Hey guys I was wondering how hard it is to install new brake pads. If i rember corectly you have to take the calipers off right? Is this something that can be an easy saturday afternoon prodject?????????? I cant stand my stock brake pads that put out dust like crazy

 

Just pads can be doen in under and hour. Typical front disc setep. Remove wheel, then caliber bolt(s) compress piston, swap pads, reinstall caliber and wheel. I reocmmend bleeding the lines as well.

 

Why would you bleed the lines when you have not opened the system. There is no reason to bleed if you have not let air in. Yes it takes about an hour for the fronts. hardest part is taking off and putting the wheels back on.

 

do u guys know of any good brake pads that offer better stoping than stock and give off less brake dust???

 

At 11,000 miles I put Wagner Thermo Quiet on the front, then put them on the rear at about 33,000. They stop great as they are a premium semi-metallic pad. The dust is MUCH less. If I go as long as 2 weeks before washing, there is some dust, but by that time there is road grime. Before I changed them out, I was cleaning the front wheels every 2 or 3 days.

 

I can do a front brake job in 20 mins if the rotors are in good shape

 

Takes me that long to get the jack and the stands out of the garage.

 

You do (or should) open the system. When you compress the piston, you open the cap on the resevoir. Some people pen the bleeder valve when compressing the piston. Regardless, some air may get into the system as the resevoir level lowers and the pads wear. There is no reasone not to. It takes 5 minutes if you already have the wheels off,are dirty from the brake pad change anyway, and $2 pint of fluid isn't going to brake anyone's bank. Bleeding brakes is the single best thing one can do to improve brake pedal feel.

 

I have been doing brake pads and shoes for over 40 years. Mostly my own but occasionally for others. For disk brake pads, I have never had to open the system and get air in it. I have never bled the brakes and always have a perfect pedal. I open the cap on the master cylinder, wrap a towel around it in case fluid overflows when the piston is compressed, and do the pad swap. To bleed the brakes when no air has gotten in the system would just be a waste of time and brake fluid. If the pedal is firm and near the top, how could you improve it? If you want to bleed it , that's fine, it just would not achieve anything if you do not have air in the line.

 

I agree, but how does one know there is no air in the system? You don't. How hot did the fuild get? Did water get in a leaking seat on the cap? Really, just take the 5 minutes to bleed them. A waste? Maybe, but $2 of fluid and 5 minutes seems worth it to me.

 

One knows there is no air in the system when the pedal is firm and not mushey, and you do not have to pump it a couple of times to get it to the top. Has always been pretty easy for me to determine.

 

Hey guys I was wondering how hard it is to install new brake pads. If i rember corectly you have to take the calipers off right? Is this something that can be an easy saturday afternoon prodject?????????? I cant stand my stock brake pads that put out dust like crazy[/QUOTE]

It's pretty easy. I have a 97 but I've done this on a lot of cars, and they are pretty much the similar.

You can remove two caliper mounting bolts to slide the old pads out. You can use a C-Clamp to compress the piston to make room for the new pad. I loosen but don't remove the cap to the brake reservoir.

Compress the clamp slowly so that you don't shoot brake fluid out. Then just put the pads in and put it all back together.

You can do it in an hour or two at the most if you take your time.
Or faster if need be.




There are a lot of posts on this.
I run Hawk HPS and I love them. But for me, with heavy braking and in-town driving, they aren't dust-free by any means. They do offer good stopping power.

Most folks think that ceramics tend to dust a lot less.
I'd do a search, read-up on what others have experieiced, and do from there.

I suggest bedding your new pads to the rotors.
Here are some links on how/why to do this, it's quite easy to do:
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_bedintheory.shtml
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_bedinstock.shtml
http://www.raceshopper.com/tech.shtml#bedding
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm
http://www.tirerack.com/brakestechpage-1/85.shtml

 

Good stuff, Jordan not Mike. I'd never heard of that before, but it makes a lot of sense. I just ordered a set of Hawk LTS for all 4 wheels on my '03 supercrew, and can't wait see if it helps. I have good brakes, but I think it took me a while to get used to Ford's brand of anti-lock.....we'll see.

Also, I've heard this but am not sure. Some say not to push brake fluid to the reservoir on anti-lock systems. Instead, crack the bleeder and let the extra fluid drain(being careful not to get air in there) and quickly close it off when done. The way i do it is to take a screwdriver and push the piston back before i take the caliper off..that way you have a good point to lever the screwdriver/small bar on. Whaddy'all think?

 

As far as how easy? It's fairly easy. I'm fairly certain you're setup is much like my 00 4x4 so easy for me, maybe something to learn for you. As far as pads, take bluejay's advice or mine bieng Carquest "blue" semi-metallic pads. If you read a little around or search you will see much praise for either pad. They are second from most expensive by half and fully warrantied. Make sure you know or have someone who knows brakes to help because there are many things to do, ie. antisiezing, wire wheeling with a die grinder, just tons of little crap that make a huge difference.

 

Yea when my truck was up on the lift the other day i realized it may be a little more complicated than it looks when it actually comes down to it especially b.c of the little crap like u mentioned that makes a huge difference