[barongsd]

Looks like I am about to do a complete brake job on my wife's 2005 Cobalt. Not a real problem, I have done many brakes over the years, and rather enjoy doing them. To me it is a "relaxing" way to spend an afternoon. However, I have never done brakes on a Cobalt. I know it has front calipers and rear drums. Is there anything "unusual" I should be looking for? I most likely will be replacing the rotors and the drums. It has been my expereince with these new OEM rotors that it is best to just replace than have them turned, haven't experienced the new drums tho, should I just replace them also. Any "tips" or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Randy

 

[scagnetti76]

i havent looked into the drums.
but id upgrade the rotors from stock as they "warp" really easy. almost every cobalt on stock rotors has steering wheel shaking to some degree or another while braking.

 

[Abigail Rose7]

I have to agree with replacing the rotors. Mine warped after about 15-20 thousand miles. Did you end up doing the brake job? I am replacing the springs, drum, shoes and pads on my 2005 cobalt. It is proving to be more difficult than I thought it would be. They are different than the drum brakes I have encountered in the past and I was wondering if you had trouble with yours.

 

[camopaint0707]

i havent looked into the drums.
but id upgrade the rotors from stock as they "warp" really easy. almost every cobalt on stock rotors has steering wheel shaking to some degree or another while braking.

plus slotted and cross drilled rotors look sweet

 

[barongsd]

I haven't yet done the brake job. I am on Vacation in a couple more weeks so I will do it then. What problems have you had with the drums? Are the calipers pretty straight forward? I remember doing the brakes on my 2001 Silverado and the attaching bolts for the calipers were Torx head screws. What a pain in the butt they were.

 

[OBZ]

The calipers are very straight forward. I haven't torn into the drums yet though

 

[Chester]

I havent needed to look into the drums yet but i do know they can be a P.I.T.A on some vehicles from my own experience. These cars seem pretty simple and straight foward so calipers shouldnt give you a problem however i would definitally reccomend replacing the rotors with an aftermarket rotor, (perhaps a drilled/slotted rotor) since the cobalts are notoriously know for having warped rotors.

 

[07CobaltLS]

Any aftermarket rotor will do...blanks or slotted/dimpled/etc.

I myself will be getting the following setup (it's the cheapest I could find all of these items...they're all good quality items):

Hawk HPS pads and Russell stainless steel brake lines from ModernPerformance.com $144 shipped.

Centric Premium rotors (blanks) from Tire Rack $111 shipped.

I'll be ordering everything in the next few weeks. If I had more money to work with I would have gotten EBC restuff pads and EBC drilled/dimpled rotors and Goodridge lines.

However this weekend I'm purchasing the OTT Performance street bar 1.0" rear sway since it's on sale.

I'll be getting an MSD Dash Hawk after that. And, after all this stuff, I'll finally be upgrading my shocks/struts...still not sure if I want to get the SS/TC struts/shocks or get KYB or Monroe. The SS/TC will handle better, but they are almost twice as much as the KYB GR-2's. $200 for KYB shipped and $375 for SS/TC shipped.

 

[Abigail Rose7]

I didn't do the discs but I will have a list of problems for you when I finally get finished. I had to wait for parts that were supposed to be in wed. I will try to post pictures but I would definitely invest in a hanes manual or something similar before diving into the drums... they suck.

 

[spangs27]

Does anyone know what size socket for the calipers? Are they the Torx?
Thanks

 

[OBZ]

Its a standard 15mm socket

 

[BlackBaltSS]

I didn't do the discs but I will have a list of problems for you when I finally get finished. I had to wait for parts that were supposed to be in wed. I will try to post pictures but I would definitely invest in a hanes manual or something similar before diving into the drums... they suck.

They should just be your standard advanced leading-trailing dum design. Just pop that horse shoe spring with a flathead screwdriver. You may have to man handle it back in there though.

Either have the rotors turned or replaced. If you get a steering wheel shake then they have excessive lateral runout (which is common) and should be replaced. P.M. me for any advanced help.