How do you replace the front brakes on a 1999 Chevy Tahoe?

Answer 1

I'm assuming front disc brakes here...

Start out by setting the emergency brake on the vehicle. Place something behind the rear tires (bricks are nice) and then jack the vehicle up and remove the front wheels. Once you do this, you'll see the rotor and the brake caliper. The brake pads are located inside the brake caliper, one on each side of the rotor. If you've never done this before and have no idea what a rotor is or what a caliper is, the rotor is the shiny (hopefully smooth) round part that your wheel mounts to and the caliper is the large assembly mounted to the rear (towards the passenger cabin) of the rotor.

On the inside of the caliper, facing the shock absorbers are two bolts (or pins) which hold the caliper in place. One is located at the top of the caliper and the other at the bottom. Each should be protected by a rubber boot and the bolt itself can be loosened by inserting a 3/8" Allen wrench. If your model does not have this type of bolt with the rubber boot protectors, you will probably get by with a 5/8" wrench or socket. (My '98 Pick-up and my 2000 Tahoe both have the Allen wrench/boot type bolts, so I'm assuming a 1999 Tahoe will as well) Loosen the bolts and remove the caliper from the mount points. The brake fluid hose screws into the top of the caliper. Do NOT remove this, it is not necessary to replace the brake pads. Also, the caliper is pretty heavy - don't let it hang by the brake hose. If you need to suspend it for any reason, do so from the strut using an old clothes hanger or some other comparable wire you have lying around.

Once the caliper is removed, you can remove the old brake pads easily. The outside brake pad is held in place by a clip on each side. Push each upper corner of the old brake pad in towards the center of the caliper and up and the pad will slide loose. The inside caliper is held in place by a a spring clip that fits inside the caliper piston. Simply pull the old pad straight out, rocking it back and forth if necessary.

Before placing the new brake pads into the caliper, you'll need to compress the caliper piston to create enough clearance for the new pads to fit over the rotor. Do this using a large C-clamp. Once the piston is compressed back into the caliper, insert the new brake pads.

Replace the caliper back onto the mount points behind the rotor and tighten the bolts to hold it securely in place.

Repeat this for the other side of the vehicle.

Replace the wheels and lower the vehicle back to the ground.

Start the engine, pump your brakes to reseat the new brake pads snugly against the rotors and check your brake fluid level, adding fluid if necessary.

Finito.

Note: If your old pads were extremely worn, resulting in damage to your rotors, you should replace the rotors along with the brake pads.

I've included a how to video for you that should help out a great deal. Hope this helps.