Things Needed:
- Hammer
- Allen wrenches (depending on the car)
- Lug wrench
- Small bungee cord
- C-clamp
- Adjustable wrench (depending on the car)
Preparation
Everything has to be made ready before starting the work. Safety is also important and must be kept in mind. The car has to be jacked up resting safely on jack stands because the wheels have to be taken off. The lugs have to be broken before jacking up the car. It will be more easy and safe with the wheel on the ground.
Never work on a car which is only supported by a jack
One has to make sure that the jack does not slip because if it does than there is nothing that can hold the car in the air. The discs of the brakes may have to be replaced depending on the wear amount they have. They have to be regularly inspected.
Removing the Wheel
The lugs were broken while the car was still on the ground that would make it fairly easy to remove. It should be started from the bottom up and the top lug has to be removed in the end. This will help the wheel to be kept in one place. While the rest are removed, it is easy to catch the wheel safely when the last lug is removed. The stuck wheel trick can be tried if the wheel don’t cone off even with the lugs removed.
Unbolt the Caliper
The next step is to remove the brake caliper that will make the pads slide out through the top. This is done on most of the cars. Only pads of few cars will come out without removing the caliper. The brake caliper can be seen in 12o’clock position just above the lug bolts on top of the shiny brake disc.
A bolt can be found on the either side of the caliper’s back. It will either be an Allen bolt or a hex bolt. They have to be removed and put aside.
The caliper has to be held from the top, pulled upward and wiggled around for losing it. A few taps can be given upwards for making it lose if it is stubborn. It has to be pulled up and slightly away. Stress must not be put on the brake line.
The caliper can be placed back safely but if there is no place then the bungee cord will be needed to hang the caliper from something. The giant coil spring is the good spot. The caliper must not be hung by the brake line because it can result in damage leading to brake failure.
Remove the Old Brake Pads
Prior to pulling out the old brake pads, some moments must be spared to observe how things have been installed. The metal clips around the brake pads have to be noted so that one can get it correct when putting things back together. It would be much better to take a digital picture of the whole assembly.
The brake pads will slide out rightly when the caliper is out of the way. This should happen in new cars but as our cars are not always new, they may need a little tapping of the hammer for loosening them.
If little metal tabs holding to the brake pads are present in the car, they should be put aside because they will be needed in a minute. The new pads can be put in the slots with any metal clips that were removed.
Next, the new pads can be slide into place. One should make sure after this that any little clips have not been forgotten that were earlier removed.
Compress the Brake Piston
As the brake pads deteriorate with the passage of time, the caliper adjusts itself so that the brakes will be strong throughout the life of the pads. A round piston coming out can be seen inside the caliper. This pushes the brake pads from the back. The problem with it is that it is adjusted by itself to match the worn out pads. It is difficult to get over the new pads. It can be done but the level of damage will be great and the piston will be pushed back to the starting point instead of the new pads getting destroyed.
The end of the c-clamp has to be placed with the screw on it against the piston with the clamp’s other end around the back of the caliper’s assembly. The clamp can now be slowly tightened until the piston moves far enough and the caliper’s assembly can be easily plopped over the new pads.
Reinstalling the Brake Caliper
When the piston will be compressed, the caliper assembly can be easily moved over the new pads. When it is there, the bolts can be replaced that were removed and should be tightened. The brake pedal has to be pressed few times for making sure that the brake pressure is solid. The first couple of pumps will be soft as the piston adjusts to its new starting point on the back of the pad. Now the wheel has to be put back on and should be tightened. For safety, the lug bolts should be double checked.
