Brake pads on a 1997 Chevrolet K1500 pickup grab the rotors and bring the truck to a halt whenever you hit the brakes. However, each time this event takes place, the pads wear down ever so slightly. Eventually, the pads will fall below the 3-mm thickness cut off and you'll have to replace them. Installing new brake pads on a 1997 Chevrolet K1500 is an entry level repair job. If you have entry level auto-repair skill, then you can successfully complete this task in a few hours.
Instructions
- 1
Chock one of the K1500s rear wheels, by hand. Turn each of the Chevy front lug nuts, counterclockwise, until you can remove them by hand, but do not remove them.
2Lift the front end, using a jack. Lower the front end onto the two jack stands to support it. Take the K1500 front lug nuts and wheels off the truck by hand.
3Push the drain pan under the K1500 right-front brake rotor. Use the pan to catch the drippings from the brake cleaner you spray onto the rotor and caliper to remove the brake dust.
4Remove the K1500 right-front brake caliper mounting bolts, using a socket set. Pull the caliper up and out of the bracket by hand. Remove the worn brake pads from the caliper, manually.
5Hold the K1500 caliper over the drain pan while you wash the inside with brake cleaner. Put white lithium grease on both caliper slide pins.
6Set the K1500 new brake pads into the caliper by hand. Reposition the caliper in the caliper bracket manually. Reinstall the K1500 caliper mounting bolts with a socket set.
7Scoot over to the K1500 left-fron,t and perform steps three through six on that side. Set both front wheels back on the truck. Tighten down all the front lug nuts by hand.
8Lift the K1500 front off the jack stands with the jack. Move the jack stands away from the truck before lowering it to the ground. Tighten all the K1500 front lug nuts to 140 ft-lbs with the torque wrench.
