Ok, I was able to knock out the front brakes no problem.

Moved on to the rear, Noticed that the read brakes were down to the bone (ok, that's why I'm doing a brake job)...

Also noticed that the previsous rear brake job there were no inner or outer shims. Put everything together but now can not for the life of me get the 14mm bolts on.

I can get one on, but not the other. It's the pad retainer hitting up against the shims.

How can I get this done? thanks in advance...

 

Pics would help here, because I am unsure if you don't have your pistons retracted enough, or you have something mixed or shifted. If the shims are preventing you from finishing, and you need to drive it, just leave them off. They aren't THAT important. You can always try and fix it later if it really bothers you.

 

Yeah, a picture would be good, I have no idea what you are talking about.

 

Make sure you retract the piston till its flush with the caliper.The tab on the back of the rear inner pad may not be aligned with the caliper Piston. also make sure the pins are free.A pic would reallllly help.

 

I really needed to slow down to go fast in this case.

I spent nearly three hours working myself up for no reason.

First off - get the caliper tool, the needle nose work but its a LOT more work.

Second and most importantly - I did not exactly align up at the three o'clock position and was NOT able to get the bolts to line up.

So to re-cap, if your doing the rear brakes, make absolutely certain that the That the caliper piston is aligned (3 o'clock) so that it will slide right in.

This was not explained in the haynes manual, but was posted at maxima.org. Again maxima.org was there to save my behind!