How do you change brakes on a 1998 Chevy Metro?

Answer 1

For the front brakes put the car up on jack stands or you can do one wheel at a time with a regular jack. Remove the front wheels. There are 2 bolts on the back of the caliper holding it to the hub assembly. Remove those 2 bolts and the caliper will slide off from the side. Don't let the caliper hang by the brake hose. Try using a bungee cord or some wire and tie to any part of the car for support so it can hang without damaging the hose. If the rotor needs replacing that should slide freely right off the wheel studs at this point. Next you will need a C-clamp. Find a good access point on the caliper and place one edge of the clamp to the caliper and the other edge to the brake pad that is set in the piston. Compress the brake pad until it won't move inward anymore and then loosen and remove the C-clamp. Remove the old brake pads with a flat head screw driver. They are only held in by metal clips. Installation is the reverse procedure. You may want to spray the back of the new brake pads with an anti squealing compound and allow to dry before installing them. This will ensure nice quiet brakes. Also you will need to pump the brakes a few times when you first start the car until the brake pad feels normal again. It will be very loose because the calipers will still be compressed.

For the back brakes put the car on jack stands or you can do one wheel at a time. Remove the rear wheels. You will need to pull the drum off of the wheel assembly. This may requre some banging with a large hammer. I believe on the Geo there is one retaining screw that will be a real pain to get off with a regular screwdriver. You may want to purchase a power driver for this application so as not to strip the screw. One can be purchased at a good auto parts store for about $20.00. Make sure the emergency brake is not on or you will never get the drum off. Once the drum is removed there are 2 retaining springs on each brake pad that can be a pain to remove. You can try with a regular pair of pliers and push the spring in and turn it clockwise so that the retaining post can easily slide through the slot on the plate connected to the spring. They also sell a tool specifically made for this purpose. You will also need to disconnect the emergency brake cable which will be attached to only one of the brake pads at the bottom. You should be able to remove both pads at the same time. They will be connected together by a spring at the bottom and separated by a cylinder with a star wheel on it. You will want to turn the star wheel to close the distance between the pads. Take note of how the pieces are put together before removing everything because there are some pieces that are held in by other pieces and they may fall out while removing the pads. Installation is the reverse procedure. Once the new pads are on you will want to put the car in reverse and let it roll to the end of the drive way and then slam your brakes. This will set the cylinder with the star wheel so that you have the proper distance between the brake pads.

Answer 2

Get a manual on your car and get everything correct.