just replaced rear pads...
 

wow, that was almost stupid easy!

i'm going to be driving to denver in a week and cquence could not get new pads/rotors here in time. i knew i needed rear pads. the fronts are still good enough.

after reading wayne's 101 projects book, some threads on the forum and pedro's garage i figured i could tackle it myself.

what i did not expect was just how easy it really was. the hardest part was getting the retaining bolt off - it was pretty well embedded. but a little more gumption got it to start moving.

the first set took me around 20 minutes, the second set took around 10 minutes.

i just jacked each side up individually. removed the wheel. removed the retaining pin, pushed out the bolt, removed the spring, took out the sensors, pulled the pads, put in the new ones and went backwards until it was done.

i knew i needed rear pads but did not realize just how worn they were. thankfully the brake light never came on and the sensor is still good, but it would not have made it another 3500 miles...

http://greenpuppydev.com/blog_post_i...rake_pads1.jpg

when i get back i'll be replacing all 4 pads and rotors with the cquence parts.

Agreed
 

I did my brakes a couple of weeks ago and I agree, one of the easiest things I have done on the car to date. I didn't have the brake sensors when I did the change and it seems that the light only comes on when I drive though 1 intersection on my way to work. I have the sensor now and will put it in when it bugs me enough to do so. I bought the textar brand pads. Which ones did you install?

i grabbed the ATE pads because i dont plan to keep them more than 4k miles and amazon had them in stock and could overnight them

Did you have to do anything special to get the pistons to push back in?

i put pressure on the old pad and the pistons moved back in. not a lot of force was required. after i got the old pad out i tried using a piece of wood but it was too long so i used a ratchet extension and my fingers to push the piston back in being careful not to push on the middle of the piston but instead on the outer part of it. it wasn't hard. though i had to be careful because pushing one in made the other want to come back out a little. i replaced one pad at a time rather than pull out both and try to replace both at once.