Brake replacement

You did great on the fronts and about normal on the rears as far as wear goes. The front calipers will push right in with a C-clamp. Get some brake spring tools for the rears. They "can" be done without, but the tools will make it much easier. There's a "return spring tool" and a "hold down spring tool". You can get a cd\DVD image file of the factory shop manuals at

. Download and burn it to a CD/DVD. Or, look on Ebay for the factory shop manuals. Don't bother with Haynes or Chiltons, they aren't much better than useless for specific repairs.(These are probably the ones that are not available). On your front brakes, I would suggest replacing the rotors, and possibly the rear drums also. Good rotors are so inexpensive that it doesn't make sense to pay to machine them and remove metal needed for heat transfer. The rear drums are pretty inexpensive for these cars also, you weigh the cost and decide. A 2002 shouldn't have problems with wheel cylinders, but check and make sure both pistons on each one are free. Make sure you clean and lube the rear adjusters. Don't forget new spring kits for the rear and make sure to lube up the front caliper pins with the proper grease.

Best of luck

Eastwardbound,

I replaced the pads and rotors on my daughter's 02 Taurus last spring. If you live in the northern climates, most likely the rotors will be seized onto the hubs from roadway salt. I was lucky enough to remove the rotors with a BFH, but some have to be cut off or heated up to remove.

The rotors on my daughter's car were serviceable, but she tends to have a heavy brake foot, so I just replaced the rotors, they were not expensive at Auto-ZOne.

Frank