How Do I Change Rear Brake Pads

[dan300]

hi i need to change my rear brake pads and i want to do this myself, so can anyone give me instructions on how to change them so i dont do something wrong. :D

[GS300dude]

Please got to a professonal. Brakes would be the last thing you wanna mess with.....

[lexo98]

hi i need to change my rear brake pads and i want to do this myself, so can anyone give me instructions on how to change them so i dont do something wrong. :D

If you do have experience the rears are super easy. There are pins and clips holding the pads in place. No real tools needed once the wheel is off. I have 20" wheels and didn't even take my rims off. Good luck

[nc211]

Actually, changing the pads is one of the easiest things you can do, and one of the most wasteful expenses to have a shop do for you.

First: Obviously read your instruction manual in the glove box to find the proper jacking points on your car. There are very specific areas of the outter frame rail where the jack goes.

Second: Since you're just doing the pads, MAKE SURE your e-brake is engaged for added security.

Third: Before lifting the tire off the ground, break the bolts loose on the wheel hub.

Fourth: Lift the car, take the wheel off.

Fifth: You'll see the backing clips on the back of the caliper. You'll see a metal "t" type of a bracket. STUDY how "or better yet, take a digital photo" of what this looks like before taking it apart. Note where the spreader spring "a W looking piece of wire" connects to and how.

Sixth: pull the slider pins "two of them" out of the caliper. They hold the "t" bracket in place. Becareful on the end clips, you'll want to reuse them if possible. I HIGHLY recommend you clean those pins before reinstalling. I put mine to my wire buffer on my work bench. Gets all the rust and grime off of them, so things slide better.

Seventh: Once you've got the pins out and the "t" bracket out, now you can slide the old pads out. You'll probably need a pair of needle-nose pliers to pull them out. Wiggle them out, and notice the backing plates clipped onto the back of each pad. You pop those plates off, and you'll discover another plate sandwiched in between the pad and the first plate you just took off. Clean these up "don't use wire brushes on the inner plate, it's rubber coated for a reason". You will want to reuse these parts on your new pads. These are the parts that prevent squeling and give you that ultra quiet and smooth braking feel.

Eight: Now that you have the old pads out, the backing plates off and cleaned, the pins off and cleaned, you're ready to install the new pads. To do this though, requires you to push the brake piston back in a bit. Look inside your caliper housing, you'll see the piston (o) sticking out. OPEN the cap to your brake fluid canister in the engine bay first, as when you push that piston back in, it will force fluid and air back up through the system. Taking the cap off, eases this process. Use whatever you can find that will give you enough clearence between the piston and brake rotor to get that piston pushed back in. If you use something like a big screw driver, MAKE SURE you wrap it in a cloth first, so you don't damage the rotor. I like the big ratchet wrenches myself. Push the piston back into the caliper so it's flush.

Nineth: Now that you've pushed the piston back, you should have enough room to slide the new pads in. When you reinstall the backing plates to the new pads, put just a tad of brake grease on both sides of the INSIDE plate. This helps to prevent noise. Then clip on the outter backing plate over the inner one, and slide the pad into the caliper. Don't worry if you have to wiggle it in there, or even gently tap it with a hammer. It's a tight fit.

Tenth: Once you've got both pads in, then look at your digital photos from earlier and put the "W" spreader spring in, the "t" bracket, and slide the pins in. I myself put a little of that brake grease on the pins too, to make sure they're as slick as possible so the pads can move back and forth.

Now, simply put the wheel back on, and you're done. Don't forget to put the cap back on the brake fluid cannister.

You're done. Once you take the wheel off and give yourself a few minutes to study what you're looking at, you'll realize how easy this is, and these instructions will make more sense to you.

I order my parts from www.parts.com. They're always genuine Toyota parts, and work the best, in my opinion!

Good luck!

[VA-Jay757]

Very easy to do. Purchased some brakes, jacked the car up and got to it.

You will need, 17 MM socket wrench or gear wrench to remove the nuts off.

Also need c-clamp to squeeze the piston back to the start position this can be

tough. As mentioned remember how the brakes are because once you take off

the pin it can be tricky getting back. overall easy to do.

[dan300]

hi i finally had a chance to change my rear brakes and i have to say it was very easy to do. you are just throwing your money away taking it to a mechanic to have them change. thanks to everyone who gave me info on how to change the brakes. i also had a question now that i have the new brake pads on do i need to have the rotors resurfaced.

[tuanville]

Actually, changing the pads is one of the easiest things you can do, and one of the most wasteful expenses to have a shop do for you.

