Owners of other General Motors vehicles from Chevy, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and Holden such as the Trax, Blazer, Traverse, Tahoe, Suburban, Cruze, Malibu, Impala, Camaro, Cascada, LaCrosse, Encore, Envision, Enclave, Regal, Canyon, Sierra, Terrain, Acadia, Yukon, Savana, XT4, XT5, XT6, Escalade, CTS, XTS, CT6, Astra, Commodore and Trailblazer may also find these DIY instructions to be helpful.

A few compatible replacement sets of new front brake pads with their part numbers include the following: ACDelco 17D1913CH, Power Stop 16-1913, Callahan CPK01084, Bendix CFC1913 and Raybestos MGD1913CH.

The tools and other items needed to complete this procedure include a lug nut wrench (tire iron), a floor jack, two jack stands, a 14mm socket with a 3/8" drive ratchet, an "F" clamp and a tube of brake caliper grease.

Please proceed with caution and at your own risk!

The first few steps are to drive the SUV on a level surface, shift the transmission into park and turn off the ignition.

Engage the emergency / parking brake and place wheel chocks on both sides of the rear tires to help prevent the vehicle from moving.

Slightly loosen the five lug nuts on the front wheel by turning them about 1/4 to 1/2 turn in the counterclockwise direction with the lug nut wrench.

Carefully raise the front of the SUV with the floor jack and securely support it with at least two jack stands.

Please do not solely rely on the floor jack to support the vehicle!

I prefer to only work on one side of the car at a time to keep three tires on the ground for extra safety.

Carefully pull off the front wheel and tire.

Set the front wheel aside in a safe place.

Some home mechanics prefer to place the wheel and tire below the frame rail of the vehicle as a backup support device just in case both the floor jack and jack stands fail.

Once the front wheel is out of the way, you'll be able to see the rotor, bracket, caliper and suspension.

The front brake caliper is held in place to the bracket by two bolts on the back side of the caliper. The bolt heads face in towards the engine bay.

Then loosen the bottom caliper bolt by also turning it in the clockwise direction (when viewed from the outside of the car) with the 14mm socket and 3/8" drive ratchet.

Carefully lift the caliper off the front brake pads and out of the bracket.

Try to avoid bending, kinking, stressing or pulling on the rubber brake fluid hose.

There are two "V" shaped metal spring clips attached to the outer edge of the front brake pads. These "return" or "spreader" springs help keep the brake pads off the rotor after the brake pedal has been released.

Set them aside for re-installation later on.

Your new pads may or may not come with new "V" springs or they might not be equipped with holes to accommodate the clips.

Remove the old inner and outer brake pads from the bracket.

Make a mental note of where the wear indicator or "squeal" bar was situated on the old brake pads.

On this 2018 Equinox Premier, the wear indicator bar was located at the top of the inner brake pad.

Clean off the rotor, bracket, caliper and lug studs with brake parts cleaner spray.

Avoid breathing in the brake pad dust or the cleaning fluid. They may be carcinogenic (cancer causing).

Apply a thin layer of brake parts lubricant grease to the areas of the new pad abutment clips where they will come in contact with the bracket or the ends ("ears") of the new brake pads.

Push the new pad abutment clips into the top and bottom of the bracket. Make sure the clips are fully seated.

Pull the caliper slider pins out of their rubber dust boots attached to the back side of the bracket.

Do not mix up the top and bottom caliper slider pins. On some vehicles they may be slightly different and are specifically made for the top and bottom of the caliper.

Apply a thin layer of brake parts lubricant grease to the smooth parts of the caliper slider pins.

Push the pins back into the bracket until they "snap" or "pop" into place in the rubber dust boots.

Spin the pins around a few times and gently push them in and pull them out to help spread the grease.

Attach the "F" clamp to the caliper and use the back of an old brake pad to evenly spread the pressure across the caliper piston.

Twist off the black plastic cap in the counterclockwise direction and set it aside in a safe place such as on the cowl near the windshield.

Removing the reservoir cap will allow the brake fluid to more easily travel back through the system when you compress the caliper pistons.

Slowly turn the "F" clamp handle in the clockwise direction to compress back the caliper piston.

