How to Alter Rear Restriction Pads

Maintaining disc brakes is a perfect opportunity for DIYers to become their hands muddy and relieve a few hundred dollars.

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Introduction

Learning how to change rear brake pads on your disc brakes isn't hard. Let's go started!

Projection step-by-step (xi)

Step one

Remove the Rear Cycle

Start the process past placing cycle chocks in front of the front wheels. (Don't fix the emergency brake; engaging it makes it harder to remove the calipers.)

Set the jack in place and lift just enough to put some pressure level on the jack. Use a lug or bear on wrench to loosen the lug nuts on the wheel. Elevator the vehicle until the bike comes off the ground, then spin the lug nuts off the lugs and remove the bike.

Step 2

Remove Bolts from Caliper Pins

Use a box-end wrench to loosen the bolts holding the caliper in place. Remove the bolts and utilize mechanics wire or a short bungee cord to hang the caliper up and away from the work area to avert putting tension on the brake line.

Step three

Remove Bolts from Caliper Brackets

Use a box-end wrench to loosen the 2 bolts holding the caliper subclass in place. You lot may demand a longer-handled wrench to become more than torque on reluctant bolts. If you don't have i handy, slip a length of pipe over the box-terminate wrench handle to manner an extension. Remove the bolts and lift the caliper free of the rotor.

Step 4

Lubricate Caliper Guide Pins

As long as you take removed the caliper, accept the time to lubricate the 2 caliper guide pins. Wipe each off with a clean rag, then brush with silicone paste lubricant. Supercede them in their sockets and twist to distribute the lubricant.

Step five

Remove the Brake Pads

Slide the brake pads out of the caliper bracket. Pull the old stainless steel retainer clips gratis from the grooves that concur them in place, paying attending to their orientation (snap a quick pic if you think you might forget), and and so clean the dust off the subclass using a wire brush.

Step 6

Reattach Caliper Bracket

Slide the pads to the outsides of the subclass, leaving every bit much room as possible to get them over the rotor. Fix the subclass into position and twist the ii anchor bolts with your fingers until snug. Tighten each firmly with a long-handled box-end wrench. Be careful not to over-torque and strip the threads.

Footstep 7

Seat the New Brake Pads

Snap the new retainer clips into place, positioning them the same mode as the one-time ones. Some pads come up with a bundle of restriction grease, otherwise break open a new pouch of brake grease and apply a thin coat to the within of each clip belongings the brake pad ears.

Detect the new restriction pad with the metallic flange attached to its back. This flange is the squealer that signals heavy pad habiliment and should be mounted on the inside pad. Slide this pad into the prune-lined grooves in the caliper bracket with the friction textile facing the rotor. Fit the matching outer pad into the other side of the subclass, again with the friction material facing the rotor.

Step 8

Reattach Caliper

Retract the piston. If the piston face is hollow, whatsoever tool big enough to shrink the piston will suffice, taking care not to break through the thin metal that comprises the back face of the piston. You can protect the piston by laying one of the old pads across the piston as you push it back. Many newer models require a special tool called a brake caliper wind-back tool. Identify these pistons by looking for a solid surface (not hollow) on the piston confront that has two or three recesses for the winding pins to grip and turn.

If y'all become the brakes pulled apart and don't have the tool, you can even so complete the job with a needle-nose vise-grip wrench or pliers. Grip the piston face with the tip of the wrench and turn it clockwise to retract the piston.

Reposition the caliper, plumbing equipment it over the new brake pads. Insert the ballast bolts through the caliper and into the slider pins. Finger-tighten until snug, then tighten each firmly with a box-finish wrench.

Stride 9

Remount Bicycle

Seat the wheel on the lugs and thread the basics onto the lugs using your fingers. Rather than working around the hub in a circle, work in a star pattern, jumping beyond the hub. Once all the lugs are threaded, snug them by paw before tightening firmly with a lug or impact wrench, again working in that same star pattern. Make a point of rechecking the lugs later on driving your vehicle for a few days.

Stride 10

Pump the Brake Pedal

After installing the wheels, brand sure to pump the restriction pedal to reengage the caliper piston to the brake pads. Failure to do so will upshot in no brakes when the pedal is pushed the first time.

Step 11

A Annotation on Prophylactic

There is no manner to determine whether brake pads comprise asbestos simply past looking at them, and many aftermarket suppliers still apply the material. When changing restriction pads, never employ compressed air to clean any of the parts. Instead, use a spry-type brake cleaner; this will trap the dust and prevent it from becoming airborne. Always wear a dust mask when working on brakes.

Originally Published: March 25, 2020