Changin my brake pads for the first time..tips?

[MrSkippyJ]

You can find tutorials on google

A couple tips are to push the cylinders back into the caliper using a c-clamp and the old pad, grease the caliper sliders, and make sure you don't have any spare parts lol. Its also not a bad idea to flush your brakes while you are at it. Helps to get moisture out of the system

you mean air out of the system?

Brake fluid attracts moisture, every time the BMC reservoir cap is off, moisture gets into the system.

FYI: If your brake fluid's black/brown, flush it.

Brake fluid's clear.

Gotcha.

[mbdblue]

rear calipers sometimes don't compress with just a C-clamp. some you have to turn with a caliper tool and push...mine do. When you compress the piston on any of the calipers, make sure the boot cover isn't deteriorating and allowing the piston to move in and out freely. Lubricate the caliper bolts to make sure they don't lock up. and lubricate the shims so you don't get squealing.

^edit:almost all of that should be in any tutorial.

[Sonic]

rear calipers sometimes don't compress with just a C-clamp. some you have to turn with a caliper tool and push...mine do. When you compress the piston on any of the calipers, make sure the boot cover isn't deteriorating and allowing the piston to move in and out freely. Lubricate the caliper bolts to make sure they don't lock up. and lubricate the shims so you don't get squealing.

^edit:almost all of that should be in any tutorial.

True, I think some have a splined conical adjuster within the piston to compensate for the parking break auto adjustment.

[kickass audio]

Not all brakes have the special tool you need to use to turn the piston inwards in order to give way for new pads/rotors. One way to see if you need rotors would be if they are worn down so far that you are near getting to the heatsink of the rotor. Another way to see if you should replace your rotors would be if you have a very bad pulsing feeling both in the pedal and in your seat when you stop as this means your rotors are warped. You really should not replace just the pads on warped rotors as the pads will become worn down fast and abnormally so you will be throwing your money away on new pads to not do the rotors.

What i do when im pushing the piston(s) (sometimes there are more than 1, my envoy has dual pistons for the fronts and a single piston for the rears) i use a c-clamp and an aluminium bar that i put the bar across the piston(s) and then use the c-clamp to the back of the caliper and clamp them in slowly. What the other members above said with pushing them in with the old brake pad will work, i just prefer a bar as the brake pad can take a chance of bending under a heavy load when clamping them together. Note: If your brakes are really worn down and the piston is sticking out a lot keep an eye on your reservoir on the master cylinder to make sure you dont get any brake fluid to spill out from it. Brake fluid eats away paint so do not get it on any painted surfaces. Also note that when you are clamping the pistons in do NOT clamp them without the use of a brake pad or bar that goes across the entire piston as if you apply uneven pressure you are likely to get the clamp to slip and break the rubber boot on the piston and keep your clamp away from the section where your brake line attaches to the caliper since too much pressure can crush them and cause you to have to buy a new hose and caliper as well as the need to bleed that system out.

When you get the caliper off id recommend tying it up and out of the way on the frame or springs while allowing there to be slack on the brake line. If you leave the caliper so it is hanging down by the hose or if it falls down while you are working in the wheel well you can snap the brake line. When i get ready to put the rotors on after i cleaned them all up is put a bit of anti-seize around the opening in the middle where your hub assembly comes through a little bit near the middle of the rotor. This area usually rusts to the axle and can cause you to have to hammer the hell out of the rotors next time you need to replace them to break it free. And what you can do is for the actual thread areas of the bolts (both the ones that hold the caliper on as well as the brake pad holder) i put anti-seize lubricant on them. Then i use bearing grease on the shaft of the longer screws that bolt the brake pad holder to the wheel assembly. I also finish the job off with a bit of anti-seize on the lug nuts as well as around the area where the wheel sits against the rotor as doing this will prevent the wheel from rusting to the rotors.

Im only 21 but have done brake jobs for a long time and they are really easy to do. The hardest ones to do that i have done are drum brakes when you replace all the springs but even with that i just cheat and take a picture of the assembly before i disconnect all the springs and i have no problems.

[Kidder]

I always just get new rotors each change. So even if they happened to be warped or anything at all it takes all the guess work out of it. Plus my car seems to have smoother braking when I do rotors. I'm always self conscious if I don't change them.

Also iirc when you depress the caliper with the c clamp, don't you need to open the reservoir? Can someone confirm that?

Also, if your calipers aren't getting pushed back by the c clamp then you might need new calipers/brake lines. I had issues with my back brakes. I bent the hell out of a C clamp trying to push them back in. Here my lines deteriorated on the inside which made my caliper fail. You generally don't have to worry about it at all unless you have a ton of miles on your car.

I open my reservoir when I do mine. I go real slow so that when it pushes the fluid back it doesn't come flying out all over the engine bay.

[matt14]

Do one side at a time!!! dont rush through it. It is simple for someone who has done them, but it is your brakes and you can never be to cautious. Here is a quick step by step ( some stuff is obvious, but want to be thorough

1. Loosen the lug nuts but do not remove while the car is on the ground

2. roll floor jack under the car and begin lifting on the subframe and install jack stands under the proper lifting points of the vehicle. ( this should be in the owners manual )

3. remove the wheel which you will be working on first.

