Alright, what is the deal with this? I am helping my father change the rear brake pads on his 2002 Silverado 2500. I am looking at the rear caliper and the top bold is blocked by the leaf spring. I can get a socket onto the caliper bracket bolt but there is not enough room to get the bolt out.
My question is this, what is the GM way to change the rear brake pads? Is one supposed to drop the axle from the leaf springs to do this?
Just started doing my 2003 Suburban's rear brakes too, and its a task and a half.
I managed to remove the fender guard, that covers the rubber brake line, that is held in place by the two main bolts that hold the caliper to the axle. N.B. my bolts were frozen with rust, so I pre-soaked them a day in advance with ReleaseAll oil, and then used a two foot long, half inch socket drive swing arm wrench, and slid a four foot pipe over it to magnify leverage. A few solid jerks of force and the bolt creaked loose.
After that, more oil and plenty of elbow grease.
If your pads are not binding to the rotor, then swing the assembly up, just as Scooter suggests. This should provide enough space to loosen the two Torx like bolts that hold the pads in place. Now if they're seized and you strip the Torx grooves off the bolt, then you'll need to weld on to that bolt head, a regular hex head donor bolt's head. Choose a bolt head size that matches the other two bolt heads on the caliper to standardize the number of tools needed to service the calipers in the future.
Good luck.
