XaMMax

I am about to replace my rear brake pads. Nissan checked them and said I have about 10% left. I was told that when you replace brake pads you need to resurface the rotors but I thought that was only when you wait too long to change pads and the rotors become scratched up. I have never changed pads myself (trying to save a few bucks) so I dont know what is involved.

Also what tools will I need?

blove

you should always have the rotors turned (resurfaced) when changing pads. It just insures that they are smooth and true.

Brudaddy

iTrader: (2)

Okay, I am about to save you a lot of money that the stealership is trying to take from you.

1. When you brake right now, do you get a wobble or anything? If not, you don't need to do anything to your rotors unless you just want to. You can get some OEM-style rotors at your local parts store for like $20 each...you would only need to replace the fronts, more than likely.

2. this is very easy to do.

Tools needed:
1. socket set with Metrics.
2. Tire Tool
3. Jack that came with car
4. Brake Pads(new)
5. Anti-squeal goo(comes with some brake pads)
6. rubber mallet(possibly)
7. Large C-Clamp
8. Wire hanger
9. disposable cup
10. straw or something to suck fluid out with
11. Paper towels

Here is what you do: (just pads)
1. Loosen the lugs while the car is on the ground
2. jack up the car
3. take wheel/tire off and set aside
4. get sockets with 12mm(I think)
5. where the pads go in the caliper, there should be two small(12mm or 14mm, I cannot remember) bolts.
6. Loosen and take out the one closest to the ground.
7. This will allow the caliper housing(that holds the pads) to flip up and swing on top of the rotor....be careful because of the brake line that is connected to the caliper.
8. take out the old pads.
9. take off shims from the back of old pads(thin metal pieces that snap onto the back of the pads. Keep these.
10. If the new pads don't come with some form of shims(I just got some that were adhesive to stick to the back), put the old shims on the new pads....they will fit, they are all the same shape.
11. Put some of the anti-squeal goo on the BACK of the pad(not the part that touches the rotor)
12. Put the new pads in where the old ones came from.
13. Get the C-Clamp and put one end(the end that screws in) inside the caliper (part that squeezes) and the "C" part on the backside of the caliper.
14. compress the caliper slowly to allow you to put the new pads back in and get it back onto the rotor. NOTE: you will probably need to open the Brake Fluid Resevoir under the hood and scoop some fluid out, because then you compress the caliper, you will cause it to spill out. This is okay, it is normal. You just don't want it spilling out everywhere.
15. Once you have compressed the caliper enough to get the brake pads over the rotor(swing it back down to fit), then you can stop compressing. If your pads are that worn, you will probably have to compress it a lot.
16. Put the bolt back in that you took out, and put the wheel back on and you are done. IMPORTANT: Make sure you get that bolt very tight, because it can wiggle loose with driving. I did this and it is not a good thing, plus, they are like $8 for just that one little bolt!
17. After you put everything back together, repeat on the other side, and you are almost done.
18. You need to break the brakes in.
19. To do this, first, when you get into your car, pump the brakes a little to get that pressure back into the lines. Then, get on a road that nobody is around, and get going to like 40mph. Brake moderately/kind of hard down to about 10. Then get going to like 50mph, and slow down to like 10. Keep doing this up to like 70, but never stop. By not ever stopping, you will allow the heat on the brakes to dissipate more evenly and not get a weird wear pattern.
20. Then, you don't want to brake really hard for like 200 miles or so.
21. Enjoy the fact that you just did your brakes, because it is that easy. I know it looks like a lot of steps, but it is not hard.

For changing the rotors:
1. Repeat steps 1-3
2. Get sockets and take off 19mm(I think) bolts (2 of them) kind of top and bottom that hold on the whole housing of the caliper system.
3. Once you get these out, you need to make sure that you don't just let it hang by the brake line connected to it. If you want, a lot of people get a wire hanger and hang it up from the spring or something.
4. That is all that holds the rotor on. you can just slip it off the lug studs, and replace with the new one. You may need to use the rubber mallet a little to get the old rotor off. Not that hard though.
5. If I were you, I would get some anti-rust spray from autozone or somewhere and spray a little on the lug studs before you put the wheel back on. This will prevent you from breaking one off from it seizing on there.
6. Put the housing back on just like you took it off.
7. Proceed to change the pads like you would if did not change the rotor with the above listed steps.

Hope this was helpful...
Good luck.....
And enjoy the money that you have saved...

Brudaddy

iTrader: (2)

not true, blove, not true.

Sorry about the long post.

Dubbya

iTrader: (16)

Just skimmed through you post of tools needed and you forgot the rear caliper compressor. DO NOT use C-Clamp or anything to sqeeze the rear caliper back in because they screw in. It requires a special tool you can pick up at any auto store. You can use needle nose pliers, but I wouldnt suggest it. Spend the $10 on the rear caliper compressor.

Brudaddy

iTrader: (2)

I gave no instructions on rear calipers.

XaMMax

Well my rear pads are the ones that need replacing. Thanks for the thorough write up by the way, much appreciated.

SkinnyMax

iTrader: (1)

rears are basically the same procedure as the fronts except that when compressing the piston do not use a c-clamp, you need to turn the piston clockwise either with needle nose pliers(the cheap way) or with the special brake tool that you can get from advanced, napa, or autozone

Brudaddy

iTrader: (2)

They are right.
My bad about telling you about the fronts.
Yeah, use the methods that SkinnyMax said.
C-clamp is just for fronts.

maximus_pr

iTrader: (3)

this is what you need for rear calipers

XaMMax

I have a 96 Mxima. Tire is off as well as all bolts the caliper doesnt seem to flip up Im not sure if its stuck or what. Is it spring operated by any chance?

Dubbya

iTrader: (16)

1) make sure you parking brake is OFF

2) you will also need to disconnect the parking brake cable from the caliper. remove 10mm bolt from trailing arm. trace cable back to the front of the back tire and its right there. this should give you just enough slack to wiggle the parking brake cable free from the caliper. be careful when reinstalling the 10mm bolt they break off really easy. just needs to be slightly more than snug.

3) remove 2 12mm bolts from caliper. you could just do the top one if you are not turning/replacing rotors. this will allow you to swing the caliper towards the back of the car. (havent tried this tecnique)

4) it takes a little force to get off the caliper even with the parking brake off. try to sea-saw it back and forth while lifting up. careful not to drop the caliper. any force on the brake line could be really bad.

5) when compressing the caliper back in via clockwise turning make sure to spray a little wd40 around the caliper boot. this will help keep the boot from binding up and potentially getting a tear. try no to get wd40 on the parts that the compressor will be touching for obvious reasons. you will keep slipping off. not that i made that mistake or anything.

6) there is an alignment pin on the back of the inside brake pad. when you reinstall the caliper make sure one of the groves that the caliper compressor fits into lines up with the alignment pin. this allows the caliper to go down all the way to line up the 12mm bolt holes. took me the better part of half and hour to figure this out. not all pads are created equal so i dont know if you have this pin or not. but its in the middle of the pad and about 1/4 inch protrusion.

hope this helps.