How To Replace the Back Brakes on a 1999 Chevy Truck

The importance of proper brake maintenance is obvious. If you allow your brakes to wear down far enough, it will damage your 1999 Chevy truck's rotors, leading to costly repairs and possibly leaving you unable to stop the vehicle. The front brakes of a Chevy truck tend to wear out more often than the back brakes, but over time it will become necessary to replace the back brakes, also.

Instructions

Park your Chevy truck on level, solid pavement.

Loosen the lug nuts on the wheel you intend to work on using a four-way or tire iron.

Lift the back end of the truck by placing a floor jack under the rear differential and jacking it up.

Remove the lug nuts.

Pull the tire straight forward, remove it and set it aside.

Remove the bolts on the back of the drum brake assembly using a wrench and a socket. There are four of them.

Loosen the caliper pins, which are the outer set of bolts on the brake assembly, using a wrench and a ratchet.

Remove the inner set of bolts from the back of the brake assembly.

Pull the brake assembly out of the truck.

Remove the caliper pins from the brake assembly and remove the caliper from the assembly frame.

Putting a wooden block over the caliper piston, place a C-clamp with one end on the block and the other on the back of the caliper.

Tighten the clamp until about 1/8 inch of the piston is sticking out of the housing.

Place the arms of a drum puller around the edge of the rotor and screw the center bolt until it's resting against the axle hub.

Use a wrench to turn the center bolt about a quarter turn.

Attempt to pull the drum off of the axle. It may not come off due to rust buildup. If it refuses to slide off, tap around the outer edges of the drum with a hammer and turn the center bolt another quarter turn. Attempt to remove it once again. Repeat this process until the drum slides off.

Disengage the springs holding the brake shoes in. Needle-nose pliers are ideal for this.

Disengage the brake shoes from the caliper and pull them out entirely. This can be done by hand.

Place the new brake shoes where the old ones came from, making sure to connect them to the caliper first. Engage the springs that hold them in.

Put the new brake drum over the brake assembly and slide it onto the axle.

Put the brake housing over the rotor and reinsert the bolts. If you did it correctly, there will be a brake pad on both sides of the rotor, with the pad portion of the brake shoes touching the rotor.

Remove the C-clamp and the block of wood.

Put the caliper over the brake housing and insert the caliper pins. Make sure to tighten them all the way.

Slide the tire back on, replace the lug nuts and lower the truck back to the ground. Once you take the truck off the jack, double check to make sure all of the lug nuts are tightened fully.

Repeat this process on the other wheel.