I picked up front and rear pads today and have read some posts on installing the rears. I have never installed pads on calipers whose pistons need to be "turned"...i picked up the tool to turn them, but could use a bit of info on how it works....do you just turn it enough that the pad will fit in the caliper?, and what is the reason it turns and is not just pushed back like other pistons?.
How far do i turn it?
Thanks muchly...finally going home tomorrow to be reunited with my tools!..lol

 

i usually get premium pads, but with the purchase of a new car which needs to have some $ put into it straight away i'm going low budget for a while.
I used the advance auto promo code on this site, and another promo code from the advance auto website, total came to $55.10 inc tax, (front and rear) and still a step up from ebay econopads.
I'll get better pads if i feel these are not adequate, I'll be curious to see if i've been throwing $ away on pricey pads for the last X number of years.
A guy at work was pissed as he paid someone $275 to put pads on his sons beat up old volvo, and i do my own pads for $55 on a Jag.
I'll let y'all know how they feel

 

On the rears you have to turn the piston counter-clockwise on one of the sides (I cant remember which one), and no tool borrowed from Autozone or like-stores will do that. The other side will turn clockwise, so no issue. Use the tool with the cylinder "teeth" get them lodged and turn that piston with all your might, that's what I did - I think I suffered a mild anurism. You'll know which side by when you turn the tool, you'll notice the piston won't go in.

Btw- use a dropper to take some brake fluid out from the reservoir under the hood.

Turn that sucker far enough to get the pads around the rotor evenly. I remember it being really difficult on the "counter-clockwise" side

good luck

 

Hey , why not check in FAQs ? There should be a tip about pad replacement at least it's worth try

 

i did check the faq as well as many threads, nothing really answered my questions.

An easy way to remember which way to turn the pistons....they turn the same way as the wheel rotation direction

 

iownme, if you bought the block that has a bunch of nubs on it, what I do is use a ratchet to push in on the piston and give it a twist. The big thing is that you need to open the bleed valve on the caliper else you won't be able to push the piston in (too much force for you to overcome with just your hands). Try it one direction and if you see the piston moving out, then you obviously need to go the other way.

ANother thing that I recently discovered with my car is that mine has a 12mm allen opening in the center of the piston. So, I can stick a large allen into the opening and be able to turn the piston with little effort of trying to keep that block against the piston.

 

can't wait to get it done....not sure if people are looking at the hot car or laughing at the squeeling brakes...lol

 

Thermo,

I'm curious as to what block your talking about? I'm just can't picture what you mean...

 

I got the passenger caliper piston turned in no problem, pads are now installed on that side (old pads were worn down to the wear bar)
I am now having a problem with the driver side!.
The piston is turning (ccw) with no problem, in fact easily, but it is not going in far enough to fit over the new pads, it needs to go in about another 1/8th"
I did not need any pressure on the passenger side, just put the piston tool on and turned with a ratchet until it was in far enough to go over the pads, went in easy.
I have read other posts saying you need to put pressure on the piston while turning it, why is that...is the piston not threaded?.
I can't understand why putting pressure on it while turning will make a difference, can someone explain?.
I "thought" the pressure was needed to stop the tool from falling off, is this not the case?
thanks muchly guys, i'd hate to have to put the old pads back on

 

i put a small breaker bar between the cube and the edge of the caliper and turned the cube with a screwdriver. I only needed a small amount of pressure on the breaker bar. That worked and the pads are now on.
I didn't need to loosen the bleeder screw, but i did have the reservoir cap loose during the entire process.
I removed the 2x 5mm allen key bolts holding on the h/brake bracket and released the cable from it's holder