Getting ready to do the front brakes on my 2000 and I remember what a pain in the a$$ the rear ones were with turning the pistons in but I think I heard that the front push in with a c clamp.

Can anyone verify this?

And I already searched for this topic.

Thanks in advance..

 

You can do this either way but generally works better if you turn them in. First thing goto autozone or advance auto parts and pick up a brake piston tool (looks like a cube and will attach to ratchet extension) This will allow you to grab the notches in the piston without damaging them. Then take some spray silicone and spray it inside th piston boot. Be carefull when doing this so you don't tear the boot. This will help lubricate the piston. It will still be work to turn them down but a whole lot easier than without the silicone.

 

I don't recall seeing notches on the front pistons, but when I did mine I just bought a large C-clamp from home depot (really big one!) and press those bad boys right in.

The rear, of course, definitely need to be twisted. That requires the special ratchet attachment (if you're cheap; I was and I bought it), or a more complete rear piston compressor. The rear sucks and takes a long time, plus you can't compress it without first yanking the caliper off the pads, but you know that.

So yeah, just press the front ones in with a c-clamp and you're set.

 

Sorry for the mis information. I haven't had to replace the front brakes yet just the rear. I assumed that the caplier and pistons would have been the same. Guess not?

 

push fronts, turn rears

 

I suppose the correct terminology would be that the caliper is the entire contraption: the metal "prongs" that press in on the pads, including the piston that presses on them. The piston is just the moving part of the caliper which presses, from the inside, on the pads.

Having changed rear and front I can say I'd chose front any day. Not using a twist tool is nice (especially, as in my case, the rears were very sticky and basically fubared my hands to press them in!), and also not worrying about the hand brake cable is nice (because it was kind of a pain). Front really are very straight forward (so are rear, but just more of a hassle).

 

don't forget to remove the lid from the brake fluid resovoir before pushing the pistons back in...

 

In which direction do you turn the rear brake pistons to get them back into the caliper body? Clockwise or counter-clockwise?

 

IIRC it was clockwise in, or at least thats what i did.

 

also....get your hands on a breaker bar and some wd40 to help with the torque member bolts.

 

Yeah it's clockwise to screw them back in. You may need to push in hard, as well as turn. One of my rear calipers was so stiff that I was sure I wasn't going to be able to get it in all the way needed. It went in most of the way and then at the end, trying to squeeze the caliper over the pads/rotor it just would not go. I finally, while twisting, pushed as hard as I could and after 10 min got it another 1/4 inch in - enough to get it over the pads/rotor.

 

for front pistons, just push and clamp to the caliper (I used a visgrip). quite easy.

rear is much tougher, but you did that already!

 

wow, mine was not that hard at all. I hit with the wd40 and let it sit for 5 mins and i was able to get it in with a long nose plier. on a side note, did you bleed your lines during the change? I did last time for the rears but i am contemplating wheather i shoudl for the fronts.

 

Yeah my calipers probably are on their last legs, which is why it was hard as hell. I tried with needle nose before buying the ratchet adapter and there was no way in hell it could have been done without the ratchet. I didn't bleed them, though this weekend I'm going to try bleeding all four brakes and replace the brake fluid

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I finished the fronts and it took less than 1 1/2 hours. Which is not bad for someone like me.

Thank god because the rears brought out my ugly side.

The new brakes are Bosch. Hope they're good.

 

Yes .. as he says....