How to Replace Rear Calipers 1999-2006 GMC Sierra 2500 HD

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In this video, we're going to show you how to replace a rear caliper. We'll show you the right side, but the left side is the same procedure. This is a 2002 GMC Sierra. The procedure's the same for this generation Sierra as well as the Chevy Silverado. On our vehicle, the rear caliper was seized, but that wasn't the only problem, so if you find that you have a bad caliper, just make sure you check the entire brake system to make sure that you don't have stuck pads or something else wrong with your truck. For this, you're going to need jack and jack stands, a lug wrench or 22mm socket with breaker bar, a hammer, T55 Torx driver, an 18mm socket, a torque wrench, a 10mm wrench, and if you don't want to get brake fluid all over your floor, you'll want a little bottle and hose for bleeding the brakes.

Start out by taking the wheel cover off. Undo the plastic caps by hand, then use either a breaker bar or impact wrench, and if you don't have the benefit of air tools, you'll want to start with the vehicle on the ground, loosen the lug nuts first, then raise and secure the vehicle and remove the lug nuts wheel and tire. Removing the brake slide bolts is always fun, especially when they are the original ones that are a T55 Torx bit. What we're doing right now is just using a hammer right on that ear where the slide bolt goes in. We're wrapping it really hard, trying to loosen it up a little bit. Now, using our T55 Torx bit breaker bar, and even a pipe for some extra leverage, you can break those bolts free, or actually you just need to break the lower one free and after we get it broken free, we'll speed up here as we just remove it the rest of the way.

You want to note how it comes out. You can see we can actually use our fingers after a while. That means that the slide bolt is nice and free. If they stick at all or are difficult to get out, you want to make sure you clean those up really well and then re-lubricate them, make sure they go in nice and easy and slide easily. Use a long screwdriver and wedge it in down here between the caliper bracket and the caliper itself. Once it's up and out of the way, you can pull out the rest of the way. You can see here, I'm in the car. I'm gonna press the brakes. You see the top piston moved out; the bottom piston didn't move. That's basically confirmation that this caliper is bad and needs replacement.

Here we're just getting prepared. I got the new caliper standing by. We take the plug out of the top. We take the old caliper, kind of put it down into place, just kind of holds it in position. 11mm socket and ratchet, and you remove the bolt that holds the fitting into the caliper. Try to do this relatively quickly so that as little brake fluid leaks out as possible. One thing, just make sure you have the cap on the mass cylinder. That will slow down any of the fluid leaking out.

Then, as we just remove the bolt, when you put it back in, make sure you replace the copper washer that's on the bolt and then put the bolt through the hose, put another copper washer on, and then into the caliper and tighten it up. Here in this shot, Don is holding the caliper bracket. Sorry if this might confuse you. But, on this truck, you saw that the caliper, one of the pistons was frozen up. That was actually as a result of the old caliper bracket had rusted and pushed the caliper slides out and basically had kind of frozen the brake shoes in place. So, on this truck, we actually replaced the caliper bracket as well. So, this is just something to look for.

What you want to do is take your brake pads off. They should come off with little force, but by hand. If you have to use a hammer or anything to get the brake pads off, then chances are your caliper bracket has rusted and you'll probably need to need to clean it up really well and put the slides back on. Put some grease on it and reinstall the pads, or you'll need to replace your caliper bracket. Here, we are placing the new caliper back in. If your caliper came with both slide bolts installed, you'll want to remove the lower slide bolt and slide it in place. Be careful when you rotate it down onto the pads that you don't pinch the lower boot with the caliper and then kind of move it around. Get that lower slide bolt back in place and get it preliminary tightened up. According to these two, 75 to 85 foot-pounds.

Make sure you have plenty of fluid in the reservoir before you bleed the brakes. The top one we can't quite get the torque wrench on, so we just get some leverage on a couple of wrenches and tighten it up. Have somebody in the car pump up the brakes for ya. It's a 10mm bleed screw. I'm using a little hose and a bottle to catch the brake fluid, and then after they've pumped it a couple of times, you can say: "Just hold it. You holding?" "Yep." You break your bleeder free. Pump it again; hold it. Pump it again; hold it. Once you see no more bubbles coming out, you know it's good.

Now, we'll speed up here as we put the wheel and tire back in place. Start the lug nuts on by hand first, make sure you don't cross tread any of them, then use your impact wrench or whatever wrench and just kind of preliminary tighten them up then lower the vehicle on the ground. Tighten those lug nuts up to 110 foot-pounds using a crossing pattern. Basically, you do one, then do the one opposite off it, go to the next one, then do the lug nut opposite of that one, go to the beside it, and then the one opposite of that one until you have all eight nice and tight. Then, when you put the cap on, make sure you use the correct procedure. You put the cap in place and then you turn the lug cap of the lug cover by hand until you feel it click once, and then you turn it another quarter to half a turn until it rests in the next detente.

Always, last but not least, pump your breaks a bunch of times and then do test stops from five and ten miles an hour before road testing the truck.

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How to Replace Rear Calipers 1999-2006 GMC Sierra 2500 HD

step 1 :Removing the Wheel

step 2 :Removing the Caliper

step 3 :Preparing the New Caliper

step 4 :Installing the Brake Caliper

step 5 :Bleeding the Brakes

step 6 :Reattaching the Wheel

step 7 :Testing the Brakes

Tools needed

How to Replace Front Brake Caliper 2000-06 Chevy Tahoe

How to Replace Rear Calipers 1999-2006 GMC Sierra 2500 HD

step 1 :Removing the Wheel 1:08

step 2 :Removing the Caliper 1:38

step 3 :Preparing the New Caliper 3:15

step 4 :Installing the Brake Caliper 5:06

step 5 :Bleeding the Brakes 5:39

step 6 :Reattaching the Wheel 6:40

step 7 :Testing the Brakes 7:42

Tools needed

How to Replace Front Brake Caliper 2000-06 Chevy Tahoe

step 1 :Removing the Wheel

step 2 :Removing the Caliper

step 3 :Preparing the New Caliper

step 4 :Installing the Brake Caliper

step 5 :Bleeding the Brakes

step 6 :Reattaching the Wheel

step 7 :Testing the Brakes