"How To..."

Replace Front Brake Pads in 10 steps!

This is my First "How To" hope it helps, I learned alot from the folks at Utah4x4club.com, Thanks Guys!

this was dont on a 89 jeep cherokee, other cars may be similer

 Things you will need: LONG flat head screw driver, 7mm allen wrench, needle nose plyers, a C-clamp that is at least 4 inchs, brake cleaner, brake lube(can be bought at the same place you bought the new pads at)

be ready to get messy, brakes make brake dust which gets everywhere

 1. Lift front of vehicle off the ground, onces off the ground support with a jack stand. you will be pushing and pulling so make sure you are on jack stands and not just floor jacks.

 2. after you pull the tire off you will see that there are 2 clips located at the top and bottom of the caliper, you are going to need to pop the center of the clips up

 3. now take the 7mm allen wrench and unscrew the 2 bolts in the back of the caliper, there is only about 1/2 inch of threads on these bolts so after turning for a while the bolts are all the way out, dont think there is something wrong becuz they stoped coming out.

4.(if you havent already, pop the lid to the break fluid open and place a rag over it to catch what comes out) take the long screw driver and stick it between the rotor and the piston and start to pry back and forth, you will notice the piston most back a little, after a min of prying the caliper should start to wiggle loose and you should be able to work it off

 5. after the caliper is off remove the old pads and put the new ones on, remember the pads that go on the back of the rotor are different from the pads that go on the front of it, the pads that go on the front will NOT fit in the back, if you touch the pads make sure that you use brake cleaner to remove any oils that came off your hands. and put some lub on the back of the pads to prevent any sqeeking***DO NOT PUT LUB ON THE ROTOR OR ON THE PADS THEMSELVES***

6. place the c-clamp on the back of the caliper and center it on the piston and slowly push the piston back ALL the way, you may notice some brake fluid drip, this is normal if you dont open the bleed screw

7. now you should be able to work the caliper back onto the rotor with the new pads on, you may have to push the hex bolts in the back out a little

8. screw the bolts back into the holes(this may take some wiggling around) make sure they are tight so that they arent going to come loose while driving

9. put the pins that are located on the top and bottom of the caliper back in place 

10. after doing both sides remember to put the brake fluid lid back on and pump the brakes a few times before take a test drive, one things i have learned from "how to"s is they make everything seem more simple then it is, "brakes are easy, but not fun". the bolts on the back of the calipers will probably be kinda hard to get off and the prying may be a little frusterating, but keep at it and youll get it.

good luck and make sure your tires are bolted on tight before you drive off, i work at a tire shop and i recommend highly torqing your lug nutts to factory specs, on a jeep cherokee i believe its 110 ft pounds, if you own something different, DONT torq to 110 unless you know for sure thats what its supose to be