Inspection.Brakes are pretty much the most important safety device on your car. If you've even partially lost your brakes in the past, you'll remember the change of underwear that followed. Inspecting your brakes twice a year for wear and damage can protect you and your passengers while saving you money by catching any damage before it becomes too costly. On many cars you can inspect the brakes without even removing the wheel. If your car has alloy wheels with spaces in the middle, you can get a proper assessment done by just peeping through the hole at the goodies.
Let's inspect the disc first. It should be shiny from the inside to the outer edge, and fairly uniform. Don't worry if you can see slight lines in it, this is normal wear. However, if there are any rough spots or pronounced grooves in the disc, you should replace your brake discs. Brake discs should always be replaced in pairs so that your car's driveability and safety are not compromised.
Now take a look at the pads. You'll have to peek up to see them, but if you follow the surface of the disc to the top, you'll see the outside pad touching the disc. If there is 1/8" or less remaining on the pad, it's time for new ones. That's about the height of two pennies stacked. Don't worry, brake pads are cheap and replacing your brake pads is a no-sweat job.
Finally, take a look at your brake lines. Rubber coated lines should be soft and supple, not cracked and rigid. If you see cracks in flexible brake lines they will need to be replaced. Also be sure to inspect the hard, metal lines. These can become corroded, especially in snowy regions where chemicals are used on the roads.Replace Your Brake Pads
- What You'll Need:
- lug wrench
- c-clamp
- open end or adjustable wrench (depending on your car)
- Allen wrenches (depending on your car)
- hammer
- small bungee cord
Preparation
Make sure you've got everything ready to go before you remove your old brake pads. Most important, be sure safety is at the front of your mind. You'll be taking the wheel off so be sure you have your car jacked up and resting securely on jackstands. Go ahead and break the lugs before you jack it up. It's much easier and safer with the wheel on the ground.
You broke the lugs while the car was still on the ground, so they should be pretty easy to remove. I like to remove them from the bottom up, leaving the top lug nut to be removed last. This keeps the wheel in one place while you remove the rest of them and makes it easier to safely catch the wheel once you remove the last nut. If you remove the lugs and still can't get the wheel off, try this stuck wheel trick.
On most cars, the next step is to remove the brake caliper so the brake pads will slide out through the top. On a few cars the pads will come out without removing the caliper, but not many. You'll see the brake caliper in the 12 o'clock position just above the lug bolts, riding atop that shiny brake disc.
On the back of the caliper you'll find a bolt on either side. It will either be a hex bolt of an Allen bolt. Remove these two bolts and put them aside.
Hold the caliper from the top and pull upward, wiggling it around to loosen it up. If it's stubborn, give it a few taps (taps, not Hank Aaron swings) upward to loosen it a bit. Pull it up and slightly away, being sure not to put any stress on the brake line (that black hose that's still connected).
If there is a place to safely set the caliper back there, do it. If not, you'll need to take your bungee cord and hang the caliper from something, the giant coil spring staring at you is a good spot. Don't let the caliper hang by the brake line, it can cause damage and lead to brake failure!
Before you pull out the old brake pads, take a second to observe how everything is in installed. If there are little metal clips around the brake pads, note how they are in there so you can get it right when you put things back together. Better yet, take a digital picture of the whole assembly.
With the caliper out of the way, the brake pads should slide right out. I say should because in a new car they probably would. Since our cars are not always new, you may need to coax them out with a litte tap of the hammer to loosen them up. If your car has little metal tabs holding onto the brake pads, put them to the side becase you'll need them in a minute. Put the new pads in the slots with any metal clips you removed.
While you're here, it might be a good idea to inspect your brake discs.
Go ahead and slide the new pads into place now, making sure you don't forget any of the little retaining clips you removed earlier.As your brake pads wear out, the caliper adjusts itself so that you will have strong brakes throughout the life of the pads. If you look on the inside of the caliper you'll see a round piston coming out. This is what pushes on the brake pads from the back. Problem is, it's adjusted itself to match your worn out pads. Trying to get it over the new pads is like parking a Cadillac in New York City. You can do it, but the damage level will be high. Instead of destroying your new pads, you'll push the piston back to the starting point. Take the c-clamp and place the end with the screw on it against the piston with the other end of the clamp around on the back of the caliper assembly. Now slowly tighten the clamp until the piston has moved far enough in that you can easily plop the caliper assembly over the new pads.
With the piston compressed, you should be able to easily slide the caliper assembly over the new pads. Once you have it on there, replace the bolts you removed and tighten them snugly. Press the brake pedal a few times to make sure you have solid brake pressure. The first pump or two will be soft as the piston finds its new starting point on the back of the pad.
Put your wheel back on, being sure to tighten all of the lug bolts. Now double-check your lug bolts just to be sure.
Courtesy : Autorepair
