DIY Front Brake Pad Change.

Thanks Fractured.
I saw your IBEW avatar. I am too, local 827, I work for Comcast.

 

So I changed my pads out this past weekend since the shop I purchased my tires at told me my pads were getting thin a couple of months ago and with 145k miles on the original pads I figured they were done. To my suprise they had quite a bit of life left in them, but since I already purchased the pads and had the wheels off, I went ahead and replaced them. At least the clank from the pads/calipers that I've had for a while now is gone.
I feel I could have gotten at least 175k out of them had I left the original pads on.

 

How do you stop the truck ? Doesn't look like you ever use the brakes.

 

I slam the shifter down into low! lol. I guess I'm just not hard on the brakes and drive a lot of highway miles.

 

"I slam the shifter down into low!" That would have gotten my vote B 4 your answer. Now I know for sure.

 

Doing the front brakes is definantely one of the cheapest home maintenence jobs you can do yourself. This is by no way endorsing O'Rielly's, but when i bought my brake pads from them the salesperson asked me if my rotors needed turning/resurfacing and i said that they did. To my surprise he said that the service came free of charge for purchasing the pads from them. So my whole brake job came to $46.23. Not too shabby...

 

Maybe U R not endorsing O'Rielly's but it sure sound good 2 me.

 

First post in this forum...

I've changed the pads on my '98 xtracab before, but it was a few years ago and I don't recall having this problem.

I must have overtorqued the lower bolt, because right off the bat, I can't get the driver side lower loose. Tried a special long-handled "bolt/nut loosener", and even tried the regular closed end 17 wrench with a hammer, but I don't want to damage anything.

Is it normal for these bolts to seize due to the heat?

(and YES leftie loosey, so inner driver side bolt I am pushing down )

How can I get it to free?

 

Are you sure your turning it the right way ?

 

I hope nobody is going to tell me that this particular part is reverse threaded.

I owned a '67 Dodge Monaco at one time that I ripped 2 left rear lug bolts off the wheel before my mechanic told me the reverse threading on that wheel alone was "Chrysler's way of making sure the nuts didn't spin off."

btw: It ended up a total loss with it's rear overhang propped up on a fence after a flash flood swept through my trailer park 15 years ago, but that's ancient history.



Back to topic: righty tighty, lefty loosy

 

That's awesome. Next time I do brakes I'm definitely looking into this. I think Les Schwab charges $20 a pop for that service.
How long does O'reilly Auto take to turn the the rotors? They got a machine in the back for this?

 

i was thinking about doing the brakes,,, it looks easy enough... do i have bleed it and cut the rotors? they looked ok to me

 

Since I am somewhat a noob in this area, keep your laughs down, please! I am thinking about getting those Russell Speed bleeders mentioned earlier in this thread - my question is this: if you remove the bleed screws from the calipers, would there be a big loss (if any) of brake fluid before you put the new ones in assuming the brake pedal isn't pressed? Or would there be none because of no pressure? I am seriously considering this route because it makes it an easy, one person job. Thanks in advance!

 

I had a very faint clicking or binding noise coming from my front brakes on my 07 Taco. It occurred when I first applied the brakes when I first start the vehicle. It seemed fine after I drove it for a little while, or at least I never noticed it. I am the trucks original owner and actually had the noise for a while, under 25k (I'm at 50k now). I have an extended warranty so I figured I should make time to have it checked out. And I knew I would be covered because I knew it wasn't just bad or low brake pads or some kind of a maintenance item.
I won't go into the details how the dealer was trying to rip me off and charge me for the calipers and a brake job since it's irrelevant to my point After I spoke to the store manager they conceded and gave me the calipers under my warranty. When I came to pick up my truck, the service guy told me that they replaced the front calipers, but because I didn't replace the pads the brake pedal will catch low. I told him that the brake pedal was perfect when I dropped the truck off and the pads never made a sound. So I asked how can the brake pedal be low now?? He told me it's because of the new calipers which I think is BS. When I got in the truck to drive off, crap! I almost crashed a few times on the way home! The pedal is WAY low now. So today I'm going to do a pad slap and see if that takes care of it. I would like to know what you guys think. Is there any truth in what he said? Can replacing calipers without new pads give a very low brake pedal? Or did they leave some air in the brake lines?

 

Just took a stab at replacing my pads, at 122000k and no idea when the last time they were replaced, I found my caliper pins were rusted in place on my left wheel. I managed to work out my right side though. The pads just pulled out with a little back and forth, and I was able to clamp the calipers open without even removing the caliper. Greased up the new pads, which were desperately needed and worked them back into place. A quick in and out if those pins weren't stuck. Should I have taken the caliper off of the rotor? After everything was replaced, I just pumped the brakes a few times to reset the pressure. Voila no more squeek or grinding. I will need to replace the rotors soon, so have to find the right thread to follow along. Thanks for this thread, it turned a rookie into a novice brake guy.

 

Just reading this thread, since I'm changing my brake pads tomorrow. Looks pretty simple.

Anyway, who in their right mind would grease the pads on the side it hits the rotor?

 

145K is amazing

 

Hi, I have a 2006 prerunner, I wanted to ask u guys, so i was changing my pads and rotors, did everything I could to no bleed the system, but then one side, held of the calipers with c clamps, and pushed a third one with pliers, and the 4th one popped off, so I spilled some brake fluid, now i'm thinking I need to bleed the system.

first question

i put the piston back on, put the rubber gromet back on, and put the metal wire around it, that's all that is involved right? it won't leak will it?

2nd question

do I need to bleed both sides?

 

Torque specs for caliper bolts ????? Anyone? Couldn't find it in here