cody_d

My cousin called me tonight and needs me to do the front passenger caliper, rotor and pads on her trail blazer. Does anybody know how hard it is to bleed ABS brakes? or if there is anything special I need to do??

please help, i need to get this done tomorrow 10-10-09, and i'll only have a few hours to do it.

thanks in advance.

rockcrawler304

As long as you are bleeding them, might as well do it complete. Start at passenger rear then driver rear then passenger front then driver front. Basically starting from the furthest point from the master and working to the nearest point.

Only question is why just the passenger caliper rotor and pads. At the very minimum he needs to do pads on both sides. Both calipers are also recommended.

cody_d

all front pads will be replaced...money won't allow both calipers. is there anything special to bleeding abs? I know how to bleed non-abs, done it several times. the caliper siezed up, that's why it's being replaced. If i find the other side is bad i will do that one too... les schwab only said that the passenger side is bad, we'll see.

cbtumedic

No need to do both calipers, Also a lot of shops will try to sell calipers when someone runs their brakes metal to metal, saying that the caliper is seized. That was pretty much the rule in a couple of shops I worked at in houston. As for bleeding the brakes on late model vehicles with ABS it's just like bleeding standard brakes (for the most part although their are some exceptions in some vehicle models, but the trailblazer isn't one of the problem ones.) So just bleed all 4 wheels like normal, but first I'd remove the caliper from the bracket and see if you can compress the pistons, and also check the caliper slides, they could be what is seized in which case you may be able to either rebuild the slides or replace the caliper bracket instead of the caliper. Good luck.

cody_d

that's a good point, about the slides may have siezed ...i will look at that when i take it apart. thanks for the fast input. I think i have just about all i need.

Redleg

Most slide kits are cheap. No worries with the ABS as long as the system doesn't get drained. Just purge it normal like stated above. If you get into the rears, be careful compressing the calipers. Most pistons rotate in, don't clamp them.

cody_d

does anyone know if i need to switch the abs ring over to the new rotor? or does it stay on the hub?

Redleg

The tone ring and sensor are part of the hub assembly, this will kind of show you.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CHEVY...Q5fAccessories

How many miles? Hubs and inner shafts don't last along time on those front ends. If she plans to keep it awhile, google Posi-lok. One of those cables can save a lot of mony in front 4x4 parts.

cbtumedic

Also on the trailblazer the rear calipers are standard calipers, the park brake is a mini drum brake in the rotor hat.