About a week ago while driving to do some shopping, my front brakes started acting up. It sounded like the pad had worn away and there was metal on metal grinding.

Since I was on vacation, I just parked it. Even though the brakes are only 3.5yrs old - installed somewhere around Nov 2018, knowing that there was significant uneven wear on the old pads with about 1/32" left on one pad and 3/16" on the other passenger front IIRC I went ahead & ordered a set of pads. Since I was replacing some windows in the house, I didn't get a chance to touch it till today.

Pulled the tires off, pulled all 4 pads out, and all 4 show about the same amount of wear with about 80% of the ceramic material remaining. I turned the wheel hubs by hand with the pads removed, and I could definitely hear metal on metal squeaking.

Looking closely I found one retaining clip on the passenger side was not in place - one of these:

I thought maybe when I was pulling the pads off it came loose and fell down. I mean it snaps into place after-all. Then I noticed that while most of it was a greyish color, there were two areas on either side that looked like brand new steel?

How could these fall off while driving That appears to have been what happened. It's not broken or damaged, so I put it back where it goes, snapped it into the grove (it went on tight), put everything back together, and no more noises in the 2 mile test drive with 6 complete stops and 2 rolling 'stops', with the 2nd rolling stop being a rapid deceleration from 60MPH to about 5MPH in about 100 feet.

Of course next time, I'll probably replace the calipers as well, & that kit comes with pads... so I should be set for pads for life

 

Those are made from stainless, how it got out of place is a strange thing, IDK..

 

Strange things happen.

 

Those usually come with new pads. But beware some of those don't fit the HHR evidently, they fit other applications.

 

I compared them to the ones that came off when I replaced the brakes in 2018. They were almost identical to the ones I replaced, except that the Power Stop ones were slightly thicker or thinner by about 0.002 to 0.003 inch IIRC.

Just ordered the AC Delco Professional Front Brake Caliper Hardware Kit (GM Part # 19241680 / ACDelco Part # 18K1747X) cause two of the old seals are starting to dry-rot. I'll compare against those & see if there's any difference. If there is, I'll swap out for the complete AC Delco kit instead of just the seals & bushings.

 

I install that AC Delco kit every brake pad change. Just to ensure good clean brake pad contact points. Some of the clips in aftermarket pads kits don’t fit correctly and the tabs touch the rotors.

 

Mine is still running the OE Pads & shoes. But when I do brakes on other rides, I use the OE shims.. They fit the best imo.

 

Well, the Power Stop clips are an exact duplicate of the AC Delco's except for the black coating on the AC Delco clips. Even the thickness is the same this time