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Replacing brakes

B

BD2003

Lifer
How hard is it really? It sounds simple enough, and I'm comfortable enough with working everywhere else on the car, but I am a little wary of screwing around with my brakes for obvious reasons.

I've got the repair manual, and I can get the parts...any common pitfalls I should be aware of when changing them?

Someone also told me I MUST replace the pads if I replace the rotors...true or not?
 
Depends on what kinda brakes. Drum brakes are a little more difficult to change. As for disc brakes, they took me 2 hours firsr time. It's not rocket science. And yes, if you replace the rotors, change the pads.

The most problem I had was not the brake itself, but the stupid bolts cuz it was rusty. Depends on what state you live in though. I'm in MN, so rusty bolts are common. Like I said before, it's not rocket science. Just remember to have someone help you bleed the brake fluid if you have to. You don't want a ultra soft brake when stepping on the brake pedal.
 
It's not too difficult, as long as you have the right tools. Yes, you must replace the pads if you're doing the rotors, it'd be pointless and dangerous otherwise.

You'll get used to doing it eventually.
 
Originally posted by: weirdichi
Depends on what kinda brakes. Drum brakes are a little more difficult to change. As for disc brakes, they took me 2 hours firsr time. It's not rocket science. And yes, if you change the rotors, change the pads.
Click to expand...

Yep, 4 wheel discs.

Why do the pads need to be changed and not the rotors? Bought the car used, and I can tell the previous owner got jerked by the repair shop - they charged her for it, but didnt replace the rear rotors, only the front. So right now I'm left with shot front pads, good front rotors, good rear pads, and shot rear rotors.
 
Originally posted by: LoKe
It's not too difficult, as long as you have the right tools. Yes, you must replace the pads if you're doing the rotors, it'd be pointless and dangerous otherwise.

You'll get used to doing it eventually.
Click to expand...

Other than the standard toolbox tools, anything specific I might need? The repair manual says I need to replace the "anti-squeal shims"...do I really?
 
Originally posted by: BD2003
Originally posted by: LoKe
It's not too difficult, as long as you have the right tools. Yes, you must replace the pads if you're doing the rotors, it'd be pointless and dangerous otherwise.

You'll get used to doing it eventually.
Click to expand...

Other than the standard toolbox tools, anything specific I might need? The repair manual says I need to replace the "anti-squeal shims"...do I really?
Click to expand...


Most good brake pad kits come with the shims...and the grease too.
 
Originally posted by: BD2003
Originally posted by: LoKe
It's not too difficult, as long as you have the right tools. Yes, you must replace the pads if you're doing the rotors, it'd be pointless and dangerous otherwise.

You'll get used to doing it eventually.
Click to expand...

Other than the standard toolbox tools, anything specific I might need? The repair manual says I need to replace the "anti-squeal shims"...do I really?
Click to expand...

What car are you working on?
 
for the rear brakes you'll need to twist the piston back in. you can buy or rent a special tool, but i've been using a needle nose plier everytime instead.
 
Hardest part is dealing with over-torqued or rusty bolts, and jacking up your car.

Brake jobs are easy, just a little messy.
 
Pick up a breaker bar and add it to your toolkit. For a brake job, you'll be glad you did.

Oh, and brake caliper bolts are usually hex keys, not regular sockets. Might want to check that one out.

If you're replacing pads, most people use a C-Clamp or channel-locks to recompress the piston. I've done it with a block of wood and a screwdriver before, but I dont recommend doing it this way.

I doubt you'll have to crack the brakeline and flush the fluid.

What makes you think the rear rotors are warped? Do they have a lip? I've done a lot of brakes, and I've never seen a set of warped rear rotors. Fronts, yes, plenty of times, but not rears.
 
You can probably reuse the shims if they are in ok shape. I just did my brakes two weeks ago and we reused all the shims. The job itself is easy to do, especially if you have a repair manual.

Remember to open your brake fluid reservoir and possibly take some out (use a straw with your finger over the end) so it doesn't overflow when you push the piston back to get it over the new pads. Don't let it sit open too long as it absorbs water.

Put a little bit of high-temp grease on the tracks the pads slide on so they move easily. Other than that just remember the order you took stuff off in so you can get it back on easily.

I should add that just because there is pad, doesn't mean it is good pad. I got my Corolla used, and the pads looked fine (a good 1/4" of them left), but for some reason they had turned super hard and were only contacting on about a 1" wide portion of the rotor. I replaced all the pads and rotors and couldn't believe how many noises the car used to make, were gone.
 
