Damage to the rotors on your Impala most often happens from heat warping. This condition occurs readily in high-speed stop-and-go traffic. Every time that you apply the brakes to stop, this superheats the rotors. Without enough time to cool, the rotors begin to buckle and warp. Over extended periods of this repetition, you may experience brake fade and the car will seem like it’s harder to stop. The steering wheel will shake or when you press the brake pedal, the car will feel like its skipping. You can repair the rotors on the 2007 Chevy Impala at home. With a few basic tools, it should take no more than two hours to do.
Engage the emergency brake and loosen the lug nuts on the front passenger-side tire of the Impala with a lug wrench 1/4 turn counterclockwise.
Raise the car on the passenger side with a hydraulic jack and then place a jack stand beneath the frame rail to help support the weight of the car.
Remove all of the tire’s lug nuts and slide the tire off the hub assembly. Put the lug nuts in a safe location to the side of your work area. Observe your brake caliper while it’s still mounted onto the rotor. The inner brake pad closest to the engine--if you look at the rear of it--has a round metal piston pushing against it. You have to compress the piston into its bore hole to take the caliper assembly off the rotor.
Place an 8-inch C-clamp around the body of the brake caliper. Begin winding the C-clamp shut until the screw on the clamp makes full contact with the surface of the outer brake pad. Wind the C-clamp shut (clockwise) slowly, until the piston is forced back down into its bore hole completely then take the C-clamp off the caliper.
Remove the two inner bolts holding the caliper mounting bracket in place with your socket wrench. Do not remove the caliper’s mounting bolts; they merely secure the caliper to the bracket. The mounting bracket’s bolts are just beneath each of the caliper bolts.
Place a five gallon bucket right next to the caliper/mounting bracket assembly within the wheel well. Grasp the assembly with both hands, pull it up, and off the rotor then set it down on top of the bucket.
Remove the rotor by pulling it off with both hands as well, toward you. If the rotor doesn’t slide right off the hub studs, use a rubber mallet to tap around the rear circumference of the rotor.
Install the new passenger-side front rotor on your 2007 Chevy Impala by reversing all of the removal steps. Pump the brake pedal until it stiffens before you move on to the next rotor.
