I used basic hand tools and a floor jack.
Yesterday I replaced all 4 rotors and pads on the max. Brembo with Hawk pads for the front and Autozone blanks and PBR ultimates for the rear.
The 1st wheel gave me the hardest time, I broke 2 socket wrenches because I couldn’t get the caliper bracket screws off.
Went to autozone and they recommended PB blaster. The guy said spray it on and wait 3 mins. I sprayed and waited 30 seconds and it started to move. If I waited 3 mins it would have unscrewed itself. Hahaha.
The rotors were a biyatch to get of the hub I had to beat the hell out of them with a 2x4. When I put the new ones on I sprayed white lithium grease on the hub so it wouldn’t stick.
For the rears I didn’t have the special tool, so I had to use pliers.

The only problems I have know is that when I use the parking brake it sticks a little before it fully releases and also after leaving a stop light or sign the rears make a “whooo” sound. Why?

Old Rotor



Broken Socket Wrenches

 

Well at least you got it done. Some advice. Cheap tools will end up costing you more sometimes. And NEVER use a ratchet to break loose tight bolts/nuts. Use a breaker bar. THEN use the socket.

 

first..poor wrenches-hope you got forever liftime. when i did my brakes the fronts where easy as he!!, but my problem was gettting the caliper piston back in. i had to have my dad and father-in-law do it for me with the piston tool. i wish you had pic of the brembo rotor. i've never seen it. but good job man. you gotta enjoy a good DIY job.

 

The brembo rotor is the 4th pic.

 

I use my rachets to break those bolts loose but then again, I have a good set.

 

so then what do autozone blanks look like??? whats the diff.

 

there is no difference :0 you should have just got the package deal in the gd forum

In any event, good job I recently had to replace my rear rotors and it was pretty easy, but the feeling of accomplishment after is great. Also, I have the same noise I think.. If im sitting at a light and let go of the brake a little so that its still applied, but im rolling I get a weird hollow sounding noise..Not sure what is is, but hasn't caused any problems. Mine been like that for a few years now since the first time I changed my brake pads.

 

Honestly there is no big difference. They looked fairly the same.
I guess you are paying for the name partly also it rained last night and the autozone ones have a little rust dots on the hat. Also the brembo face was cleaner and smoother than the autozone ones.

 

I paid $36 each for the brembo fronts in the GD
and $27 each for the autozone rears

 

Just at the right time. I need to do this too. Here are some questions I'd appreciate if someone answered.

1. How hard is this for a relatively novice person? I have read the instructions and it does seem straight forward. I have changed my Oil and rotated my tires for a while now. I have also cleaned the TB a couple of times and I just changed Spark plugs and replaced the fuel filter and the Belts about three weeks back to give folks an idea of my technical capability.
2. I have had the brake packge from Jason a while now. Do I need to purchase any misc. hardware clips etc. as mentioned in the instructions at motorvate?
3. In addition to the PB blaster, the Anti-Squeal, the White Lithium Grease, what other things do I need to get?

Thanks for the answers.

 

If there is a difference, it won't be visible. All rotors* are made of plain carbon steel, and it's the heat treatment that IMO makes a better rotor handle the heat of braking without warping. All rotors will rust, too. The only way to stop that is to drive it every day (in which case the rust won't accumulate much) or coat them in oil for storage, and of course the oil thing is a joke. But light oil like WD-40 works for protecting stuff like that when in storage.

Dave

 

Doing the brakes isn't too hard. Mostly use some PB blaster and work safely with the axle stands in place. I dunno what brake pkg you're talking about, but definitely I recommend using new hardware/shim kits and not using any anti-squeal unless the directions indicate to do so. Replace the rotors, which it sounds like you're doing. The rear calipers will require a special tool to turn/press the pistons apart, which you can buy or borrow from Autozone. Definitely do get that tool though.

If this brake kit includes a new caliper, then you're going to be opening the brake lines/fluid to the air. So bleeding the brakes is now necessary. I would buy a whole 1-2 liters of DOT 4 brake fluid and bleed the system completely. Use the two person method (one presses on the brake pedal, one opens/closes the bleed screw so that the fluid is always pushed out under pressure, and keeps an eye on the fluid level in the reservoir).

I'm not being too thorough in my description, so obviously google or search here to get more details on any one item.

Dave

 

Thanks Dave. I did not buy the steel lines or new calipers. My car only has 64000 miles so I take it I do not need new calipers. So, its just replacing the rotors and pads like the OP did.

 

Doing brakes is very simple... if u know how to do sparkplugs and rotate tires im sure you can do a brake job.

 

This may be related to your rear brake question. On the rear brake piston, there is a small indentation that interlocks with the nub on the pad. They must interlock OR you MAY have the pads dragging on the rear rotor. Just a possibility.

 

I heard there is a coating that comes on new rotors that you must remove. Is this true?

 

its true in parts of the clutch of a manual tranny, but ive never heard of it on a rotor, reguardless id still clean it up good with brake cleaner

 

Some new rotors are coated lightly in oil - this is to prevent them from rusting while in the warehouse/on the shelf. Just wash them off with brake cleaner before installation.

 

simon says you cant paint

 

Simon is smart

 

loll..

neways good job bro, if you buy one tool everyweek, youll have a nice set, well thanks to my dad i have the ultimate snap on collection

btw did you bed in your pads? i need to do my rears aswell, since you were at autozone you shoudlve borrowed the tool for the rear caliper.

