OT: DIY Brake Pad Replacement Question

Thanks for the response Dave. I'm not doing the work till this weekend so unless I hear something else on the group I'll probably skip the compound unless I hear some squealing.

In any event, I'm surprised no one else has chimed in on this. No one else have any advice/experience on this matter? Someone else has got to have done a brake job on their Max...

Nirav

Good choice. Keep cleaning, lots of rags/towels. Keep your hands clean. I like to wire wheel-brush the calipers to remove all the built up gunk and make everything fit correctly with no rust or dirt between the parts.

Bad choice. These are *brakes*. Use the polar opposite of anti-sieze on the caliper mounting bolts: Loc-tite. It will come apart just fine when you need it to - but not before.

Yep, pull the boots out, clean out all the grease, regrease. It takes a few minutes to clean them out but do it right.

If you get the Nissan shim kit, it will come with caliper bolt grease, the disk-quiet goo, and some special copper grease with specific instructions on where to apply it on the _rear_ pads. I figured that they knew better than me so I did what the instructions say. On the fronts I applied the goo to both sides of the shim. I don't know if it was needed, but I figured it wouldn't hurt in case the noise-vibration started somewhere odd.

Bob

Todd,

thanks for the tips. I'm using Nissan Pads. I'll clean up the work area really well as suggested with brake-cleaner. I intended clean up the slider pins and lube them with the grease Nissan provided with their hardware kit. I'll let you guys know how it turns out. I'm doing the rears this weekend and the fronts a few weeks from now.

Thanks, Nirav

FYI: The rear caliper pistons have to be _turned_ back in, not pushed. Pick up a Haynes or other manual if you don't have one.

Bob

'nuther Bob,

wierd that your responses don't show up on the google groups archive - but they do on my work news server (read only)...

Thanks for the tips.. Interesting you mention loc-tite, when most manuals etc. recommend anti-seize - and thats what I have used in the past. I have read in the past some domestic vehicles specifically stating to use loc-tite as opposed to anti-seize but the three Haynes manuals I have (88 Civic, 97 Corolla and 4th Gen Max) all recommend the use of anti-seize.

I have decided that Nissan probably knows best and will use the anti-squeal goop directly on the pads as they recommend.

Thanks for your second post reminding me that the rear pistons need to be turned in, not pushed. I do have the Haynes manual - the first "accessory" I purchased after I got the car!

Cheers, Nirav

I use x-no-archive. Google does not archive my posts. Everything I say is for the moment. Dust in the wind. :-)

The only place I put anti-sieze is on the rotor where it meets the hub. A very thin coating that will hopefully help next time I need to remove a rotor. I don't want my caliper bolts getting loose on their own so I use loctite. If you look at them closely when you pull them out you'll see the factory loctite residue on them on most cars. These bolts are not going to seize - only the tip is exposed to the elements.

I wouldn't trust Haynes as far as I could toss the book. I've been repeatedly disappointed. It's better than nothing, and maybe more economical/sensible than a $250 factory manual, but they are not the best.

FYI, YMMV, IMHO, Bob