4. remove retaining spring and caliper pin covers ( if equipped with spring and/or caps)

5. unbolt the caliper slide pins and lift caliper off

6. compress the piston in the way it is desighned to do so ( like stated above, some rear disc brakes will use a "screw" type piston, never seen fronts use this ) compressing the piston will be done by using a c-clamp and the old pad or using a LARGE set of channel locks

7. IF replacing rotors, unbolt the caliper retainer from the spindle and remove rotor

8. Install new rotor ( to keep the rotor seated, install 2 lugnuts on the stud to keep the rotor in one place when installing the pads/calipers )

9. install the caliper retainer and torque the bolts to spindle.

10. lubricate the back of the brake pad and the shims ( if equipped with shims ) and the caliper slide pins as well

11. install the pads( pay attention to the pad, it may have a specific outer and inner pad or a arrow. If a arrow, install the arrow facing up if the caliper is on rear side of the rotor, down if the caliper is towards the front)

12. Install the caliper onto the retainer and bolt the slide pins in place

13. Double check your work to make sure you had torqued every bolt you removed !!! It's brakes so you want to make sure nothing is left loose

14.Remove the lugnuts you had on the rotor, and install that wheel and thread all lug nuts onto the wheel and tighten as best as possible

15. start the other side

Once done with both sides , lower the car onto the ground and re-torque the wheels. Pump the brake pedal a few times until the pedal gets hard and no longer goes to the floor. Start the car. Road test the car afterwards and BE AWARE, the brakes will not stop like before until the pads are seated to the rotor. This may take only a couple of hard stops, or a couple of miles ( i have seen both) . After your done road testing the car, come back and double check that the lugnuts are tight. Hope this helps. If you have any questions, p.m. me and ill be more then happy to help you out

And since you asked, the brake rotor is the piece of the braking system that is a circle and looks like a disc. If it has hot spots ( random dark dots ), blueish in color, shakes when braking, when metal to metal, or are under spec they need to be replaced.

[kickass audio]

Very well said matt. I wish i made it sound as simple as that lmao. I always over elaborate stuff. hahahaa.

[matt14]

I've been wrenching on cars since I was about 14 years old and been a tech at a dealer for 10 years. Of course for someone who has done it before its hella easy.But the op didnt know what brake rotors were, which kinda scares me since he's wants to replace the brakes himself ( nothing wrong with not knowing, but wanted to give him a step by step as simple as possible so no mistakes are made ).

[BEEMDUB]

Do one side at a time!!! dont rush through it. It is simple for someone who has done them, but it is your brakes and you can never be to cautious. Here is a quick step by step ( some stuff is obvious, but want to be thorough

1. Loosen the lug nuts but do not remove while the car is on the ground

2. roll floor jack under the car and begin lifting on the subframe and install jack stands under the proper lifting points of the vehicle. ( this should be in the owners manual )

3. remove the wheel which you will be working on first.

4. remove retaining spring and caliper pin covers ( if equipped with spring and/or caps)

5. unbolt the caliper slide pins and lift caliper off

6. compress the piston in the way it is desighned to do so ( like stated above, some rear disc brakes will use a "screw" type piston, never seen fronts use this ) compressing the piston will be done by using a c-clamp and the old pad or using a LARGE set of channel locks

7. IF replacing rotors, unbolt the caliper retainer from the spindle and remove rotor

8. Install new rotor ( to keep the rotor seated, install 2 lugnuts on the stud to keep the rotor in one place when installing the pads/calipers )

9. install the caliper retainer and torque the bolts to spindle.

10. lubricate the back of the brake pad and the shims ( if equipped with shims ) and the caliper slide pins as well

11. install the pads( pay attention to the pad, it may have a specific outer and inner pad or a arrow. If a arrow, install the arrow facing up if the caliper is on rear side of the rotor, down if the caliper is towards the front)

12. Install the caliper onto the retainer and bolt the slide pins in place

13. Double check your work to make sure you had torqued every bolt you removed !!! It's brakes so you want to make sure nothing is left loose

14.Remove the lugnuts you had on the rotor, and install that wheel and thread all lug nuts onto the wheel and tighten as best as possible

15. start the other side

Once done with both sides , lower the car onto the ground and re-torque the wheels. Pump the brake pedal a few times until the pedal gets hard and no longer goes to the floor. Start the car. Road test the car afterwards and BE AWARE, the brakes will not stop like before until the pads are seated to the rotor. This may take only a couple of hard stops, or a couple of miles ( i have seen both) . After your done road testing the car, come back and double check that the lugnuts are tight. Hope this helps. If you have any questions, p.m. me and ill be more then happy to help you out

And since you asked, the brake rotor is the piece of the braking system that is a circle and looks like a disc. If it has hot spots ( random dark dots ), blueish in color, shakes when braking, when metal to metal, or are under spec they need to be replaced.

Thanks for the help guys... this was an especially helpful post!

I've been wrenching on cars since I was about 14 years old and been a tech at a dealer for 10 years. Of course for someone who has done it before its hella easy.But the op didnt know what brake rotors were, which kinda scares me since he's wants to replace the brakes himself ( nothing wrong with not knowing, but wanted to give him a step by step as simple as possible so no mistakes are made ).

Lol oh I'm not a total idiot I know what rotors are lmao...I just was asking about what wear looks like on that or how to know when to replace them...Most of my time spent working on cars has been more on the interior with audio install and wiring, so don't have a huge amount of experience with mechanics but I'm not afraid to try something on my own for the first time even if that means possibly fuckin somthin up ha

[matt14]

My bad , thought I read you didnt know what rotors were.