C8 Z51 Brake Dust Nightmare Is Over Thanks to Carbotech 1521 Pads From Paragon

What should have been an easy pad change out, turned into a total brake system failure, a trip to the dealer and 2 weeks without the car.

[@EC145Pilot]

The procedure to change the brake pads on the C8 is to disconnect the negative terminal on the battery before you begin. Before doing this, put your windows down about half way and open the drivers door. Leave the door open until your reconnect the battery.. When the battery is disconnected you lose the window indexing and it must be reset once the battery is reconnected. The battery is disconnected because the window will not index and there is a possibility of damaging the A-pillar paint when opening the doors. The procedure to re-index the windows is in the owner's manual. 1. Back to the brake pad change. With the battery disconnected, change the pads as you did. 2. Once the pads are changed, with the battery disconnected, press the brake pedal several times, slowly, to move the pads to the proper position. 3. Now, reconnect the battery. You may here the ABS system cycle. You will definitely get the ABS cycle when you start the car. This procedure will prevent the system from throwing codes and getting the lights you had. The ABS/braking system is looking for position and movement of the pads. By spreading the brake cylinders, as you did, there was a large movement and that upset the system. Lot's of electronics on this thing and you have to take precautions to prevent codes and lights. 4. If no lights, good to go. If the ABS and other brake lights/messages come on. Turn everything off. Without pressing the brake, hold the start button for several seconds, this will power up all the systems but not start the engine. Once the systems are active, release the start button, press the brake pedal really hard, almost to the floor, hold it for several seconds and the brake lights should reset. With your foot off the brake pedal, press the start switch to shut everything down then start the car. All the lights/messages should be gone, except for the check engine light. Only way to reset the check engine light is with an OBDII tool. 5. Hopefully the driver's door is still open, with the window half way down. Close it, put the window all the way down, hold the switch for a couple of seconds. Now put it all the way up, hold it for a couple of seconds. Do the same thing for the passenger window. Open the doors and the windows should index. I changed to the PowerStop pads and had the same clicking issue, which was resolved by using the shims, as you did.

[@KarrarIQ]

Thank you so much ❤

[@babeadams9351]

So much for someone that has done hundreds of break jobs.

[@philp5471]

Had the same issue and not anywhere do they say add the shim. For as much as the pads cost you would think it would include them. 💁‍♂️

[@RobHTech]

Ta really. I am not hyped about the Carbotechs, esp. if they come missing parts. I javen’t found any real testing on Carbotech yet and thus not very interested in paying 2x-3x the price for a pair of pads

[@jerryohanlon101]

I am going to do this job today. I have to agree that the Z51 brake dust situation is horrendous. I have found that Mother's wheel cleaner works great. No scrubbing, just spray it on, hose it off, 100% clean.

[@jerryohanlon101]

I did this job yesterday with no issues front and rear. My new pads did come with the metal shim plates on the back.

[@alexanderchavez2164]

You didnt disconnect the battery first.

[@70elco28]

Didn't disconnect battery, and forgot to open reservoir. Stupid rookie mistakes from someone that should know better. Thanks for watching

[@mikejohnston8872]

Did your warranty cover the repair?

[@70elco28]

Yes. All covered

[@nuke_ratt]

GiroDisc makes/sells titanium brake shims that are a better solution than prying off the Brembo shims. They are a perfect fit for the Carbotech pads.

[@70elco28]

Sounds good to me, not sure why the carbotech pads don't come with them, I bought a different brand for my dad and his have the shim on the pads.

[@YAHNewsNetwork]

I have the 1LT non-Z51 and it blows dust like a sand storm in the middle east.. Its so bad the rear bumper cover gets covered in Brake dust , no joke.. Hawk sent me pads said this will take care of it.. B/S its the same as the stock pads , dust everywhere .. The OEM pads we not worn and the Hawk Pads look just like the Brembo pads I pulled , So I sorta knew right away I threw money away but tried them anyway.

[@SpacedOdyssey]

Hi Pal. I have Carbotech XP8 pads on my car on the black Dust is a total nightmare

[@70elco28]

Carbotech offer several different pads from virtually no dust good performance to super high performance with a lot of dust I'm not real familiar with the model numbers but the ones I put on the Corvette are not dust free but they are a lot less dust than the factory Z51

[@tastysauce]

@70elco28 I can't believe I found your video randomly. I had a shop attempt to put on some Carbotech pads, no idea what they did, but I'm in a similar situation. Many weeks at the dealership and they're going to replace the master cylinder now. Confirming that that's all it took to get your car back? I'm feeling kinda hopeless haha

[@babeadams9351]

I'm not so sure I would go to Paragon for my break pads versus the companies that makes brake pads and specializes in that product.

[@70elco28]

Carbotec is the brand and they're pretty well known, Paragon just sells them

[@rapidcityentertainment5104]

These are electronically assisted brakes. Brake by wire essentially. Completely different than conventional systems.

[@jolanni7]

Did you contact Carbo? Maybe the shims are available. I did the fronts on one of my crap boxes and when comparing the new to old, the old set had thin plates like that. The new one did not. They did not look like wear items so I just took them off the old and popped them on the new and installed. They were just held on by clip to the outer edges of the pad. Worked good. Normally I would just have the dealer do them but after they quoted me a price I almost ralphed in his face. Went out back to parts and even that was a rip off but I saved 425 dollars. I must have sucker written on my face, For a front Pad replacement? They gave me the old you need rotors too balony, we do that automatically. Double sucker written on my face. The time before that was in the early 80's, see ya, went and boutght the pads for 11 dollars. I still laugh about that to this day. Hope it worked out for you in the end, seems like you had a handle on it.

[@charlesstrop2989]

If the pain is from washing the wheels, have them ceramic coated.

[@babeadams9351]

No comment

[@Racedoc]

The rotors looks like those which comes on the cheapest BMW 😢

[@Will-yp6ny]

Did you do the back plate transfer to rear only? Or the front too?

[@70elco28]

All the way around

[@Will-yp6ny]

@@70elco28 Got it. Thanks. I’m doing the work right now and using your video for reference. 👍🙌

[@ericshapiro8430]

What year is your Vette?

[@70elco28]

2020

[@ericshapiro8430]

@70elco28 thank you very much. Mine is 2022, Z51. Having carbotech pads installed tomorrow. Do I assume correctly that the backing plates need to be transferred over? Seems like it from what I have been reading but not sure if it changed as GM updated the model years. Thanks in advance for any addtl info!

[@RobHTech]

It’s called a shim.

[@alexanderchavez2164]

You’re not a mechanic.

[@jdlc24]

It’s hitting because the car is raised

[@TS-wp3wt]

Clueless about brakes… leave it to the professionals buddy…

[@70elco28]

That's no fun