How to Change Front Brakes (Pads and Rotors)

Good read, I'll be doing this in the near future.

 

Just put the Powerstop pads and rotors on my 2006, and love them! The kit comes with everything, but a little extra grease for the back of the pads would be helpful.

 

Keep an eye on the pins/calipers binding up and hanging up a pad. I caught this one before it trashed the rotor, it was about as thick as a communion wafer!

If you go to aftermarket pads BE SURE TO KEEP your OEM shims/anti-squeal parts, otherwise it's a $50 kit if you go back to OEM pads...PN's listed below.

I'm thinking that it's probably worth it to just replace the pins at the same time since they're only a couple bucks.

 

Nice video, I'll definitely be following your step-by-step. The end is near for my stock brakes at 72k. The indicator sound became audible about 2 months ago, and I've had some minor wobble in the steering wheel on a certain hill during my commute for the past year or so. I'm going to purchase the parts and replace them when they start making the death grind noise.

 

Used this guide a couple weeks back...what a breeze these brakes are!! Waited to post. I'm still alive and my truck still stops!

 

great write up! Thanks for the extra info! I will be doing brakes on my truck tonight. I just need to do calipers too which is going to suck.

 

usually the local AdvanceAuto or Autozone stocks the caliper pins I got them there for my truck, also the aftermarket shims will fit the OEM pads if you happened to toss your OEM set, just clean them up with brake cleaner.

 

Nice, thanks for the thread...

 

Super helpful write-up. My brakes are on the to do list...

 

Thanks for the write up. Please add that the 2 bolts needed to remove the rotor if it's stuck are M8-1.25.

Is there a brake tread??

 

You talk way to much in this video about stupid stuff.

 

For as simple as a brake job this could be, this was longest I ever spent doing one. My pins were fused into the caliper holes. If you live in the rust belt, be prepared to remove your calipers from the vehicle.

Just some tips:

1. Purchase a new set of glide pins and clips ahead of time. These are consumables and only cost $15. Don't plan on reusing the originals. Also get some 3M silicone paste... this is so much better than the cheap permantex stuff sold in the auto stores.

2. Have a Dremel, some extra cut off wheels on hand to cut off the glide pin head and base as close to the caliper as possible.

3. Know how to disconnect and reconnect the caliper from the brake system. It likely will be needed. I used the pinch method to pinch the soft brake line, which prevents loss of fluid and air from getting in.

4. Have a sturdy bench vice, a 1/8", 3/16" and 1/4" punches along with a ballpene hammer. Basically be ready to mount the caliper onto your vice and punch the old pins out. No need to drill them out. Once they are out, clean up the holes with a 1/4" drill bit. The reason it needs to come off the vehicle is for clearance and to avoid having the caliper knock back while hammering away.

5. Plan on flushing and bleeding the brake system with 1.5L of fluid. I used Motul RBF600 and the pedal feels as firmer than when the truck was new. The brakes engage with only 1/8" of pedal travel, before the vacuum booster noise.

 

Interesting. I have a little bit of a grinding noise coming from front brakes on slow stops. Thought my pads were done. Went to my mechanic on the way home from to have him look at a few other things and we noticed I still have about 70% left on the pads, although my rotors are low and can't be trimmed anymore. I guess the previous owner might have turned them before he sold it to me last year. Mechanic recommended we wear down the rotors more and then change both pads and rotors in the future. Sounds like a plan

 

OEM and TRD pads have a galvanized tab on the inside pad which will rub into the rotor once the pad is low, and emit a subtle ringing grind noise only while cruising. It quiets up when braking though. if you have pad material remaining, you probably have a track worn into the rotor. The edge of the pad is rubbing against the corroded edge of the track, and can cause grinding noises.

 

I always open the bleeder screw to push the calipers back. I usually totally bleed out fluid with clean fluid when it's totally dark. Moisture in the fluid is what causes problems with wheel cylinders. Good job on the lesson, OP

 

Just a data point for anyone @100k miles like I am & wondering about their brakes. My '10 Prerunner's rotors were a bit warped, but were 1 1/8" thick so I had them turned at O'rielly auto parts for $15/each & they're still well thicker than the minimum 1.02" Toyota spec. All stock brake pads still had 4.5-6mm pad thickness, & the drum shoes all had 4-5mm thickness, the brakes hadn't been touched since the factory.

I wanted to see if there was any crud in the brake fluid at the calipers so I c-clamped one pad/piston tight & squeezed the other while cracking the 10mm bleed screw, but I didn't open the brake fluid reservoir either as I didn't want any air/moisture entering the system. The fluid looked light gold/like new out of both calipers & in the resevoir, so I didn't flush it.

I blew off all the excess dust with compressed air, cleaned up the stock pins, spring, pads & backing plates lightly on the bench grinder, smeared the pins with the thinnest coat of grease, anti-seize on the back of the pads & plates, & dremeled away any excess rust or build up on the hubs, inspecting, brushing off & wiping down the rubber piston boots. Wire brushed off any excess rust on the rotor inner/outer edges, sprayed them down w Brakleen & reaasembled everything.

Caliper mount bolts torqued at 91' lbs, reattached the brake line bracket, wheel lug nuts at 83' lbs., marked them all w a sharpie so I can see if they ever move. Total cost $30, & unless you just want new pads or rotors, there's no need to buy new until you need them, in my case that's @ 50-75k miles from now. I don't stay on my brakes after stopping, & I pre heat them before heavy use on a steep grade, but we'll see how long these turned factory ones stay flat.

Lastly, I wanted to keep the factory parts as long as possible, & am impressed with the massive 4-piston calipers, stock pads & backing plates...they're high quality & almost overbuilt, imho.

 

Nice read, this is on my to-do list after the new year. I’ve been laggin’

 

Quick question for those who know about brakes, i just changed my front pads yesterday and noticed after already installing 1 side that i put the squealer tabs the wrong way. I do have them on the inboard side, but i have the tabs at the top of the pads instead of at the bottom like the old ones were. Since i already had one side done, and the tire back on, i just ran with putting the tabs on the top. Is this a big deal or should I not worry? It is bothering me but at the same time i dont want to go through the trouble of swapping the 2 inner pads if it wont cause any problems.

 

My first set of rotors were replaced under warranty because they were warped now 50.000 miles after Ghat they are warped again. It really vibrates when I touch the brakes at freeway speeds. I’m skeptical on using OEM disks. Any ideas on good replacement disks?

 

Brembo blanks have worked well for me on my tacoma