Here you can find information regarding the assembly of the cobalt's braking system. This information
will include the procedures to replace and repair certain main components within the system
as well as the corresponding torque specs for bolts involved in the parts. The listing of procedures will begin
with the most common and move inwards towards the inner parts of the brake system and
the least common repairs that are needed.
How to Change the front brakes
In order to change the front brakes on a Chevy Cobalt you must first jack the vehicle up into the air and
remove the tire for the side that you want to change. Once the tire has been removed you
can see the brake rotor and the brake pads within the caliper. To install new brake pads you only have to remove
the brake caliper and swap out the pads. When reinstalling the brake caliper you must
torque the caliper slide bolts to 23 ft-lbs. If you happen to remove the brake caliper mounting bracket then torque it down to 75 ft-lbs.
If you need to remove the calipers banjo bolt it will need to be tightened back up to 30 ft-lbs.
The rear brakes on the Chevy Cavalier are drum brakes which consists of many small components and springs. For replacement I
recommend getting a kit which includes all new parts and springs along with new brake shoes which will be installed into drum.
To access the brake components you need to remove the rear wheel and then pry off the drum brake cover. Behind the cover you can
see all the parts including the brake shoes which are the stopping components and wear the most. This is shown in the picture. To replace
you can remove the parts one by one and replace with the new ones. Once completed with all the parts you can put the drum back into place and tighten
down the wheel.
