Can anyone point me to some directions on how to change the rear pads??

Any tips? i've changed the fronts before but not the rear... i believe the only difference is the piston thing? Anyone have pictures of what I am suppose to turn?

Also, someone mentioned the parking brake cable is in the way ?

Actually, I'm not changing the rear pads, but rather putting shims + anti squeel glue on em.

Please gimme any advise! thanks!!

 

No pics but I can describe it. The rear piston has a solid face vs. front piston which is "hollow". It has 4 grooves in it which run from the edge of the piston almost to the center like a + sign. To get the piston to go back into the caliper, you need to turn it. You should be able to use a pair of needlenose pliers but it may be hard. A disk brke piston turning tool is much easier to use. It looks like:


You insert a ratchet into it to turn.

I couldn't get mind off easily so I lifted out the caliper with it in place. Be really gentle because you don't want to damage the boot at the end of the cable. There's a bolt under the caliper that needs to be removed too i.e. 3 bolts to remove in total.

Have fun!

 

thanks!

which 3 bolts are they? 2 of em that hold the caliper and one that holds the parking brake cable?

 

What a newbie hehe
http://www.cybrrpartspro.com/Chilton...61CH09_12.HTML

this is mostly 3-gen but it does have 4-gen stuff. Rear brakes are probably the same

 

lol me am noob!

actually i was looking at that earlier today and those pictures were small... hmm u kno what, ill just get a chilton manual for the maximas.

thanks guys, ill take pics of my pathetic install to help ppl who are noobs as i am to this!

 

Awesome pics from Jeff92se! The 3rd bolt I was referring to is in Fig. 8. The bolt fastens the "Cable Mounting Bracket" #12. That was the easiest way I could figure out. This is also shown in Fig. 9 but the pic isn't so clear.

 

When I changed mine it was REALLY hard to turn the piston.. and the rubber boot attached to the piston wouldn't turn smoothly so it got kinda ruffled up.. anyone else have this problem?

 

Yes..I was about to suggest this small tool.. Because without it, you may be as dumb as I am and *** up a caliper.. My dad was under the impression that you use a C Clamp to reset the caliper..so we broke 2 C clamps and ended up breaking a caliper.. then my neighbor said "Hey you gotta get this little thing that goes on a ratchet and turn it"... Yeah much easier w/ it.

 

well i just got home from work... 9PM

aslkjfa;slkjf damnit and i ran outta brake cleaner... I think im going to head to walmart for the brake cleaner and do this tonite. Blah i don't have that ratchet either so i'm just going to bear w/ it and turn the piston w/ needle nose.

hmmm, double checking- when turning calipers, make sure the resevoir cap is twisted open right? then close it when i'm done twisting, start car and pump brakes?? thanks

 

Yeah, keep the reservoir open, but you might need to take some fluid out when you turn the piston back down (depends on how much you push the piston back in.)

It's pretty simple for what you're needing to do.

Afterall, it took me 10 full hours to replace the front and rear pads without the manual.

 

The way I did mine (while using needle nose pliers) was with the brake line off and I used the ebrake lever on the caliper to pump the piston all the way out before turning it back in. It was very smooth and easy on mine.

It did take me a good 3-4 hours to figure out that I had to turn the evil piston back in. Took me all of 10 hours to replace the pads and everything.. Woops. I need my Haynes

 

Yup, one of my rear boots got snagged against the edge of the piston. Though I saw that so I pulled back on the rubber boot gently to free it. Torn boots are never good.

 

10 hours!?!! sheesh!

 

Yeah.. 10 hours. I know, my hands were hurting for about a week.

But the brake assembly and everything is so easy to replace now

 

should i spray penetrating oil where the piston needs to be turned so it's "smoother" or am i asking for trouble??

hahah i just got one of the wheel off... came to see what tips u guys gave me. I just hope this doesn't take 10 hours, cuz it's 10pm right now! time to get at it, wish me luck!

 

blaaaaaaah the rear brake kit i got has like 20 parts to it... which is which?!

i gotta find some pics, the japanese instructions and crappy diagrams didn't help me

o yeah i got the calipers off w/o taking the the parking brake bracket off...

now i see why i need that piston turning tool lol

damnit i wanna take pics but my digi cam won't be home for another hour... hopefully i will get pics of the other side.

 

Alright, THANKS everyone for helping me through this. I finally finished... omg hahah i took 5 hours to do it (it's 2AM right now)... damn, it only felt like 2 hours... I guess time flies when you're half ****ed off and frustrated. Damn my fingers hurt!

Turning the piston w/ needlnose was hella easy!! that was the easiest part actually... i had some difficulty removing one of the pin bolts, but then i busted out my torque bar, and it came off within a second.

I think all went well, but I might have washed away some of the anti-squeel grease... how much should be between em? I think it should be ok.

I didn't get to test drive it cuz the driveway was full of cars (i was in garage) so we'll see tomorrow, but I did start the car, pumped the brakes and everything seemed ok! however, when I pulled the handbrake, it did go a little bit further up... but then again i might have been temporarily buff since i was putting all my strength to lift and align the wheels to the damn studs LOL

anywho, here are some pics if anyone is interested:






If my car still squeels, i will be so mad

 

BLAAAAAAAAAH lkja;lsdfjas;dlfkajsdfasdf


i just tested out my car this morning, and there isn't much difference! they still squeel! alot!

i dunno what I did wrong... maybe I thought I didn't put enough antisqueel grease, but when I checked it, alot of it has seeped out when I used the brakes so I think that's ok...

what else could I have missed? I replaced every brake hardware piece!

oh yeah, the pads are the original ones that came w/ the car... they have alot of width left and they say nissan on the back!

 

Are you sure its not the front that are squeaking? Check to see if the parking brake cable it pulled ever so slightly or crimped somewhere- therefore making them drag a little bit. I would be drving like 30 or so and just pull it up so it slowed me down some then let it off real fast and see if it still happens..

 

it better not be the fronts... i did those a couple months ago. But I guess I will check again... damn i forgot to pull the parking brakes to see if it were the backs squeelin or not. thakns!

 

I have just been battling my rear pads tonight!!
The hayes manual says use a c clamp... ( well I know thats wrong now! )**** me off!
Do i stick the needle nose pliers in the notches on the pistons?
Do I turn counterclockwise to retract the piston?

Thanks Guys!

 

book doesn not say to use c clamp for rear. and u turn it clockwise.
just did mine. hate doing it. but it's still better than paying $600. a quote from Goodyear and Infiniti dealer. that's for front and back with 1 rotor replaced.

 

Hey, I tried changing my rear pads on my '96 3.2TL & it was a total PITA!! That double-wishbone suspension leaves very little space to get tools in back of the caliper to remove it. Then the pads are so hard to fit in. Plus there hardly any space for my cube-shaped piston turning tool to get the piston back into place. That's when I REALLY appreciated the uncluttered and straight-forward design of the f/r brake on my Maxima!