First: Obviously read your instruction manual in the glove box to find the proper jacking points on your car. There are very specific areas of the outter frame rail where the jack goes.

Second: Since you're just doing the pads, MAKE SURE your e-brake is engaged for added security.

Third: Before lifting the tire off the ground, break the bolts loose on the wheel hub.

Fourth: Lift the car, take the wheel off.

Fifth: You'll see the backing clips on the back of the caliper. You'll see a metal "t" type of a bracket. STUDY how "or better yet, take a digital photo" of what this looks like before taking it apart. Note where the spreader spring "a W looking piece of wire" connects to and how.

Sixth: pull the slider pins "two of them" out of the caliper. They hold the "t" bracket in place. Becareful on the end clips, you'll want to reuse them if possible. I HIGHLY recommend you clean those pins before reinstalling. I put mine to my wire buffer on my work bench. Gets all the rust and grime off of them, so things slide better.

Seventh: Once you've got the pins out and the "t" bracket out, now you can slide the old pads out. You'll probably need a pair of needle-nose pliers to pull them out. Wiggle them out, and notice the backing plates clipped onto the back of each pad. You pop those plates off, and you'll discover another plate sandwiched in between the pad and the first plate you just took off. Clean these up "don't use wire brushes on the inner plate, it's rubber coated for a reason". You will want to reuse these parts on your new pads. These are the parts that prevent squeling and give you that ultra quiet and smooth braking feel.

Eight: Now that you have the old pads out, the backing plates off and cleaned, the pins off and cleaned, you're ready to install the new pads. To do this though, requires you to push the brake piston back in a bit. Look inside your caliper housing, you'll see the piston (o) sticking out. OPEN the cap to your brake fluid canister in the engine bay first, as when you push that piston back in, it will force fluid and air back up through the system. Taking the cap off, eases this process. Use whatever you can find that will give you enough clearence between the piston and brake rotor to get that piston pushed back in. If you use something like a big screw driver, MAKE SURE you wrap it in a cloth first, so you don't damage the rotor. I like the big ratchet wrenches myself. Push the piston back into the caliper so it's flush.

Nineth: Now that you've pushed the piston back, you should have enough room to slide the new pads in. When you reinstall the backing plates to the new pads, put just a tad of brake grease on both sides of the INSIDE plate. This helps to prevent noise. Then clip on the outter backing plate over the inner one, and slide the pad into the caliper. Don't worry if you have to wiggle it in there, or even gently tap it with a hammer. It's a tight fit.

Tenth: Once you've got both pads in, then look at your digital photos from earlier and put the "W" spreader spring in, the "t" bracket, and slide the pins in. I myself put a little of that brake grease on the pins too, to make sure they're as slick as possible so the pads can move back and forth.

Now, simply put the wheel back on, and you're done. Don't forget to put the cap back on the brake fluid cannister.

You're done. Once you take the wheel off and give yourself a few minutes to study what you're looking at, you'll realize how easy this is, and these instructions will make more sense to you.

I order my parts from www.parts.com. They're always genuine Toyota parts, and work the best, in my opinion!

Good luck!

Don't forget to bleed your breaks!

[mawolk]

hi i need to change my rear brake pads and i want to do this myself, so can anyone give me instructions on how to change them so i dont do something wrong. :D

If you do have experience the rears are super easy. There are pins and clips holding the pads in place. No real tools needed once the wheel is off. I have 20" wheels and didn't even take my rims off. Good luck

The usual way I find out I need brakes is for my mechanic to tell me - often at the time of inspection. How would I otherwise know it's time to replace the pads? (aside from removing the wheels and measuring the depth of the pad)

[dan300]

hi i need to change my rear brake pads and i want to do this myself, so can anyone give me instructions on how to change them so i dont do something wrong. :D

If you do have experience the rears are super easy. There are pins and clips holding the pads in place. No real tools needed once the wheel is off. I have 20" wheels and didn't even take my rims off. Good luck

The usual way I find out I need brakes is for my mechanic to tell me - often at the time of inspection. How would I otherwise know it's time to replace the pads? (aside from removing the wheels and measuring the depth of the pad)

i knew it was time to change my brakes when i could hear a scraping noise coming from my rear brakes when i was driving. on the brake pads there is a metal piece on them that when the pads are worn down to a certain length they make a scraping noise. i also stuck my finger between the rotor and the brake pad to feel how much of the pad was left.

[simplyadditions]

hi i need to change my rear brake pads and i want to do this myself, so can anyone give me instructions on how to change them so i dont do something wrong. :D

This will help!