Originally posted by: hoorah
Pick up a breaker bar and add it to your toolkit. For a brake job, you'll be glad you did.

Oh, and brake caliper bolts are usually hex keys, not regular sockets. Might want to check that one out.

If you're replacing pads, most people use a C-Clamp or channel-locks to recompress the piston. I've done it with a block of wood and a screwdriver before, but I dont recommend doing it this way.

I doubt you'll have to crack the brakeline and flush the fluid.

What makes you think the rear rotors are warped? Do they have a lip? I've done a lot of brakes, and I've never seen a set of warped rear rotors. Fronts, yes, plenty of times, but not rears.
Click to expand...

Its warped, just rusted and scored. The inner part (not the actual surface) is straight rusted, and the contact part is scratched, a little rusted and worn - but the rear pads are still pretty thick.

I have no idea what piston im supposed to comress, but I'm hoping itll be obvious when I do it. Hex keys I have (Allen wrenches?), but wtf is a breaker bar?
 
By breaker bar I assume everyone means the big-ass bar with a 1/2" socket drive connector at the end that you use to take the lug nuts off.
 
Originally posted by: BD2003
Originally posted by: LoKe
Originally posted by: Sukhoi
By breaker bar I assume everyone means the big-ass bar with a 1/2" socket drive connector at the end that you use to take the lug nuts off.
Click to expand...

Yessir.Text.
Click to expand...

I've never had a problem with crossed tire iron + stomp.
Click to expand...

The breaker bar is not for the lug nuts, although it is easier to take them off with a breaker bar.

The breaker bar is to use on the brake caliper bolts. Not only can they be incredibly difficult to take off with a regular old socket, but hanging around underneath the car putting enough force on a standard socket wrench that I shift the weight of the car is not something I want to do when the car is supported on a jack or jackstands. A breaker bar not only makes it easier to apply a lot of torque to the bolt, but lets you do it comfortably while standing away from the car. The time is saves more than makes up for the cost of the tool.

The interior vanes of the rotors will rust, it happens, it doesn't mean they're bad. My point about the rear rotors is that in a FWD car, the rear brake pads get very little use. Even to someone with a lot of experience like myself it can be difficult to differentiate between a front and rear wheel balancing vibration. Couple that with the fact that the rears see little to no use, and it would be pretty hard for me to recommend that the rear rotors were warped.


If the rear rotors truely are warped, you would experience a side to side vibration in the rear/seat of the car while the steering wheel stays completely still under hard braking. Are those your symptoms? Putting some heavy weights in the rear can help you determine this. I'm not trying to say that you're wrong, I just don't want you to go replacing the rotors because some jiffylube mechanic told you to. Pads and rotors are big profit margin items to them, they like to recommend rotors and pads alot, even if they don't need to be done.
 
Originally posted by: BD2003
Originally posted by: hoorah
Pick up a breaker bar and add it to your toolkit. For a brake job, you'll be glad you did.

Oh, and brake caliper bolts are usually hex keys, not regular sockets. Might want to check that one out.

If you're replacing pads, most people use a C-Clamp or channel-locks to recompress the piston. I've done it with a block of wood and a screwdriver before, but I dont recommend doing it this way.

I doubt you'll have to crack the brakeline and flush the fluid.

What makes you think the rear rotors are warped? Do they have a lip? I've done a lot of brakes, and I've never seen a set of warped rear rotors. Fronts, yes, plenty of times, but not rears.
Click to expand...

Its warped, just rusted and scored. The inner part (not the actual surface) is straight rusted, and the contact part is scratched, a little rusted and worn - but the rear pads are still pretty thick.

I have no idea what piston im supposed to comress, but I'm hoping itll be obvious when I do it. Hex keys I have (Allen wrenches?), but wtf is a breaker bar?
Click to expand...

I discussed some of the brake rotors things in replying to someone elses post.

As for the allen wrenches, that probably won't do it. You will want a hex head socket (sometimes specifically referred to as brake caliper key, but not necessarily) that you can fit to a 3/8" or 1/2" breaker bar.
 
Originally posted by: hoorah
Originally posted by: BD2003
Originally posted by: LoKe
Originally posted by: Sukhoi
By breaker bar I assume everyone means the big-ass bar with a 1/2" socket drive connector at the end that you use to take the lug nuts off.
Click to expand...

Yessir.Text.
Click to expand...

I've never had a problem with crossed tire iron + stomp.
Click to expand...

The breaker bar is not for the lug nuts, although it is easier to take them off with a breaker bar.

