hey guys. my car needs new front pads. ive done a ton of engine work, even rebuilt an old AMC 360 V8 (my jet boat), and ive done tranny work on my old nissan 720 pickup, but i have never done ANY brake work. I went to napa today and got new front brake pads. I noticed that they come with shims. Do I need the new shims?
I printed out the instructions on how to change front brakes from motorvate.ca, and ive read them. I just wanna know, is it easy to do front brake pads?? i dont have to bleed the brake line or anything, right? im just gonna basically follow the instructions from motorvate.ca and hope everything goes well.

 

I can do them with my eyes closed. Its very easy. From what I remember the motorvate.ca instructions are very good. Inspect the condition of your shims. If they are still good then save the new ones, or heck just toss the new ones on any way.

 

if you are just putting in new pads, its very very easy....place your car on jacks, take off the wheel, remove the lower caliper bolt and flip the caliper upward, remove old brake pads, open the master cylinder, push in the piston with C-clamp, put in new one pads (use of shims is recommended), flip caliper back down, and replace the bolt and you are basically done....motorvate is good cuase it has pictures but that guy also replaced his rotors so that's why he removed the caliper and the backet to take off the rotors, but if you are not, then you don't have to do everything he does unless you want to clean off everything like he did.....don't really think bleeding the brakes are necessary since you are not remove the caliper, you can always bleed later after you take it for a test run. I would maybe also suggest you cleaning the parts off because there is probab ly layers and layers of caked on brake dust from use over the years and put some anti-seize on the bolts so they last longer and easy to remove next time. Also, if you have a hard time removing the bolts, spray WD40 on it and let it sit for a while and I usually spray the bolt heads again with WD40 after I retightened them.

 

i take too long to post

edited out everything, cuz people posted first and are correct.

 

yeah all you need are the tools and youll be fine. REMEMBER TO GET A C-CLAMP. i made the mistake of not having one and i had to bleed the brakes to get the air our of my system. waste of time if you ask me.

btw my shims were basically gone so i took them off. if i buy and put new shims on there will it make the high pitch noise go away? i know its recommended but my shims were gone so i couldn't even place them back on the new brake pads.

 

buy bedix tita. II if you still have to buy the pads they include everything you need shims and lube. for und 45 bucks and the work wonders.


heres a link http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...pe=219&ptset=A

 

I second the C-clamp, near damn impossible without. I actually did the pads on my cousin's IS300 and the rears were harder B/C you had to take the caliper off. I had to use a 2X4 wood stick for extra leverage, took awhile to figure out. After that, it was easy.

 

alright, i just got cheap napa pads. im gonna do the work this saturday. so i just use a c-clap and push the piston back in before i put it together? and after i push it back in, it will stay in and i just put the brakes back together?
i really dont want to bleed the lines, i have no idea how to do it

 

Use a thin piece of wood to protect the piston and calipers from the C clamp and make sure everything is square as you push the piston in. You don't want to crimp the piston rubbers or worse, force the piston head into the cylinder wall. Easy does it. As you push the piston in, you force fluid up into the master reservior. This will hold the piston in while you re-assemble.

Just watch the reservoir doesn't overflow.

This job is very easy and very satisfying. Take your time & enjoy!

 

Just reuse the OLD PADS between the PISTON and C-CLAMP.
1st time does take a bit longer but dont' sweat it.


For some odd reason, my DRIVER REAR makes noise when I reverse. Everything else is fine.

 

hey not sure if anyone said this yet or not but change all 4, not just the fronts. Its easy but after pushing the calipers back in (to get them to fit on your rotor with the new thick pads) your gonna make your brake fluid overflow at the container in teh engine bay.
you know what....just get a haynes manual haha.

 

Before you push the pistons back in with the C-clamp, loosen the cap on your brake resevoir so extra fluid can escape. Wrap an old towel around the resevoir to soak up the overflow.

Don't take the cap completely off as you risk getting dirt in the fluid.

Get some high-temp grease.

Make sure to remove the caliper pins, check their condition, clean and regrease them.

Also put a little grease on the top and bottom brackets where the brake pads go in. Helps keep them moving back and forth easily.

The whole process is pretty easy after you know what you're doing.

 

yeah its easy. regrease and you will be good,.

 

*DO NOT FORGET TO PUMP THE BRAKES A FEW TIMES AFTER YOU'RE FINISHED*.
Turn on the engine & depress the brakes a few times, this will push the brake pistons back up against the pads. If not, you can get into a serious accident, since the first stab at the brake will do nothing.

 

Everyone's comments are well said. The most important thing is to make sure you follow the steps outlined (I second the motorvate.ca website) in the writeup you choose (make it a good one), and take precautionary measures realizing that sometimes things don't turn out as you would expect. I did my brakes in December of 2004 and the pads still look new but I hear creaking and groaning sometimes. I must have done something wrong, but the brakes work... Anyway, it is not a difficult job, but allow several hours (you may not need the whole time) in case something goes wrong or you realize you have forgotten a part. While you are down there, check out the calipers as suggested on motorvate.ca and lube pins as necessary (as mentioned before). You may also consider new or turned rotors as removal will be easy at this point. Good luck; take your time.

 

btw, if you haven't already. remember to get some shims. i replaced my brakes without replacing the shims and i still get that crazy squeeling noise. if you want attention just leave out the shims. =/