 

do they squeek in u drive? dotn forget to bed them in.

also any more pics?? i think my bolt will be Bizzz to get off as well. though i will try this. did u have to replace any of the OE stuff, like boots, or brackets. etc etc.?

 

I found a secret for bringing back the caliper pistons after braking several cheap azz shucks "piston" tools. Its called a C clamp, and undoing the brake fluid reservoir cap.

 

I didnt bed mine in, (I didnt even know about bedding the breaks untill i read it on here) but yet they are nice and quiet and work as well as can be expected with rubber lines still. cant wait to put on steel braided lines.

 

I tried to bed them in.
When I finished installing them it was raining, i got on the highway and did 3 stops from 80-60 then drove normal back home.

It feels so good to have the ABS working again. The pads I had before were so soft they wouldnt lock up the rotor.
Never buy the cheap $20 pads at autozone.
They also dust heavly it look likr i painted my rims black everyday.


I did use a C-clamp, but that is only for the fronts. You have to turn the rear piston.

 

I posted in another thread about a TSB for groaning rear brakes.
Jae

 

Would that PB blaster potentially make it easier for me to get my strut tower bolts off? Mine are on there so tight that there's absolutely no way I'm getting them off by hand. I was gonna have somebody with air tools take them off, but if this stuff + a breaker bar would work ok I'd rather just do it myself. (Installing a FSTB)

 

My car only had 82k on it when I just did the rear brakes...

I had to replace the passenger side rear caliper (didn't do the pair, and it doesnt make a difference since it's in the rear. I know some beg to differ, but I get no pull whatsoever.)

I had a mechanic friend help me because I tried to do them myself first and couldn't turn in the calipers. They are a weird floating pisting that pushes straight out when used for braking, but turn back in (threaded.) Now think about that, that means the ONLY TIME those threads are used is when you do a rear brake job, which is very seldom.

Unfortunately for me, living in NE, this means the salt did quite a number on those threads apparently. My friend managed to find a way to bolt on the caliper and put a vice grip on part of the suspension right behind it to make it solid, and I had to lean against the ratchet (with the piston tool on it) to keep it in place with all my body weight (195lb) while he stood on a 4 ft pipe to make it move. This process took about 20-30 mins JUST TO TURN IN THE PISTONS on both sides.

We managed to do it, then when I got home and parked I smelled a burning... checked my driver side, was fine, went over to the passenger side and i could feel the heat on my face before I even bent down, the caliper was too fubar to work correctly and had probably seized dragging the brake. Luckily this was only about ~ 2 mile trip and didn't damage the pads/rotors to the extent they needed to be replaced again, but I did have to abandon my car for 3 days while I waited for a new caliper to come in.

Don't be so sure when it comes to our rear brakes, be prepared for problems...

 

WHOA! Nice work man, can't wait to see you a$$ lowered..

 

If you cant get rotors off a good thing to do is to heat them with a propane or MAPP torch. Heat for a good 5 mins. Then give the back a good smack with a hammer.

Thanks for the pictures of the Spray cans

 

Oh and your rears make a WHOO sound because the caliper(s)are probably stuck. Rear calipers suck on these cars. See if it goes away in a few days. If not, take a floor jack and lift the rear axle in the middle. Then try to turn the back wheels and see which one is binding. thats the bad caliper.

 

Just take your time and double-check everything. Dont forget to get to use a Haynes or Chilton.

 

Aren't our rotors threaded for removal?
Jae

 

I also get a little "whooing" from the rears but not consistently. The calipers actually gone on the new pads with no issues, but I may have to recheck that when I bleed brakes later this week.

I just finished doing brakes as well. ONE of the best things to have in the arsenal is a breaker bar for the caliper mounting bolts. (And don't forget different sizes for front and rear! 19mm for the front and 17mm for the rear)
If you can afford a decent torque wrench that's a good tool to have as well. PLEASE don't use the torque wrench to loosen bolts! I also had use pliers to retract the rear caliper pistons, but other than it it was OK except for the time it took me.

 

Yeah, I was gonna say...

You guys see the two smaller holes on the picture of the rotor in the first post? Thread a bolt through there and turn until it cracks the rotor off. I banged and banged my rotors with a heavy rubber mallet and they still didn't come off because they were rusted on. I was hitting them so hard I was afraid of damaging them. Then I read about those holes and had them off in under a minute. Make things easy for yourselves.

 

That happened to me today, the same exact symptom. I actually started a thread about it. Smelled the burning smell, and actually saw some smoke.

Anyways, here's the thread,
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=427267


Maybe you can drop in and give some advice. Maybe something I should watch out for that hasn't been mentioned yet. Ever figure out what was burning?

 

Yeah they're threaded but I find that by the time I find a bolt to go in there that's the proper size and pitch... only to find out that it strips the threads because they have rusted-

The heat and hammer whack method is better

 

I use my Craftsman ratchets with a 2' cheater pipe to break things loose all the time. People say craftsman sucks, and that may be true, but they work for me. The no questions asked lifetime warrantee is nice too. I split 2 or 3 deep sockets doing my tranny swap.

 

Did you read the post that you quoted? One of his rear calipers had seized so it was most likely just the pad getting really hot.

 

You might want to introduce yourself to a breaker bar. The cheater pipe will just ruin every ratchet you have.