Changing the brake pads

[vita]

Im going to try to change my own brake pads... I know, adventurous, right? Unfortunately, Im not real car savvy yet, and want to make sure I have everything I need. What all should I have at the house for tools, and what do I need to buy beyond the pads themselves?

 

[99COBRA2881]

Posted in our "how to" section at the top of the page.


http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/how-319/472233-front-brakes.html

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/how-319/472242-rear-brakes.html

"Courtesy of 006"

 

[vita]

doh! thanks 99, clearly I need to dig deeper before I start talkin! haha

 

[OldSVTGuy]

One thing not covered in that excellent rear brake write-up is that there are two small pins on the rear of the pads that have to be lined up with those little slots on the piston that you use to turn the piston. Basically, I think the piston slots have to be at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock to fit the pads correctly. I found out the hard way....fried the pads and cracked the rotor.

And, you may want to take the slider pins out of those rubber boots, clean them and re-grease them using a good quality bearing grease. Also, I use a 220 grit emery paper to rough up the rotors before installing the new pads, unless you happen to take the rotors in for truing up at your local machine shop.

And, whatever you do, DO NOT undo those springs from the caliper.

Good luck......Once you do it, you'll see how really easy it is.

 

[ac427cobra]

One thing not covered in that excellent rear brake write-up is that there are two small pins on the rear of the pads that have to be lined up with those little slots on the piston that you use to turn the piston. Basically, I think the piston slots have to be at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock to fit the pads correctly. I found out the hard way....fried the pads and cracked the rotor.

And, you may want to take the slider pins out of those rubber boots, clean them and re-grease them using a good quality bearing grease. Also, I use a 220 grit emery paper to rough up the rotors before installing the new pads, unless you happen to take the rotors in for truing up at your local machine shop.

And, whatever you do, DO NOT undo those springs from the caliper.

Good luck......Once you do it, you'll see how really easy it is.

Or he could simply watch this for the rear:


Cobra rear brake job


:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

 

[vita]

wow. this is sounding more and more complicated.

is this pretty much all Im looking at? (Im a visual kind of guy... reading makes me get confused. lol)


[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mB2-fk6nlg"]YouTube- Maintenance and How-to: Changing Break Pads[/nomedia]

 

[99COBRA2881]

Its not a bad job at all. Front is cake. Do you have a large c-clamp for the front piston and the special took for the rear?

Tip- Remove the rear rotors and bolt the caliper back to the spindle, this gives you a steady way to hold the caliper while turning in the piston. I tried juggling the tool and the left caliper took 45 minutes, bolted the right side caliper back to the spindle and had the new pads back in, rotor installed, and caliper torqued on in 10 minutes!



If you get stuck there's plenty of help here to answer your questions.

 

[3B99SVT]

The fronts are pretty much like what you posted vita. Just don't let the caliper hang on the brake line. Don't use a C-clamp on the rear -- it needs to be screwed in using a special tool. I highly suggest reading 006's info or watch Bruce's vid (link doesn't work directly on my computer, but you can go to Full Tilt Boogie Racing Homepage and click on the videos link to find it) until it all makes sense to you. It's really not hard, but you can mess something up like if you don't align the notches in the piston w/the pegs on the pads like OldSVTGuy said. Take your time. Bruce's vids are of a Cobra so that should help.

 

[ac427cobra]

The fronts are pretty much like what you posted vita. Just don't let the caliper hang on the brake line. Don't use a C-clamp on the rear -- it needs to be screwed in using a special tool. I highly suggest reading 006's info or watch Bruce's vid (link doesn't work directly on my computer, but you can go to Full Tilt Boogie Racing Homepage and click on the videos link to find it) until it all makes sense to you. It's really not hard, but you can mess something up like if you don't align the notches in the piston w/the pegs on the pads like OldSVTGuy said. Take your time. Bruce's vids are of a Cobra so that should help.

I think the link is fixed now. No clue why I have so many problems posting links?! :shrug: I'm just not a computer guy! :rollseyes

 

[vita]

awesome, thanks for the few pointers there. Im going to be tackling it this weekend... it finally is breaking into the high 40's here.


t-shirt weather here I come!

 

[K2AHollywood]

One thing not covered in that excellent rear brake write-up is that there are two small pins on the rear of the pads that have to be lined up with those little slots on the piston that you use to turn the piston. Basically, I think the piston slots have to be at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock to fit the pads correctly. I found out the hard way....fried the pads and cracked the rotor.
And, you may want to take the slider pins out of those rubber boots, clean them and re-grease them using a good quality bearing grease. Also, I use a 220 grit emery paper to rough up the rotors before installing the new pads, unless you happen to take the rotors in for truing up at your local machine shop.
And, whatever you do, DO NOT undo those springs from the caliper.
Good luck......Once you do it, you'll see how really easy it is.

Wow, I have never once heard that, or seen someone actually do this