Replacing Front Brake pads & rotors

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Ristin

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I'm at it again. Today's project was front brake pads, rotors and a caliper.
Remember, safety first. Chock your wheels, use jack stands, eye protection, hand protection and if you're not sure what your doing, STOP! Also, do not use compressed air to blow off brake components. Airborne brake dust is very very very bad for you.

Vehicle: 2000 Ford Expedition, 4x4 Eddie Bauer 118k miles

To start:

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And this is what I found:

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I always replace the rotors. New rotors were $25 a piece from Rock Auto. I would have paid more to have them turned plus the gas for the 40 mile round trip to town. From my other vehicles, I've found today's rotors don't have a lot of meat to begin with and typically won't be eligible for turning anyway.
 

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Ristin

Ristin

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You'll need an 18mm socket to remove the caliper bolts. They are on the in board side. I had to get the 1/2" breaker bar and the BFH to break them loose on the driver side. Passenger side was slightly easier.

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Remove the caliper, be careful not to let it hang from the brake line.

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Remove the two bolts holding the frame that the pads sit in (dunno tech name). I think they are a Torx head but I got mine loose with a standard Allen wrench. These bolts shouldn't be very tight.

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Carefully pry the upper spring clip back a bit so the frame holding the pads will separate from the caliper, then pull up and slide out of lower mount.

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Ristin

Ristin

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Darn.

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$50 at Autozone and in stock. There is a core charge so remove the old unit and take with you.

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Don't lose the bolt that attaches the brake line. The new caliper will not include one, however the kit does come with new copper washers.

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Re-man'd caliper

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If your caliper was OK, just use a C-clamp to push the pistons back in. Use the old brake pad or a flat piece of metal to apply the force evenly across the piston.
 

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Ristin

Ristin

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Wife wanted to go to town with me, so while she was getting ready I installed the new pads into the frame. (I still don't know the technical term for that part.)

Remove the old slides (again, dunno tech name)

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Doesn't show in these pictures but I did take a wire brush to the parts and clean them up.

Install new slides. The slide with the continuous spring goes on the bottom. The spring part goes to the inboard side.

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While taking pictures during a project is a pain in the neck, I highly recommend it. I had to look back at the pictures to figure out how this all went back together.

Don't forget to apply a little grease to the slides.

Install the pads. Look at the lower left corner of this picture. There is a u-shaped piece of metal. This is the wear indicator and that pad goes on the outboard side. You'll need to slide the outboard pad on first then the inboard pad.

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Ristin

Ristin

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Slide the frame back into the caliper. Seat the bottom end first under the spring clip than snap the top part in. Make sure the outboard pad doesn't slide inward. It has to be out board of the notch in the middle of the caliper. Install and tighten bolts. I don't know if the slide bolts need to be greased, but the old ones came out with grease on them so I greased the new ones. You'll only have new bolts if you replaced a caliper. Otherwaise you will clean and reuse the old bolts.

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Ready to mount. Notice the metal notches in the center of the caliper casting. The outside pad needs to be outboard of those notches.

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Slide the whole assembly over the rotor and reinstall the bolts. I don't know the torque spec but I tightened these as tight as I could get them with my breaker bar.

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Ristin

Ristin

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Extra step since I replaced the caliper. Reinstall brake line, use new copper washers and DON"T over tighten this bolt. It is hollow and will break easily. It just needs to be tight enough not to leak.

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Later I will bleed the brakes. I still have to do the passenger side and replace the axle half shaft on the other side.

I also changed the brake fluid during this project. I was on the fence about whether this is necessary, even the vehicle manufacturers are unclear but I did drain goop out of the old caliper so maybe it's not a bad thing. Cheap insurance right?

Summary:
The front brakes are slightly more difficult than the rear brakes but completely doable by the average skilled shade tree mechanic. Take your time, have lots of brake cleaner on hand and take pictures before dis-assembly for later reference. I'm not a mechanic but I kind of enjoy this stuff and I refuse to pay someone a lot of $$$ for a project I can do myself.
 

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stamp11127

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It is always a good habit to flush the brake fluid after a pad change since the system will build up with contaminates and may also boil the brake fluid under hard braking.
 
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Ristin

Ristin

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Doesn't hurt to use some anti seize on the bolts when reinstalling them

Is there any risk of the bolts coming loose on their own? Does the anti seize affect the torquing procedure?
 

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