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Front Brake Pad Replacement

70K views 54 replies 31 participants last post by  mericanwit 
#1 · (Edited)
Thought I'd upload a photo guide to changing the front brake pads.

Only tools required were a jack, axle stands, a 14mm spanner, a caliper wind back tool and a tie-wrap to hold the caliper up.








Jack up vehicle and support with an axle stand, remove road wheel


Using a 14mm spanner or socket remove these two bolts at rear of caliper, remove caliper and support securely so as not to strain brake hose


Remove the old pads and retain the anti-squeal shims


Slider bolts


Once removed you should be left with this view


Use a brake caliper piston wind back tool and push piston fully to the rear,(Note make sure you unscrew the fluid reservoir cap at master cylinder under the bonnet)


Once pushed in it will look like this


Fit new brake pads in a reversal of removal


Refit anti-squeal shims


Refit caliper and slider bolts and torque to specification, repeat process on the other side, tighten fluid reservoir cap, refit wheels and then press brake pedal until a firm pedal is achieved...once satisfied road test and brake gently to bed in new pads and then enjoy improved braking response.

This should take approximately twenty minutes per side to complete.
 
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#5 · (Edited)
The only thing I might add to this is your slider pins should be cleaned and lubed.

Ask at the auto parts store cause its not grease, per se. Some sort of silicone stuff but its special, not what you have laying around. (Although I stand to be corrected on that statement)

Love a post with pictures, nice and clear.
 
#8 ·
Thanks...I did do the sliders but forgot that bit! Oops!:doh:

Nice post, good photos, good step-by-step. Thanks!
Thank you, I started to do one for Track Rod End replacement but hit an issue with removing the old joint half way through so once that is resolved I will post a guide on that as well!
 
#10 ·
80+ percent of your braking is done via the front wheels so generally speaking you just visually check the rear pads. If there is material on the rear pads you are good to go. Its best to remove the wheel and inspect front and back pad, I've seen a front pad look good while the back pad is worn out. Not supposed to happen that way but it can.

The thing is to get them changed before the pads reduce to metal backing or even before the squealers activate. Saves your rotors, making a brake job easy peasy in your driveway.

I have a Suzuki XL7 with just under 400,000K with original rotors and they still measure within specs.

Those with front discs/rear drums need to do things a bit differently, inspect the rears at least every second tire rotation, both to ensure you can get the drum off the wheel and to have a look. The best ongoing thing for drum equipped Patriots is to 1) use the E brake often, its how your brakes keep in adjustment and 2) once a month or so find a lot or road that is safe and do a bunch of braking while moving in reverse. High speed (for reverse) and low speed, over and over for ten minutes or so.
 
#12 ·
Brake job 101 :D

Yea this is the same for most all cars with the exception of my Hyundai which you need a special tool in order to retract the rear caliper piston back in place (needs to be turned clockwise while pressure is applied).
 
#14 ·
Yeah the tool used in the sequence above does that as it has a double sided disc with protruding pins which worked fine on my Hyundai Tucson.

I've had a lot of success with opening the bleeder screw on the caliper when pushing the piston back. This removes the fluid subject to the most heat rather than pushing it back up through the lines. Top up the fluid when you are done the brake job, pump the brake pedal and check the fluid level after.
That's fine if you have the experience and equipment to bleed the brakes afterwards if needs be....however I meant this guide to be a minimal tools/no fuss "how to" for those who are not so confident! ;)
 
#13 ·
I've had a lot of success with opening the bleeder screw on the caliper when pushing the piston back. This removes the fluid subject to the most heat rather than pushing it back up through the lines. Top up the fluid when you are done the brake job, pump the brake pedal and check the fluid level after.
 
#19 ·
Use a brake caliper piston wind back tool and push piston fully to the rear,(Note make sure you unscrew the fluid reservoir cap at master cylinder under the bonnet)
I've never opened the fluid reservoir when changing brakes and never had a problem. I just push the piston back with the mentioned tool. Can you explain why this is necessary?
 
#20 ·
Reason to remove the reservoir cap? To make it easier to relieve the air pressure that would result if the cap were on. Personally, I like the idea of a quick one-shot bleed at each cylinder. It removes the "heat-treated" fluid, and topping off with fresh fluid will help replenish any additives (if there are any) in the fluid. That said, I have never really found a need to remove the cap when doing a brake job, but it is still a good idea.
 
#22 ·
I'm about to do this tonight. I did my wife's Galant a month or so ago, they use the same part number for pads, and coincidentally noticed the pictures here showed said Mitsubishi Galant on the box. More proof they share the same basic platform.
 
#23 ·
Ok I had no luck. After taking the two bolts out I couldn't get the caliper off. It felt like it was sort of spring loaded. I'd pull on it and it would snap back on to place.

I fought with it an hour before giving up.

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#24 ·
Stonent, I'm a little late to the party, but I wanted to add this to this excellent thread. On my '09 (? others) my pads had 3 little "tits" on the backs of the pads. These tits get caught on the rim of the piston and you can't slide the caliper off. What I did was push the caliper/piston towards the inner pad in order to compress the piston just enough to get it past these tits. I figured this out by pure dumb luck. What a piss-poor design! How are people supposed to know this. :doh:

Brake Pad Tits (non x-rated)
 

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#25 ·
Yeah finally got around to doing it last weekend. And it was the little tits that were in the way. I found a large C clamp and put it around the caliper and pressed it in a little and that freed it up. Technically I didn't need new brakes yet, but I went ahead anyway since I had them.

Mine didn't have shims on it though...Hmm.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Mine didn't have shims on it though...Hmm.
Yeah, mine didn't have shims either. I spent a few minutes trying to pry the metal backing off of the old pads with a screwdriver before I realized they didn't come off. I put my new pads, Wagner ThermoQuiet, in without shims, which the instructions said they did not need.

I guess the '09's are a little different than the '08's in the original post. I still think it's a stupid idea to put those little tits on the pads so people can't get them off like normal brake pads. Leave it to the Chrysler geniuses that are also responsible for the leaky roofs and lack of tow hooks on every Jeep model :mad::mad::mad:

p.s. - I have the same Jeep green w/wheel package as you! Looking good! :smiley_thumbs_up:
 
#27 ·
upper slide sheathed

the upper slide bolt for the caliper is the one with sheath, or rubber gasket at the end.


Someone should post torque settings, I think it is 32lbs for the caliper slide bots and 100 for lugs, but not sure of the caliper bracket bolts, thinking 80lbs?
 
#33 · (Edited)
Is there any way to know the size of your rear discs without measuring? Mine appear to be 320, but I could be lying. VIN is 1J4FF48B89D102023
 
#34 ·
#35 ·
My discs look ok, but there is a lip on the outer edge of all 4. The questions I have are, can I use the same rotors without having them machined, how much should machining cost, and Centric rotors are only $40-should I just change them?
 
#36 ·
depending on how bad the lip is, and where it hits your new pads, it could cause vibration/warping/improper wear/ and limited contact patch so poor breaking performance. machining can be expensive. its often cheaper to just replace. You can sometimes sell the old rotors to a scrapper for some of your $ back. they buy them for a couple of bucks a lb.
 
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