Front
Brake Rotor and Pad Replacement
By: Whelp
Front
Brake Rotor and Pad Replacement
Disclaimer & Intro:
The Normal stuff, I am not a certified mechanic I just like working on cars. So if you make a mistake or mess up please DO NOT BLAME ME. This was very, very easy to do and took me about 10-15mins per side, with out using my impact wrench even!
Story time…Prior to a track day at Laguna Seca, I changed my front pads.
(The rear are still fine) I had about 1/8 or less of the old pads left and had
heard from many sources that Laguna Seca is rough on brakes. So out with the old
in with the new. I made one mistake. (Please learn from mine) I did not
“turn” or replace the rotors. This was in early February of 02. It is now
late April to early May 02. I began to notice less braking power and, things
just did not “feel” right anymore. So I checked things out, ½ of those new
pads are left nothing wrong there. I drive on lots of up and downhill STEEP
twisties so I expected this. However when I looked at my rotors they looked like
an old LP! Very Groovy! I called my local Toyota they wanted $130 just to turn
them, $113 for new ones. NO WAY! (Later I got a hold of the guy there I normally
work through he got it down to $40 each to turn) I remembered seeing new ones
(rotors) on the net for a little over $60each so I said to myself what the heck
spend a few buck more and get the new ones! I also ordered a new set of pads at
the same time, from what logic tells me and others to…NEVER re-use your old
pads with new or turned rotors this will mess them up!
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Tools Used:
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Parts Used:
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Since I had changed the pads once before, I was already familiar with what need to come off and what did not. Previously I had used DgrMouse’s article on installing Porterfield Brake Pads found here: Since I knew I was changing the rotors and would need to remove the calipers, I did not take the calipers apart. I left them in one piece to simplify things. This worked out very well and I had no issues. This also prevents you from having to bleed the brakes afterwards.
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Part
I -
Removal:
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A. I loosened all of the lug nuts on the front wheels; it is much easier to get the wheels off this way, when compared to trying to break them free while they are up in the air. B. I lifted the car at the jack points and placed it up on my Stands. C. Next I removed the wheels.
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D. Next
I removed the brake line mount, to give me more freedom to move the
calipers around. There is one small 12mm bolt that holds it in place. E. There are 2 17mm bolts
located on the backside of the caliper where it mounts to the steering
knuckle. That is all that holds the caliper in place. One these are
removed both the caliper and the rotors come off with ease! When I
lifted the car I only lifted it high enough to have clearance for the
wheels, hence I had no room to go under the car and take pictures from
the backside. The pictures below show everything removed and you can see
the 2 mounting holes on the caliper for the bolts mentioned above. Also
note how I used my Jack case as a stand so as not to put any stress on
the brake lines! [Editor's note: Notice that the hub surface is usually rusty. Remove scaley rust with a wire brush from the surface as well as the circular portion of the hub that sticks out of the center of the rotor. This will help ensure that the rotor sits flat on the hub and the rotor will not become siezed onto the hub as the hub continues to rust - which it will.]
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F. I then removed the
old pads from the calipers, with a little push they slip right on out.
Be sure to save all the attached clips you will need to place them on
the new pads. As I removed each pad I would immediately take off the
clips and place them on the new pads. |
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two smaller additional holes on the rotors. I am not sure what
they are there for but I did notice that the hub had marks from where
these holes lined up on the hub. When I reinstalled the rotors I made
sure these lined up seemed logical.
[Editor's note: These are threaded holes for inserting a metric bolt into in case the rotor has rusted onto the hub. They work like a gear puller or harmonic balancer puller - the end of the bolt presses against the hub, pulling the rotor away from it as the bolt is tightened.]
Part II - Installation:
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G. Ok the next thing I
did was based on some advice. This was to take the top off of the master
cylinder’s reservoir. I was told that things could go wrong if you do
not have it removed when you compress the caliper piston back into the
caliper. Seems logical to me the hydraulic fluid has to flow some where
when you do this, and back into the reservoir is the only place I think
it would go. With the lid on there will be more pressure I would think,
and with it off next to none. It worked… [Editor's note: Indeed, as you compress the pistons in the next step, the brake fluid will back up into the resevoir. Keep an eye on the level in the resevoir and remove some brake fluid if it gets too full. Failure to check the level can result in brake fluid spilling all over the place.]
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H. Now it was time to
put in the new pads into the calipers, this can not be done unless you
re-seat the piston. Using a 6-inch wide c-clamp and one of the old pads
to apply even pressure, I pressed in the piston. I know I have seen
people place the c-clamp inside the Piston. I just did not want to take
any chances at damaging things with a Track event only 2 days away, so I
used the old pad [or a block of wood] as a buffer. After the piston had been placed back into
its socket, I inserted the outer most pad first. I then pushed the outer
section of the caliper back into place. The outer section of the caliper
slides in and out of the main body. If you do not do this you may find
it difficult to keep the inner pad in place, it will slip out the back,
and then you will need to realign it. |
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I. With the pads in the calipers, I then placed the rotor back onto the hub; I kept it in place and free from play by using one of the lug nuts from the wheels. Bolt the calipers back on and torque the bolts to 80 ft-lbs. Bolt the brake line support back on and torque to 21 ft-lbs. |
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J. Put the wheels back on and remove the car from the jack stands. Torque the lug nuts to 76 ft-lbs.
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Post
install:
If you get your rotors turned or use new ones this should work the same for you. They only reason I bought new rotors, was that the extra $20 for me was worth it. Now if the would just make some cross-drilled rotors…hmmm can I do that to the old one? ;)
Following some more advice, after the install I went out to some local next to no traffic spots where speeds up to 90-100 are easy to achieve and with lots of stopping distance. I would get up to speed and apply the breaks, not slam them on but enough to get things heated up and seated. I did this back and forth about 8 times, or so. Then it was a nice steep twisty down hill to put then to the test. The passed! The service tech at Toyota I normal work though is an ex-autocrosser. He suggested this technique, something about heating up the pads to help harden the top layers of the pad for a longer life…once again I am not sure if this is true or not, but things do stop a hella of a lot better now vs. those old groovy rotors. Oh the paint on the new rotors stinks! When it burns off! Next time brake bleeding/flushing!