Try to avoid pinching or otherwise damaging the rubber dust boot that surrounds the piston.

Continue retracting the piston until it is just about flush with the rubber dust boot and the caliper assembly.

Repeatedly check the fluid level in the reservoir to make sure that it doesn't overflow. Clean up any spilled brake fluid immediately and flush the area with water. Brake fluid can easily damage painted surfaces.

Brake fluid is hygroscopic and easily absorbs moisture from the air which can lead to reduced braking performance.

Twist on the brake fluid cap in the clockwise direction.

If your Equinox has been exhibiting vibrations or shuddering in the front end during braking, you may need to replace the front rotors.

A few compatible replacement front brake rotors with their part numbers include the following: ACDelco 18A82000, Centric 120.62176 and DuraGo BR901622.

To replace the rotors, remove the Torx T30 set screw on the outer face of the old rotor, remove the two bolts on the back side of the bracket and pull off the bracket.

Slide the old rotor off the wheel hub and slide on the new rotor.

If you have trouble removing the old rotor, hit it a few times with a rubber mallet.

Replace the set screw and the bracket. The service manual torque specification for the front rotor T30 set screw is 62 lb-in.

On most modern GM vehicles, the bracket bolts are now TTY (torque-to-yield) bolts that should not be re-used.

Consult your dealership to purchase new bracket bolts.

Tighten the torque-to-yield (TTY) bracket bolts to the service manual specification of 111 lb-ft plus 45 degrees for the first pass and another 15 degrees for the second pass.

An optional step is to apply a small amount of Loctite Blue medium strength removable threadlocking adhesive to the bracket bolts.

Note - The brake fastener torque specifications were obtained from the service manuals for the Buick Regal, Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet Malibu. All of these other GM vehicles share the same caliper and bracket part numbers as the Chevrolet Equinox. Please verify these torque specifications for your vehicle.

Install the new inner and outer brake pads into the bracket.

The wear indicator bar should be situated at the top of the inner brake pad.

If your new pads are equipped with the attachment slots for the "V" spring clips, install the new clips or re-use the old clips.

If the caliper won't fit over the new thicker new brake pads, you may need to compress the piston back a bit further.

Line up the bolt holes in the caliper with their corresponding holes in the caliper slider pins within the bracket.

Spin in the two caliper bolts a few turns by hand in the counterclockwise direction (as seen from the outside of the SUV) to help prevent them from becoming cross threaded.

If you have a torque wrench, the service manual specification for the caliper slider pins is 20 lb-ft (27 Nm) of torque.

Try to avoid over tightening the caliper bolts to prevent from damaging the fasteners or the threads in the caliper.

If your brake pedal has been feeling soft or "mushy", the brake lines may contain a few air bubbles or some moisture. It would be best to bleed the brake lines at this time to flush out the old fluid and replace it with fresh DOT 3 brake fluid.

The brake fluid bleeder valve is located on the back side of the caliper just below the top bolt. It is covered by a rubber valve cap. To open or close the valve, you will need a 10mm wrench.

For more on this topic, check out my Acura MDX Brake Fluid Bleeding Guide.

I prefer to use the Allstar Bleeder Bottle which makes this an easy one person job since it has a one way check valve and a magnet to hold it against the rotor.

Spin on the five lug nuts a few turns in the clockwise direction by hand to prevent them from becoming cross threaded.

Carefully lower the vehicle from the jack stands by using the floor jack.

Continue tightening the lug nuts in the clockwise direction in a criss-cross or star pattern to just past hand tight.

It would be best to use a torque wrench to tighten the lug nuts to the owner's manual specification of 100 lb-ft of torque.

Please double check your owner's manual for the correct lug nut torque specification for your vehicle.

Check the level in the brake fluid reservoir. If necessary, slowly pour in some new DOT 3 fluid until it reaches the "MAX" (maximum) line.

It would also be a good idea to check your parking spot, driveway or garage for any drops of fresh brake fluid which might indicate a leak from the bleeder valve or the reservoir bottle.

Don't forget to write down the brake pad change in your vehicle's service records.

For more, please check out all of my 2018-2022 GM Chevrolet Equinox DIY Repair & Maintenance Guides.