'll lend you the tool for free, which is nice.

 

[MayorMcCheese]

So with needing some news pads and understanding what Niz has said .. I am looking at brake pads from the Camaro ZL1

ive been on the camaro forum and the consencious is HAWK Ceramic they produce less dust and seem to brake as good or better than OEM pads.. but something doesnt add up .. after some googleing and reviewing what Niz said I found out

Camaro ZL1 features an advanced track-capable braking system, developed in conjunction with Brembo. Large 14.6-inch (370 mm) two-piece front rotors have six-piston calipers; the 14.4-inch (365 mm) rear rotors have four-piston calipers.


THAN I looked up the GS 2014
2.0L (GS): 13.6 / 345 vented; four-piston, aluminum Brembo caliper
So the 13' and 14' have different sized rotors

and than the 2013 GS

Brake rotor diameter &#8211; front
(in / mm):
14.0 / 355 vented; four-piston aluminum Brembo caliper

Than a Normal Camaro SS 2013

Rotor diameter, front (in / mm):
LS, LT: 12.64 / 321
SS: 14 / 355
Rotor diameter, rear (in / mm):
LS, LT: 12.4 / 315
SS: 14.4 / 365

So the ZL1 has different rotors .. I dont know if that affects the brake pads but just knowing we share the same size calipers and rotors as a Camaro SS .. its what I would look up when shopping for pads

and the Pontiac G8 GXP matches with 14.0 inch rotors

So if everything adds up with the GS and the SS both having 4 piston brembo calipers and 14 inch rotors these are the pads id buy
http://marylandspeed.com/hawk-perfo...e-pads-pair-2010-camaro-ss-62l-v8-p-3100.html

If everyone on the Camaro Forum love the Hawk Ceramic pads I dont see why the GS owners wouldnt love them , Your talking 270 Hp compared to 420 HP?

 

[Marry Parker]

I've had mine on a Buick Allure for a year and been happy with them. Luk Schaffer makes a nice slotted cross drilled rotor (this may help keep them cool and prohibit warping) for not a ton of money. I think they're called Black XD Series. Tell him to make sure that his calipers aren't frozen when installing new pads or rotors, better yet replace them or rebuild them if in doubt. This will help to insure longer life and no rotor warping.

I would like Me some slotted rotors

 

[NHRATA01]

I just swapped in Akebono's this weekend at 25,800 miles on the OEM front pads while doing an oil change/rotation, very easy job. There still was a decent amount of meat left on the pads, maybe 10k miles more based on the distance to the wear indicators. But I see why they were squeaking so much. The metal plate/insulator that goes over the pad had tabs on it that stuck out, quite a bit farther then the wear indicators on the pad itself. They were definitely far enough to be hitting the rotor and causing the squeaking. Why GM did that, I have no idea. The Akebono insulator does not have these tabs protruding, just the typical wear indicators on the pad. Not surprisingly, there's not a hint of squeaking anymore. They feel like they bite about as well as stock, too soon to see if the dusting is reduced.

 

[jay3737]

I just swapped in Akebono's this weekend at 25,800 miles on the OEM front pads while doing an oil change/rotation, very easy job. There still was a decent amount of meat left on the pads, maybe 10k miles more based on the distance to the wear indicators. But I see why they were squeaking so much. The metal plate/insulator that goes over the pad had tabs on it that stuck out, quite a bit farther then the wear indicators on the pad itself. They were definitely far enough to be hitting the rotor and causing the squeaking. Why GM did that, I have no idea. The Akebono insulator does not have these tabs protruding, just the typical wear indicators on the pad. Not surprisingly, there's not a hint of squeaking anymore. They feel like they bite about as well as stock, too soon to see if the dusting is reduced.

did you use the same Akebono pads as listed on the previous page - ASP1001? these are $61 at my local advance auto...I am hoping to make it until spring on the OEM pads but not sure if I have enough pad material left. In any case will need to change the pads anyway before I sell the car in the spring.

 

[nizerims]

I bought 2 (1 liter) cans of PENTOSIN SUPER DOT 4 brake fluid before bleeding the whole system. I used almost 2 whole cans. You could probably use 1 liter of DOT 4 and properly flush your system, but I'm on team #GoCray!

 

[NHRATA01]

did you use the same Akebono pads as listed on the previous page - ASP1001? these are $61 at my local advance auto...I am hoping to make it until spring on the OEM pads but not sure if I have enough pad material left. In any case will need to change the pads anyway before I sell the car in the spring.

Yes, that was the part I used. I have to say so far the dust is much reduced, and they feel just as good.

 

[trevgtp]

when i had my g8 gxp i saw a set of take-off rotors from SLP when they updated the camaro SS to their specs- i think i paid about $30 per rotor. then hurricane irene hit, killed the g8 and i got the GS- time to update the rotors a few months back because they were warping, so i put on the g8/camaro ss rotors and they matched up perfectly and ive been driving on them ever since. i put in the EBC redstuff and they stop well, zero dust, but i think they are more aggressive and might cause rotor warping. they arent cheap either.

 

[MayorMcCheese]

Had Hawk HP Plus Brake Pads on my GS since August but they have been a nightmare , squeaking so bad that I had to bring the GS to the dealer .. told me its because there semi-metallic pads and recommended new pads (wanted to charge me 346 dollars)

looked up the part number they are the original track pad Brembo pads so ive gone thru 3 sets of brake pads in 3 months lol and im finally going back to stock brembo track pads

and I bought drilled rotors based off the Camaro SS

 

[kranz38]

mayor you have a link for the rotors you bought? I need to order a set soon, not sure what to go with.

 

[nizerims]

yeah, MM where is the ****in' link? (I luv the Brembo part number pic)
I do get an occasional squeal from my NAPA front pads when lightly braking /preparing to stop at an intersection (only if it hasn't rained in a few days and I haven't rode the brakes hard since the last downpour).....The squeal INSTANTLY stops when I give the pedal a little more pressure and all my shit on the passenger seat bounces off the glovebox and onto the floor!! I'm gonna re-lube the back of the pads when I put my SNOWS on, and if that doesn't cure my occasional squeal I'm back on the "high dust" OE Brembo pads in the spring.

Kranz welcome back...... Where is the GS on the Dragon video? The GOOD one! The one that you can't show your co-workers???????

 

[QSilverGS]

The local PD might have their own dash cam vid as proof.. What's the top speed you can hit on that road anyway?? 35!??

 

[MayorMcCheese]

I Loled at niz with saying giving the brakes a. Little more pressure and all your shit hits the glove box and on the floor lol

The rotors are from R1 concepts i paid 180 for the front it was 215 but i had 15% off

Our front brakes are exactly the camaro SS so that's what I look for , my brake lines for example are stainless steel stoptech

http://www.r1concepts.com/detail/productdetails/Drilled-Rotors/EX/2013/Chevrolet/Camaro/submodel:/

I went with E line series because it's G300 quality same as own brembos and because I'm not trying to spend a fortune