I am replacing the front brake pads and rotors on a 95 Grand Prix. I know that for the rear brake calipers you need a special tool to screw the piston back in. Does the same go for the front? Thanks.
Shouldn’t. The rears are because of the parking brake. Fronts should only need a c-clamp.
Thanks alot. I just know that the calipers in the back can seize up and that is just bad news. Happy to hear i shouldn’t have to worry about that in the front.
alot of speeders including myself have just used pliers to turn the piston in. No need for the tool FYI
I’ve never seen a screw in front caliper. I don’t have a lot of weird euro-car experience, but I can pretty much guarantee on a grand prix you just squeeze the piston back in on the front.
Older subaru’s did. Of course the parking brake was hooked to the front wheels. was a really odd design that didnt last very long
That’s why I said “I’ve never seen it”. I figured there was some dumb manufacturer who tried to reinvent the wheel. Doesn’t surpise me it was Subaru either. 
shoulda been Fiat or Renault or something To go along with their other brillant winning designs LOL
Thanks alot guys. Not the best or brightest with cars, so I didn’t wanna get in over my head with this. I didn’t wanna take everything off and have a seized up caliper…I would be lost, I hear its a costly repair?
If you find the calipers are bad, don’t use the pads, take them back and buy loaded calipers from napa. They come ready to go with pads and everything, just hook the brake line up and bleed.
So Basically, just compress the piston and if it doesn’t go back it in, it means my calipers are bad?
Is one of your wheels completely covered in brake dust while the other looks fine?
Do you smell hot brakes after a drive, even if you’re no driving hard?
No? Then I doubt you have a seized caliper. If it’s seized it wouldn’t be releasing properly in normal driving and you’d have a brake constantly dragging creating the issues I described.
Just be careful pushing the piston back in. When you’re cranking on that big old C-clamp it’s easy to get the piston all the way in and keep going. Push to far and you risk damaging the seals. Until you’ve done enough to really get a feel for it push it in some and see if you have enough clearance to get the new shoes around the rotor. If not, push it in a little more. Better to take a little extra time here than screw up a caliper and end up replacing or rebuilding it.
Replacing calipers isn’t really a big deal, just a waste of money if you don’t need to. I have never bothered to rebuild one since picking up remans for domestic vehicles is pretty cheap.
No braking problems, the pads are so worn out and I didn’t even notice until the other day when i heard it grinding. So just gently push the piston back in? Just bear with me, not the greatest with cars.
If you’re hearing grinding you may end up needing rotors too. Grinding usually means you’ve worn through the pads and are to the rivets/backing plate of the pad. Rivets and the backing plate will wear grooves into the rotors in a hurry. You’re supposed to hear squealing before it gets that bad because the pad should have a little soft metal finger that will start hitting the rotor when the pad is mostly worn out. It starts singing, people take the car in to find out what the noise is, and the rotor spared.
As for the piston, yes, just push it in carefully. What you don’t want to do is push it, have it reach the end of it’s travel, and keep pushing. If you’ve got a light touch and it’s going in pretty easy it won’t be a problem. If you really want to be safe back it in some, put the pads on, and see if the piston is pushed in far enough to get the new pads over the rotor. If it is, great, you pushed it far enough. If it isn’t you know it’s safe to push it in a bit farther.
Isnt the 95 Grand Prix (W body) the one with the big T-60 mounting bolts that are torqued to an outrageous degree. Dual piston caliper too
I like to use one of the old pads with the c-clamp to put even pressure on the piston/pistons when compressing it back in.
i love my brembos, easiest pad change ever. Plus i can push the pistons back in with my fingers
aluminum calipers? they’re well known for freezing up due to corrosion and requiring replacement due to high and firm brake pedals. if you went to metal on metal, it’s possible the piston surfaces saw some salt action this winter and may not compress nicely.