Write-Up: Replacing rear rotors and pads. (lots of pics)

This was done on my 96', but im pretty sure it will be exactly the same for all 95-99 rivs. it took me less than an hour to do both sides, and that includes drink pauses and pictures

Tools:
12mm socket
18mm socket with either a breaker bar, air tools or alot of strength
10mm wrench
1/2" socket
caliper piston cube or needle nose pliers
brake cleaner
caliper paint?
2 new rotors - i went with autozone's duralast # 5599 (they were $20 each with a 2yr warranty)

1.Jack the rear end up and secure it. Do not set the E-brake. Use chalks under the front tires if you're on a hill.

2. Remove the tires. This is what you're looking at. old and rusty Its a good time to inspect the rear suspension, brake lines, and hardware.


3. I like to use the lug nuts to secure the rotor while i work on removing the caliper and bracket. There may be 2 brass retainer on the studs, they will need to be removed before you can pull the rotor off.

4.a) If you're replacing just the pads, then you only need to remove the 1 12mm bolt on the bottom of the caliper itself. (not pictured). Then rotate the caliper up to remove the pads.

4. b) Remove the 2 18mm bolts holding the bracket over the rotor. shown below ->


5. To make the caliper and bracket more flexible and easier to remove, you may want to take out the little 1/2" bolt on the frame that holds the brake line in place.


6.Pull or Pry the caliper and bracket off the rotor. Rest it carefuly on the top of the suspension knuckle. The pads should be free to pop out of the bracket and slide out. Inspect them for unusual wear as this could be a sign of a bad caliper or hardware. As you can see, mine are fairly new and still have alot of life left, so i am only replacing the rotors.



7. Remove the lug nuts and pull the old rotor off the hub. Install the shiny new one.

8. In order ot put the new pads over the rotor, or even to slide the old ones back on, you WILL need to turn the caliper piston to compress it. This is done either with a brake tool (looks like a cube and fits on a ratchet) or very carefuly with needle nose pliers(so as not to mar the piston). It turns very slowly and mine needed about 2 full rotations to let my "old" pads over the new rotor. It is easier to compress if the bleeder screw is slightly open. This removes some of the pressure behind the piston. Use the 10mm wrench to break it loose about a 1/4 turn. Dont forget to close it when your dont compressing.


9. Reverse steps to reinstall the caliper onto the rotor, and secure the brake line and bracket with the bolts.

10. Touch up any paint flaws on the caliper, stand back and admire your work.


11. Bleed the brakes if needed.

btw, this was my first real, all out, write up hope it wasnt too patronizing for you gear heads

oh i should mention that the rear rotors have a min. thickness of 9.5mm and they are only ~10mm new so you need to have a brake micrometer to see if they need replacing. But if they are warping under heavy stops then they are probably too thin.

most pads will start making some noise when they get down to the wear indicator, or if they are down to 1/16 or even 1/8th of an inch thich they need to be replaced.
good rear rotors and pads should last 40k or more miles. the rotors may last even longer depending on the pads used.

Nice! I know my brakes are acting wierd so I am going to use this write up soon! Thanks!

Really fast/simple procedure. The hardest part was using pliers to back the piston up.

The torque spec for the bracket bolts is 93 ft/lbs.

When one does front brake pads are you supposed to use this "rotating" to move the piston back in to? My uncle taught me how to do brakes on my first car (a 75 Camaro RS) and we used a C-clamp to compress the piston back in.

I've used that method on every disk brake care since then (using the old brake pad as the brace to push the piston back in before I remove it to put in the new).

Never had a problem - but is this a problem?

You only need to turn in the pistons on the rear calipers. On the front calipers you can press the piston back in with a c-clamp.

Nice write up, Thanks.

Quote :

The hardest part was using pliers to back the piston up.

Buy the brake tool. For a couple bucks, it sure saves a lot of frustration! You know you'll use it again, and again.

OK, and finally, how does the parking brake work? I have seen disc brakes before on the rear that have a full mechanism for the parking brake - I don't see on here?

Nice write up, Thanks.

allfalldown wrote:

OK, and finally, how does the parking brake work? I have seen disc brakes before on the rear that have a full mechanism for the parking brake - I don't see on here?

we too have the mechanical parking brake, it is the line with the spring action on it. i believe you can also adjust the tension on the line by a mechanism by the fuel filter.

