I live in the Midwest. I am not a regular to the forums because I don't own a Malibu, however I am a Pontiac owner.

My question is this. I do maintenance for a friend of mine, on an 04 malibu. I noticed a huge tear in the dustboot on the front, pass. caliper! Does the dust boot just pop off, or do I have to replace the entire caliper assembly.

I am guessing that if I position the piston correctly it should come off, and wa-la, I just slide on a new one?

Or I am thinking intensive Caliper rework will be required.

Can anyone help me? Thanks for reviewing the thread.

Please Help Me!

I can't help you with this one Trout, sorry. Hopefully someone can chime in with some insight.

Trout - Im not sure - but you should check with the parts store to even see if they sell the boot....that will give you a good idea if they are replacable or if they are all part of the caliper. Go to a real parts store - like Napa - those guys know more then the other stores like Autozone.

Yeah, it looks like that is what I will have to do unless someone can chime in.

I got the boot on order, from Autozone, but I am waiting for it to come in.

Perhaps I should go to a napa. That was a bad move on my part to go to autozone, as I walked in those clunkheads were playing basket with the wastebasket.

What boot? Is this the rubber that surrounds the piston on the caliper? If so the you're looking at replacing the caliper. What you'll end up getting is not just the boot, it'll be a rebuild kit which includes the dust boot and the inner seal for the piston if I'm right.

It is the dust boot that travels in and out with the piston that compresses the break pads onto the rotor.

I would really prefer not to rebuild the entire caliper if at all possible.

Just get a rebuilt caliper from any parts store, since there's a core charge, you just return the old caliper to the part store.

Trout,
If you have never rebuilt a caliper before, I would highly recomend just replacing the caliper and be done with it. There are alot of things that can and will go wrong when rebuilding one! plus a new one will come with a gaurentee and warentee. what caused the boot to tear in the first place? (retracting piston for brake replacement)?