The breaker bar is to use on the brake caliper bolts. Not only can they be incredibly difficult to take off with a regular old socket, but hanging around underneath the car putting enough force on a standard socket wrench that I shift the weight of the car is not something I want to do when the car is supported on a jack or jackstands. A breaker bar not only makes it easier to apply a lot of torque to the bolt, but lets you do it comfortably while standing away from the car. The time is saves more than makes up for the cost of the tool.

The interior vanes of the rotors will rust, it happens, it doesn't mean they're bad. My point about the rear rotors is that in a FWD car, the rear brake pads get very little use. Even to someone with a lot of experience like myself it can be difficult to differentiate between a front and rear wheel balancing vibration. Couple that with the fact that the rears see little to no use, and it would be pretty hard for me to recommend that the rear rotors were warped.


If the rear rotors truely are warped, you would experience a side to side vibration in the rear/seat of the car while the steering wheel stays completely still under hard braking. Are those your symptoms? Putting some heavy weights in the rear can help you determine this. I'm not trying to say that you're wrong, I just don't want you to go replacing the rotors because some jiffylube mechanic told you to. Pads and rotors are big profit margin items to them, they like to recommend rotors and pads alot, even if they don't need to be done.
Click to expand...

I'll take pics of them later...I really don't think they are warped, and the pads are thick. But they are somewhat rusted on the contact plate...that can't be good. As far as I can tell, they are fine, but I don't want to take chances with my brakes, ya know?

The front pads are definitely worn, I can hear the alerts ringing, but the rotors look fine.
 
Originally posted by: BD2003
Originally posted by: hoorah
Originally posted by: BD2003
Originally posted by: LoKe
Originally posted by: Sukhoi
By breaker bar I assume everyone means the big-ass bar with a 1/2" socket drive connector at the end that you use to take the lug nuts off.
Click to expand...

Yessir.Text.
Click to expand...

I've never had a problem with crossed tire iron + stomp.
Click to expand...

The breaker bar is not for the lug nuts, although it is easier to take them off with a breaker bar.

The breaker bar is to use on the brake caliper bolts. Not only can they be incredibly difficult to take off with a regular old socket, but hanging around underneath the car putting enough force on a standard socket wrench that I shift the weight of the car is not something I want to do when the car is supported on a jack or jackstands. A breaker bar not only makes it easier to apply a lot of torque to the bolt, but lets you do it comfortably while standing away from the car. The time is saves more than makes up for the cost of the tool.

The interior vanes of the rotors will rust, it happens, it doesn't mean they're bad. My point about the rear rotors is that in a FWD car, the rear brake pads get very little use. Even to someone with a lot of experience like myself it can be difficult to differentiate between a front and rear wheel balancing vibration. Couple that with the fact that the rears see little to no use, and it would be pretty hard for me to recommend that the rear rotors were warped.


If the rear rotors truely are warped, you would experience a side to side vibration in the rear/seat of the car while the steering wheel stays completely still under hard braking. Are those your symptoms? Putting some heavy weights in the rear can help you determine this. I'm not trying to say that you're wrong, I just don't want you to go replacing the rotors because some jiffylube mechanic told you to. Pads and rotors are big profit margin items to them, they like to recommend rotors and pads alot, even if they don't need to be done.
Click to expand...

I'll take pics of them later...I really don't think they are warped, and the pads are thick. But they are somewhat rusted on the contact plate...that can't be good. As far as I can tell, they are fine, but I don't want to take chances with my brakes, ya know?

The front pads are definitely worn, I can hear the alerts ringing, but the rotors look fine.
Click to expand...

If the front pads are low, by all means, replace them. If you have an alert on your dash indicating that the pads are low, you may need a new brake sensor for the fronts. They're usually pretty cheap.

For the rears, rust on the contact surface is no big deal. Alot of cars rust there when they get wet and sit out. It comes right off the next time you run the car. Think about it, is there any coating you can put on a rotor that won't be wiped off the next time you step on the brake?

Don't think you're taking chances with the rear brakes, you're not. Even if you completely lost your rears, you wouldn't notice much of a difference. If the pads are okay, I'd leave em, and I've done quite a few brake jobs and race events too.

 
Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
make sure it aint foreign..oodles of troubles there!
Click to expand...

iv owned a honda for 8 years now and they are easier to work on that some american cars.
front breaks shouljd take no more than 45/m each side. anymore you shouljd just bring it to the garage and let someone who knows whats up do that job.

 
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