Just a note that mechanical e/p-brake + disc braking = less stopping power. Compared to a drum system, mechanically operated rear discs are pretty weak. Try engaging it from 60mph, it'll take you a l-o-o-o-n-g time to come to a stop.

is it b/c they are disk brakes or b/c we have auto's? if i pull the hand brake on a manual car, even at 30 the rear wheels lock-up. i couldnt make mine lock-up unless it was down hill in the rain
just wondering if they are geared to be more sensitive and useful (for lack of a better word) on manual cars.

Did that manual car have drums in back? Not sure the physics behind it, but the design of a drum is just better suited for mechanical braking than a disc. Some cars have both a disc and a drum in rear, the drum functions only for the e-brake.

Btw, if you depress the p-brake in our cars, when you release it, keep your foot on and it will work like a manual brake. You can push it in and out, but it requires a lot of force, and the bell goes "ding-ding-ding" the whole time.

I must say, this was a damn good write-up. I've already done the rears myself (I even have an 1" long scar to prove it).

I agree that you should just rent the tool from an autoparts store to compress the pistons. Easiest thing ever. And I needed every ounce of force that tool could muster to get the piston down far enough t clear the pads.

Tool is available at Sears for around $10.

Thought I'd have used it again by now, but rear discs are holding up extremely well now at almost 90k+ miles on them.

Mr. Riviera, you are a life saver!!!

I've been messing around with the rear pads for two days now and finally decided to check if anyone had the same problem as me here and VOALA.
I bought the manual for a 1998 even though mine is a 1997 and it doesn't say anything about rotating the piston.

Thanks for your help.

You're not the only one, John. I bent a C-clamp the first time I tried! This is a great write-up, glad it helped you out.

Worked like a charm. Thanks again, very helpful.
Now, I'm hoping you could answer another question. I'm not just replacing the pads, I'm also installing new rotors I got from Raceconcepts, but they're cross drilled and slotted and I don't know which direction they should be installed in?
Thanks,

Which way?

thanks for the complements but im just trying to repay the forum for all the write ups i have used in the past that is why we are here.
and assuming the arrows point in the direction of rotation, i would install them like the second pic. but i dont think you will see a performance difference either way you put them, its just different looks. same with wheels that have angled spokes.

What I've read elsewhere is that the second pic is better, also for heat dispersal to the outer edge of the rotor.
I guess, looking at from a physics point of view, it makes sense.

It can make a difference if your interior disc cooling vents are directional. You need to know which way the vents are aligned. If the vents go with the slots/holes, mount as #2 pic. If the vents go against the direction of the slots/holes, mount as #1. Mounting is determined by the vents, not the slots/holes. The hot air inside the disc uses the vents to escape with the rotation of the wheel.

Here's a better explanation from StopTech:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/faqs.shtml#16

wating for my rotors.............. come on UPS......... today....

I just received a pair of Brembo rear discs from Auto Barn + Hawk HPS pads from TurboWholesale.com. My old pads/rotors lasted about 110k miles. Nice to have this write-up handy. Thanks again, Matthew!

Good post- I did my rear brakes this morning and it was very helpful. Thought
I would add a couple of things:

I took a picture of the brake tool but probably not worth finding a host for it-
the tool is about an inch square with a square opening on each side for a
3/8" socket wrench or extension and different combinations of 'pegs' on each
side to fit different applications. This will aid in recognizing it in the store.

Probably a good idea to use red loctite on the caliper bolts when you reassemble.

And last- measure your new pads and rotor to be sure you have enough
clearance (ie the piston is screwed in far enough) between the piston and
the forging that the other brake pad seats against to slip over the disk when
reassembling (ask me how I know it is a PITA if you don't have enough clearance)- I needed at least 1-5/8".

GeneMpls wrote:

the tool is about an inch square with a square opening on each side for a 3/8" socket wrench or extension and different combinations of 'pegs' on each side to fit different applications.

I used that tool when doing the 1st side on the back because I happened to have it already. I will never use it again on this car. The pegs did not fit the piston for very well at all which ended up making it take 20 minutes and some cuts to the hand to get the piston all the way in. I went to work and got the kit that has a clamp that fits the caliper and the small round adaptor for the piston. With that, it took about 5 seconds to get that piston in, because it actually fit snugly to the piston and it pushed it in as well as turning it.