Replacing rear brakes & rotors

[Ristin]

I'm not a mechanic, just a guy who can't afford to pay other people to do this stuff. This is a fairly straight forward job and took me about two hours and that includes standing in the garage procrastinating, getting tools and finally cleaning up afterwards. This was a simple pads & rotor replacement. The parking brakes & calipers were OK and required no repair.
As always, safety first. Overview, limit and spot potential hazards and take steps to mitigate.

The vehicle is a 2000 Eddie Bauer Expedition 4x4 with 118k miles.

After chocking the front wheels, I put the Expy on jack stands. If your not sure about jacking points, refer to the owners guide.

Gather the necessary tools. Your tool needs my vary, but I used:
Impact gun for lugnuts
3/8" drive & 10mm socket
Flat blade screwdriver
BFH
C-clamp

Remove the wheel

Remove the caliper. There are two 10mm bolts.

 

[Ristin]

Remove the caliper by pulling the top of the caliper back and then working it up. On my rig the drivers side was easy, the passenger side was harder due to less slack in the brake line.

Anymore I replace the rotors with new instead of having the originals turned. New rear rotors were $30, having the old ones turned would have been $25 each plus a 50 minute round trip drive to town. The driver side rotor didn't want to come off so I sprayed with WD-40 and tried a rubber mallet. No luck so I switched to the BFH and it came right off. I recommend hearing & eye protection if you have to resort to the BFH. The passenger side rotor slipped right off

Clean everything really good. Don't use compressed air.

 

[Ristin]

Remove the pads. Using the flat head screw driver I bent the tabs up to make removal easier. The inner pad is held by spring clips and just slides out.

It was time.

Use a C-clamp to compress the piston back down. It's a good idea to check the brake fluid level to avoid an overflow.

 

[Bowesmobile]

A little tip for next time to save you from possibly tearing up the piston on the caliper. Use the old pad between the piston and "c" clamp. It will help it push evenly and avoid damaging the piston. Great write up!

 

[Ristin]

Replace the slides (I don't know the official term). There are two per side. Don't forget to grease them before reinstalling the caliper.

 

[Ristin]

Note! The pads are specific to a side. The slot goes on the bottom of the caliper. I found this out the hard way as the pads are not marked.

Install the inner pad to the caliper first then the outer. The outer is a pain because you have to slide it over the caliper and its tight. Plus you have to avoid getting grease on the pads and not stretch the brake line all while holding everything. A third arm would come in really handy, but would be awkward to explain at parties.

 

[Ristin]

Install the rotor, it just slips on. New rotors are coated with grease; be sure to clean really good with brake cleaner.

 

[Ristin]

Reinstall the caliper. The sleeves the bolt goes through slide in and out, make sure they are slid out otherwise they will keep the caliper from sliding in.

Reinstall the bolts and tighten. I don't know the torque specs but they weren't super tight.

Double check your work, then reinstall the wheel. On my 2000 Expy the lugnut torque is 150 ft lbs. Earlier models are 100 ft lbs. Check the lug nut washer as the torque spec is stamped on it.

Finally, log the repair in your favorite maintenance tracking software. I use Automotive Wolf.

This was my first time doing brakes on a Gen 1 Expy. Any tips or corrections are greatly appreciated.

 

[Ristin]

A little tip for next time to save you from possibly tearing up the piston on the caliper. Use the old pad between the piston and "c" clamp. It will help it push evenly and avoid damaging the piston. Great write up!

Thanks for the tip! I didn't think about that. I did go slow to allow the fluid to flow back and make the C-Clamp easier to turn.

 

[Bowesmobile]

Hey, everything else was good! Good job!

 

[98EXPnSRQ]

My rear pads looked about like yours. After I replaced them, the calipers started sticking. Not sure if the pistons had made a groove or if they were just gummed up, but anyway, I ended up having to replace the calipers. Keep an eye out for brake drag.

 

[Bedrck47]

Thanks for a very nice write-up and pictures

 

[MADEXP]

Same procedure for a 2004? I need to do this....

 

[Ristin]

I don't know if the 2004 is different or not. I would guess the process will be similar.