Ok so i am jumping on the wagon of people who are going with the ceramic break pads.

I was wondering before i got myselfe into something over my head. I wanted to ask how difficult is it to change out break pads??

I consider myselfe a decently mechanically inclined person ...so is it something easily done by 1 person?

 

Piece of cake, think it takes longer to take the wheels off than to change out the pads!

 

yes.. taking off the wheels is the hardest part..
untill you figure out you don't have a c-clamp for the calipers



...zap!

 

I've never had a C clamp for the calipers, always found something to improvise with.

Disc brakes are simple. Drums can be a PITA if you forget what springs go where or which way the adjuster goes in. But the first time I did discs, I was amazed at how easy it was. I've never paid anyone to do brakes on my truck since.

oops, I take that back. I did just pay to have the front brakes done on my GMC7000 bucket truck (air brakes, drum). I didn't want to mess with something that heavy and that dirty. But auto and pickup truck brakes are cake.

 

BAAAH

First off thanks for giving me the courage to do the switch by myselfe.

BAAH for not telling me i would have to bleed the breaks after i was done ..lol AHh well ive got the things i need now to fix it and the pads went on fine.... Bleeding the brakes tommorow morning and then it will all be good.

 

Bleeding the fluid is a given. If the fluid is nasty/ clumpy then I'd get a big bottle and flush it until you have clean fluid coming out at all four wheel bleeders. Cruddy fluid can affect the antilock valving (usually located halfway between the master cylinder and wheels). Do NOT allow the master cylinder to go empty when bleeding. Air bubbles in the antilock valve can be impossible to get out. I pretty much disabled the rear brakes in my '88 F150 because I got air in the antilock valve. 200K miles and the rear brakes never worked, original pads were still 70%. I replaced the front pads every 40K miles though.

Anyway, keep adding fluid to the master and keep bleeding until you have clean fluid at all four wheels. You will be amazed at how well your brakes will work.

 

Why did you have to bleed them?

 

Brake fluid can absorb moisture out of the air. Dust and contaminants can get into the fluid. The wear of moving brake cylinder pistons, etc. can add contaminants. If it's been less than a year or two since the last time the brakes were bled, and the fluid looks clean, I just bleed out a little at each wheel to make sure there's no crap buildup in the wheel cylinders.

If you don't want to bleed and your pedal is solid with no sponginess, fine. But if your pedal is spongy then bleed until it's solid like a rock.

I bought my truck used from a dealer with 37K miles. The front brakes were new but the pedal was somewhat spongy. They got better over the next month as the pads bedded in, but the pedal was still spongy. I bled all four wheels one afternoon and fixed my spongy brake pedal. The old fluid was nasty, even though the truck was only 3 years old. Obviously the dealer mechanic cheaped out and never bled them.

 

Not to disagree, what you say makes sense, but I never bleed brakes when I change them unless I remove a caliper. I mean, you're not putting air into the system by recompressing the caliper. Granted, over time the fluid does need to be flushed, as with any fluid, but I don't think its necassary to bleed your brakes just because you changed the pads

 

Always crack the bleeder when compressing the caliper. This prevents dirty or contaminated fluid from the caliper re-entering the brake system and possibly buggering up the ABS valve or master cylinder.

It only takes one to flip the hat valve in the ABS and you have to buy a new one.

Fluid $2.00
ABS valve $350

I'll crack the bleeder and bleed the brakes...thanks