I'm going to replace my brakes and rotors later this week and was wondering if there is anything I need to know to change them that may not be in the manual. I'm more concerned with the rears. Any tips, tricks, anything would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks

 

read your service manual, or do a bit of looking here. it's been written up dozens of times on how to do them.

 

Alright check it out. I tried doing mine on Friday while not knowing very much what I was doing. I ended up unscrewing the bleeder screw and getting air into the brake lines and being so pissed off cuz I didn't know what was the problem. Don't bleed the system or open up the bleeder screw unless you have to. I did and it was a nightmare until I could get someone to help me out on Sunday. I don't think I could have been frustrated more on something so small, but like I said, I didn't know what I was doing very well. Just be careful on that bleeder screw and the rest is a breeze.....

 

Tips? Okay, I'll be nice and give some. I'm (still ) in the middle of doing this myself.

Fronts are straight forward to remove all the bolts, but a longer breaker bar can help with the 19mm bracket bolts in the back. If you have trouble getting a good angle, turning the steering wheel so that the caliper faces out helps.

For the rears, undo the bracket for the parking cable, then start undoing the caliper and the bracket. Once the caliper is off, then you can twist the caliper around and simply unhook the parking cable (if you need to) and not mess with the spring. I recommend a crow's foot or a fairly long combo wrench for the bracket bolts (17mm) since space is tight in there and you might not be able to get a socket to work in there, plus it's tight.

If any of the rotors are frozen on (like 3/4 of mine were ) you can try penetrating oil and smacking the edge of the hub (not the rotor!) with a hammer, but I had to resort to gently heating the hub face (wheel mounting surface) with a torch for like 30 seconds and that worked like a charm with a couple taps of the hammer. I was messing around for a LONG time when my dad came over (wondering what all the metallic pinging noises were) and showed me this old school trick. Who says you can't learn anything from your parents?

 

Thanks guys, just what I was looking for. I'm gonna go give it try once my stuff comes in. If anyone got any more tips or advice please post. I got one question about the brake hardware kit, is it something that really needs to be replaced everytime you change pads? It's like $51.99 or more for front and rear.