DanY

Just had a bad experience with the factory aluminum crush washers on the front brake lines. I installed braided stainless lines about 4 years ago and the one front line just started leaking where it goes into the caliper. Took it to a small shop down the street and they showed me the original aluminum crush washers had corroded due to winter salt and one had cracked. Now I would like to get some copper washers to have on hand when the next one springs a leak. Anyone know the size washer I need? I'm thinking 10mm but I'm not sure.

No luck there either, no parts listed Last time I bought kits from Advance Auto. Front 5646A and Rear 5677A Neither of these kits fit. I did get front guides from GM (PN 18040097) but they were $22 per caliper. GM didn't list any parts for the rear. Advance Auto lists 2 other hardware kits for the rear. 6400lb GVW or 7300lb GVW. I guess I could buy both and see if they fit.

The dealer claims these parts are not available to be ordered separately.

Does anyone have a source for the anti-rattle clips on the rear disk brakes on an 03 SS? I'm looking for the 2 sheet metal clips that the pads ride in (top and bottom). I also need the clip which sits in the center of the caliper and spans across the 2 pads and edge of the rotor. I purchased some hardware kits from Advance Auto and none of the parts fit properly. I think this is because the SS has the larger 330mm rear rotors. I checked the local dealer parts department but was told none of these parts were shown. The suggested that they may be included with AC Delco pads. Doesn't do me much good since I bought Hawk SUV/Truck pads.

Is everyone installing the HID kits into the stock headlights? Is there any problem with overheating or bad beam patterns? Also does anyone make a quality projector headlight setup for HID? I would prefer not to get headlights with halo rings or LED corner markers. Thanks

I just looked into this on the wife's 04 GTP, no Onstar on the SS, I can confirm the 1 year service fee + $15. The neat thing is that once it's upgraded to digital, you can tie the car phone into a Verizon Wireless Family Share plan as an additional phone line. No more $1/min Onstar phone service.

I bought a Motive Power Bleeder kit and have used it on the SSS with no problem. This kit is a little different, it is a plastic bottle with a garden sprayer type of pump on it. You attach it via a piece of tubing and a cap which goes on top of the brake reservoir. Then pump it up. It works great. If you are flushing the entire system, I recommend you get a couple of cans of ATE Blue brake fluid. The blue fluid lets you see when you have all the old fluid flushed out. Also suck out most of the old fluid from the reservoir first, this makes the flushing much quicker and probably wastes less of the new fluid as it mixes with the old in the reservoir. I neglected to do this step Then for the next change, ATE makes a gold fluid. The ATE fluids are very high quality and used widely in the Porsche community. The best price I found with shipping was a buy it now on the bay.

Scorpion ATRs got great customer reviews at TireRack in all weather conditions. I just got a set of 17" Silverado wheels off of thebay for a winter set. I'm looking at getting the ATRs for a set of winter tires. Much better overall rating than the Blizzacks. I'll also be in the market for summer only stock replacement tires next year, so keep the suggestions coming.

Can you tell us where you found it? Saw them listed on the bay and at some other websites. Is it time to start scouting the local Walmarts and Targets?

Is you truck lowered by chance? Silverstars seem to have a real problem with vibration. My wife's 2004 Grand Prix CompG was eating them every 4 months. The particular spring package on this model created a lot of headlight bounce. GM finally figured out how to add braces to better support the headlight housings. This solved the problem. The truck had one burn out after only a few months. Since then I've been on the same set for 2+ years. The one that burned out had the glass bulge on the side of the bulb. I'm wondering if the glass had something on it out of the package. I was very careful not to touch the bulbs when installing. Since then I always wipe the bulb down with acetone before installing them.

I was considering this damper but after a websearch I went a different route. I was lookiing for the Pop N Lock Tailgate Assist which includes 2 spring loaded strap assemblies that replace the tailgate cable. The cheapest I could find these on the web was $145 and nobody seems to have them in stock. Pace Edwards homepage (Pop N Lock parent) doesn't even list them anymore. In the process of my search I found the Hoppy (Hopkins Manufacturing) Easylift. I just picked one up from a local parts store (A&A Auto in central PA) for $20. This is a torsion bar which mounts below the tailgate. You drill one hole in the bottom of the tailgate and another inside of the lefthand tail light. I know, I really didn't want to drill but it is well worth it. It installed in less than 30 minutes with 2 people to handle the tailgate. Works great, tailgate is really light and easy to open and close. The one thing that I'm a little concerned about is that there isn't a lot of weight on the tailgate when it's down. If you drive with the tailgate down, it may bounce a bit. Do a google search for "hoppy easylift" and a bunch of the accessory vendors have the install instructions and videos posted. I think retail for the bar is $30. I also found a very positive thread on one of the Titan truck boards while doing my google search. One strange thing I found while doing the install. There are 2 large washers rattling around inside my tailgate. The kind of wedged themselves in the bottom of the tailgate but sometimes it would rattle when I slammed it shut. No sure where they came from but I fished them out with a magnetic parts retreiver by removing one of the side latch plates.

You may want to search for this on the gm-trucks.com forums. Several people have bought the Borgeson shafts only to have them start clunking within a week of the install. One reported that the clunk was far worse than the factory shaft. One person returned his to Summit for a refund and I think another was in contact with Borgeson directly. This made me decide to get mine lubed again, second time, while it is still under warranty. GM is back to lubing and not replacing shafts. If forgot to ask the dealer what happens when the clunk starts again 3 months after the warranty expires. Hopefully either Borgeson or GM will get this sorted out. Of course GM has been trying for something like 6 years now.

Just curious, how heavily did you apply it? My first Zaino experience was with my 2000 Camaro SS. I applied it very heavy, like you would do with a paste wax. It was rather cool (early April) but even in the garage it took 3 days to cure. This was in the days before the accelerator. Learned my lesson. Now I apply it very thin. A 2oz mix with the accelerator will do 2 complete coats on the truck. Mine seems to dry within 30 minutes.

The photos help a bunch. Thanks

I have a set of Earls SS brake lines and Hawk LTS pads ready to install and have a couple of questions. The factory rear brake lines have a long right angle bend at the caliper and the line goes vertical from the caliper and over the top of it to the hardline connection. The Earls lines have very short bend on the caliper end. I assume that the line needs to be routed inboard of the caliper and across the top of the axle to the hardline connection. Is this right? When you replaced the pads, did you replace the anti-rattle clips in the front and rear calipers? The Helms manual says that you should. I need to see if the local dealer has them in stock. I also dread trying to explain that the SS has 330mm rear rotors (same as the 4 wheel steering trucks). Hopefully they can get me the correct parts numbers from the catalog with the VIN. Thanks for your help.

Is the brake duct intake tube the same for both the old and new style airboxes?