Hi, i am pretty new to this website and i am pretty new at working on my car. Can anybody give me some pointers on how to do a rear brake job for a 5th Gen Maxima. Thanks

 

as in new pads? or upgrade? only upgrade u can get for the rears are basically rotors and stainless steel lines and pads. if you want to change the pads, you'll have to buy a special tool that pushes the piston back in, it screws back in.. you gotta take one bolt off the top of the caliper and the whole thing swings down. it's real simple.

 

Thanks for advice, but i wasn't able to obtain that special tool you were talking about. The guy at the auto parts store told me to use a pair of pilers to turn loose the piston then hand twist it back in, is that advisable?

 

I used to use a c-clamp for all my brake jobs.
u can get it at any hardware store: home depot, lowes, ace, etc

 

 

What do you mean you will have to push the piston back in. I took off the fronts to paint the calipers and never pushed the piston back in, when I finished the fronts I did the rears and once again I never pushed the pistons back in. What will happen if I didn't push the pistons back in. I eman they weren't sticking out or anything and when I put it all back together I bled the fronts and then the backs! Did I do something that could have caused some problems?

 

Yes, I did mine this way - used needle nose pliers.

 

I got a square box shaped universal tool with little nubs on every end. The little nubs grip the piston and then you can attach a ratchet with an extension. DO NOT USE a C-clamp on the rears. The fronts can be compressed but the rears must be turned back in.
The only reason HCT didn't have to push his pistons in is because he didn't install new pads so the piston was still at the same spot to put them back on.

 

Machplane, let me know how it works out. I'm planning on doing my own rear brake job in the next week or two.

 

Could you tell me where you obtained that box shaped tool, that would be really helpful Thanks

 

 

Got mine from O'Reilly auto parts. It's a universal tool for use on most rear disk brake systems. I would think most all auto parts stores should have this.

 

Yea, my brother used needle nose pliers to twist the piston back into the caliper on his 96 Taurus. Seems most if not all cars with rear disk brakes and mechanical parking brake has this type of setup...

 

Well, i did them today and fortunately a friend of mine knows a guy who works as a mechanic at a Infiniti dealership, so he let me have access to the garage. And i tell you it's better have that brake tool using a pair of pliers. One thing to remember is to make sure you align the indentations on the piston correctly so the new pads can go on the caliper, otherwise the pad won't fit in.

i just went on this website and found the rear disc piston tool for 12.95

http://www.extremetools.net/miva/mer...ode=BRAKE_disc

 

Good find, now when I need one, I'll just order it. That's pretty cheap.

 

That's the tool!

 

This part should be available at local auto parts store pretty cheap. Check it out.