skysurfer

I worked on the brakes last week and came up with the following reference information for the brake job...
Also a big 'Thank You!' to cmarshack and all those who have posted on brake pad/rotor replacement between the forums

Lastly these values are what I used for my 2010 GL450 - use at your own risk - if you are unsure of the part numbers/info, ask your friendly MB tech at the parts dept. Additionally on cmarshack's write up he used 20mm and 17mm sockets for his GL450. I had to use 21mm and 18mm sockets instead (not sure why). I elected to replace all the pads, rotors (mine was worn to limits), caliper bolts, and guide pins. I would've replaced the rotor locking screws - but I forgot to buy them and the ones on the car were still in good shape. The caliper bolts I purchased from MB dealer, brake guide pins from Advanced Auto Parts, and Rotors/Pads/Sensors as a set from a ebay seller. It's been approximately 400 miles since I put them on and so far so good.

My biggest mistakes

This is for a 2010 GL450 Brake Job
I included the torque values in in-lbs since I had a 3/8" torque wrench in in-lbs.

Front BrakesRear Brakes



Hopefully this will save some poor guy from fumbling through pages/sites looking for numbers!

CBR2200

Thanks for the info. Do you happen to know the minimum thickness guidelines for the rotors? My technician is recommending replacing them but they look fine to me. I don't have any symptoms of them being cracked, warped or any other issues.

Thanks again!

skysurfer

I took my rotors to O'reillys to turn them and they told me my rotors has less then one mm to work with - all they could do was take the glaze off and that was it... The rotors had 65k miles on them already so I ended up discarding all four of them.

For yours GL550 model 164.886 (I don't know your vin but I think that's your model number, double check it though.)

Front Rotors Rear RotorsGood luck!

CBR2200

Thanks for the info. Looks like I'm doing just pads. Does the sensor still need to be replaced if it never signaled a message?

skysurfer

I think you can still use the sensor if it wasn't tripped/worn out.

LAZARU5

I purchased the rotors and pads for my 2010 GL450 a few months ago and decided to tackle the job yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised to find the excellent "how to" threads posted by cmarshack and skysurfer.

I tried removing the caliper bolts with an 18" breaker bar, but, I just did not have the strength to loosen the bolts. I picked up a 1/2" drive 24" breaker bar from Advance Auto. This bar along with a six point 21mm socket gave me the needed leverage.

I pretty much followed the steps in cmarshack's post with one exception. I loosened the caliper bolts FIRST. I figured if I could not get those out I would have to pack up my rotors an pads and take them to an independent shop to do the job.

I was not comfortable loosening the caliper bolts with the wheels off and the GL on jack stands. So, I put the SUV on some 9" high Race Ramps which allowed me to access the caliper bolts with the wheels on. I used a standard length 21mm six-point socket directly attached to the breaker bar. I did not need an extension between the socket and breaker bar. I had no problem reaching the bolts and swinging the 24" breaker bar.

I did not remove the bolts. I just loosened them a quarter turn or less. The next step was to back the GL down the ramps and put it up on jack stands. I then followed the steps in cmarshack's post to complete the job.

For me, the most difficult part of the job was lifting the heavy tires and wheels back onto the hub. I used two wheel hangers to align the holes in the wheels with the threaded holes in the hub.

skysurfer

Glad to have help out! I had to go grab a 24" breaker bar as well to get the caliper bolts off. My local MB was going to charge two arms and two legs to do the brakes... I think I saved about 1k by doing it myself