Help needed - changing brake pads

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tupac_healy

Member +
Right everyone,

I went to change my front brakes today, got all my stuff ready and all that, took off the wheel, opend the cap on the brake fluid in the engine bay, took off the top brake caliper bolt and then....



bottom bolt, no joy what so ever, drown the thing in wd40 tried joinin the spanners and had the car practically lifted off the ground with no joy what so ever.


I reckon the bolt is starting to round so I put everythin back togeter, any suggestions? I've thinking vice-grips & a long bar for leverage? anyone come across this when changing brakes?
 
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GTdan

In The Closet
if youve undone the top one, you can undo the bolt holding brake line onto the suspension leg, this will allow the caliper to fall down and you can replace the pad.

this happened to me last week when i did mine.
 
steo800

steo800

Member +
dumb question but you defo turning the nut the right way?

if you nearly "lifted" the car off the ground id take a guess and say your having trouble with the passenger side?

if joining the spanners wont work(always make sure you got a ring spanner on the nut doing this, and its 100% perfect on the nut, 14 in this case?), an impact gun is probably your best option
 
T

tupac_healy

Member +
GTdan said:
if youve undone the top one, you can undo the bolt holding brake line onto the suspension leg, this will allow the caliper to fall down and you can replace the pad.

this happened to me last week when i did mine.
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I was thinking if I should do that, was not sure if the weight of the caliper would fuck up the brake line or something else though, I think I will have to do that.


I really really should have givin it a belt of a hammer alright was only thinking that there myself,


and yes, I did try turn it the right way!!! :p
 
G

GTdan

In The Closet
tupac_healy said:
I was thinking if I should do that, was not sure if the weight of the caliper would fuck up the brake line or something else though, I think I will have to do that.


I really really should have givin it a belt of a hammer alright was only thinking that there myself,


and yes, I did try turn it the right way!!! :p
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you can always use some cable ties to support it, but if your gentle, you can hold the caliper so its not stretching the line, and once the caliper is moved, it takes 2 mins to remove old pads and fit new ones, then push piston back.
 
lleey2k4

lleey2k4

Member +
Mine were very hard to get off so i just used a longer rachet with more leaverage that should do the trick :)
 
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si-87

Member +
sounds like your turning it the wrong way, even if theyre very stiff a few hits with a rubber mallet should loosen them off, i had the same trouble, and you can support the caliper with an axel stand, trolley jack or watever will upport it
 
glanzanut

glanzanut

Lifer
get a decent five sided spanner or socket on it so it wont round it. then put a bar on the spanner or ratchet and it will come off for fun. bigger the lever smaller the effort required.:freddy:
 
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tupac_healy

Member +
si-87 said:
sounds like your turning it the wrong way, even if theyre very stiff a few hits with a rubber mallet should loosen them off, i had the same trouble, and you can support the caliper with an axel stand, trolley jack or watever will upport it
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Surely I can't be turning it the wrong way? I mean I got the top one off easily? I didnt hit it wit a mallet before I tried to take it off, that's the prob!!! I only thought of that afterwards :(


The prob I have NOW is that its starting to round so I have to plan it out well before I fuck it up completly!! I reckon if I had a long rachet set I'd be sorted, I'll have to try that first tomorrow, cheers lads
 
ChrisGT

ChrisGT

Member +
On my driverside caliper the bottom bolt was a right pain in the bum! It came out fine, and would thread in 80% of the way and then get really tough! I thought maybe it had been cross threaded but I took it out and checked the threads and it was fine. I just got under the car with a longer extension on the ratchet and did it up - so far its been fine! But it was very odd!
 
GT-TD04

GT-TD04

Supermoderator
tupac_healy said:
Surely I can't be turning it the wrong way? I mean I got the top one off easily? I didnt hit it wit a mallet before I tried to take it off, that's the prob!!! I only thought of that afterwards :(


The prob I have NOW is that its starting to round so I have to plan it out well before I fuck it up completly!! I reckon if I had a long rachet set I'd be sorted, I'll have to try that first tomorrow, cheers lads
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Did the bolt loosen at all?

Take the 3 14mm bolts of the bottom of the wishbone and turn the wheel towards you for ease if its hard to get at
 
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tupac_healy

Member +
Yeah I turned the wheel alright so I could get a good go at it but yeah did not budge at all!! I gave it a good bit of wd40 too and still nothing, I reckon I'll have to get a long rachet and couple of belts of a hammer should do it!!!

I will get it like!!!
 
GT-TD04

GT-TD04

Supermoderator
tupac_healy said:
Yeah I turned the wheel alright so I could get a good go at it but yeah did not budge at all!! I gave it a good bit of wd40 too and still nothing, I reckon I'll have to get a long rachet and couple of belts of a hammer should do it!!!

I will get it like!!!
Click to expand...

And is it not turning at all?
 
T

tupac_healy

Member +
good news and bad news I'm afraid!!!!

Got the cursed bolt out (a feckin lot of hard work!!!!) but your man gave me the wrong pads!!!! 3 days I'm at this!!!!

Era at least I got that bloody bolt out, was just stubborn I got it in the end!!!
 
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tupac_healy

Member +
lads can't push the piston back!!!!

HELP, doin this now so help is appreciated, I have the lid removed from the brake fluid container in the engine bay, how do I push the piston back?
 
squeekyduck

squeekyduck

Member +
Use a G clamp mate. Thats the easiest way. just put a piece of timber between the clamp and piston so it does not damage it. Wind it back gently and hey presto!!
 
lleey2k4

lleey2k4

Member +
I used some adjustable grips to do mine and sum board so i didnt damage the piston, as i never had a G-clamp nearby.
 
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