Open Today Sales: 9 AM-7 PM
Brake pads are a crucial aspect of your vehicle’s braking system. However, over time, they will wear down, limiting your stopping power on the roads of Saco, Portland, and Scarborough, Maine. This is why it’s important to replace them every 25,000 to 65,000 miles.
Want to learn how to do it yourself? Let the team at Ira Honda Saco walk you through this process with this guide on how to change brake pads.
Before you get started, gather the following tools and equipment to make sure your DIY project goes off without a hitch:
To get to your brake pads, you’ll need to remove your wheels. Start by loosening the lug nuts on the wheel you wish to remove first. Then, place your jack under an appropriate area and raise your vehicle enough to fit a jack stand.
Place your jack stand under the vehicle, lower and remove the jack, and you’re ready to get started.
After removing the lug nuts from your wheel, take the wheel off your vehicle. You should now be able to see the brake calipers and rotor.
Find the bolts on the inside of the caliper and remove them with your socket. Take off the caliper, but make sure to keep your brake lines connected. It can be helpful to hang the caliper off the upper control arm. Sometimes, you can remove only one of the caliper bolts without needing to pull off the entire caliper.
Now that you can reach your brake pads, it’s time to remove them. Do this by removing both sides from the rotor, making sure you take note of the orientation for when it’s time to install new pads.
Using a dime-sized amount of grease, ready your brake pads by applying brake grease to the caliper side of the pads. After that is complete, install the new brake pads in the same position the old ones were in.
Since your new brake pads will be larger than the previous, worn-down ones, you’ll have to adjust the caliper assembly to fit. To do this, position the caliper against the circular piston and tighten it to fit the new pad until it’s secure. You may have to use a c-clamp to compress the caliper to fit around the new brake pads.
Then, put the calipers back into your vehicles and tighten the bolts using your hands at first and then with a socket to ensure they’re fully tightened.
Place the wheel back on your vehicle and install the lug nuts using your hands. Using your jack, raise your vehicle, remove the jack stand, and lower your vehicle to the ground. Tighten the lug nuts with your tire iron.
Repeat this process for all your brake pads until each one has been replaced.
If you prefer to skip the work and have your brake pads changed for you, the certified technicians in our service center can tackle the job for you. Drivers in the Saco, Portland, and Scarborough, ME, region can make their appointment at Ira Honda Saco today!
