Brake Pads and Rotors

Pull off the wheel - after removing the lug nuts it might be tight or "stuck" and you may have to bump it to loosen it from the wheel housing. Once the wheel is off you can then see the disc brakes. On the back at either end of the assembly is a bolt with a recess that takes a hex also known as an Allen head wrench. You will need to loosen and unscrew both bolts. Once these are removed you then can slide off the assembly that hold the pads. Be carefule to not over strain the hose or the parking brake cable. Secure the assembly with a piece of tiewire. The pads will then essentialls be free to slide out of the housing. Remove the pads. Now comes the part where you have to recess te piston that presses the pads onto the rotor. Using a suitable wrench screw the piston ends so that they screw back into the piston housing. You will need to make sure you have moved the pistons back enough so that you can reinstall the new pads and slide the assembly back over the rotor. When you have done this align one of the bolts that you prevously removed. Notice there is a rubber "boot" that you will need to move around and possibly rotate soa s to be able to position the assembly. Insert one of the screws and screw in a few turns. Repeat with the other. Tighten each bolt to the appropriate torque - for this value refer to the manufacturer's recommendations. Look for any hydraulic/brake fluid leaks. If noe then reinstall the wheel. Tighten lug nuts to the appropriate torque - do not use any liquid lubricant on the nuts, dry clean threads are correct. Before driving the vehicle anywhere drive forward and backward applying the brakes rather sharply to cause the pads to move out to engage the rotors. Do not drive anywhere until this is done and the brakes are working properly. If this does not answer your question - go to a local service place and ask someone there to show/tell you how to do it. Good luck and be careful.

Sometimes it happens and there is not much you can do about that. Sticky brakes are cause by malfunctioning front brake calipers (have to be replaced if it happens). Or sticky brake cylinders (does not happen often). Anyway before drawing any conclusions you need to find out which one is stuck and than make decisions.

PS: Sometimes hand brake rod will get stuck, make sure that you check that too.

It's really not that hard. To change the Front brake pads (the rear are similar):

1) After jacking and supporting the Jeep, remove the wheel.

2) Use a C clamp (about 6" to 8") to compress the piston.

3) Remove the 2 Hex Key slide bolts that are under the plactic caps. Clean the bolts and set them in a clean place. These Hex Key bolts are Metric. If I remember correctly, they are 7 or 9mm.

4) Remember, hang the removed caliper on a piece of wire or tie-strap. Never allow the caliper to hang by the brake hose.

5) Remove the pads and get a new set. There are 2 different kinds calipers for this Jeep and they use different pad sets. You can't tell which one it is on OEM callipers until you remove it.

6) Insert new pads being carefull not to get any grease or oil on them. It usually comes off your hands or fingers.

7) Place caliper on rotor.

8) Lubricate the Slide Pins. sometimes the lube comes with the new pads but other times it doesn't. Find out before you bring the new pads home 'cause there is a special lube for the slide pins.

9) Install the slide pins and tighten them to 25-30 foot pounds.

10) Reinstall wheel, lower and you're done.

11) APPLY BRAKE PEDAL 3 TO 4 TIMES UNTIL THE BRAKE PEDAL FEELS FIRM OR WHEN YOU PUT IT IN GEAR YOU WILL RUN INTO WHAT EVER IS IN FRONT OR BACK AS YOU WILL HAVE NO BRAKES

12) Seat the brake pads, the methods vary but the first 3-5 applications while driving will have less than desired braking so allow extra space for stopping

More clearly detailed please. And I would love to know how you determined it to be the "anti lock brake light" making the sound even with the car off??

Start at the longest line aqnd work towards the shortest (RR-LR-RF-LF)

Attach a flexible tube to the bleeder screw at the top of the wheel cylinder

Place the other end of the tube into a container filled with clean brake fluid

Have assistant pump brake pedal and hold approx. 2/3 from the top

Loosen bleeder screw

Observe fluid in container for bubbles

Repeat until no bubbles are observed

Proceed to next wheel DO NOT LET MASTER CYLINDER EMPTY DURING PROCEDURE

I have NEVER read a manual or asked anyone how to replace the brakes on any vehcile in the over 20 years of working on vehicles. If you have to get your brakes worked on, and you have no knowledge of vehicle brakes, have someone you know, who knows HOW TO DO IT RIGHT, show you. or Take it to a shop. Or do it yourself...

the little metal plate is anti rattle, and yes you need it
if it is between caliper and pad it should not evem touch disk, therefore it would not cause squeeling
try using a good brake cleaner
squeeling is usually caused by dust and grime coating parts

See related link.

It depends on the vehicle. call your local autoparts store and tehy can quote you a price. Be sure to know the year make and model of your vehicle. As well as what size engine (this can usually be found on the engine cover under your hood).

Understand that when you apply the brakes you're putting tremendous torque on the hub assembly. If the lower control arm bushings or the strut bushings are worn, you could certainly get the kind of noise you're describing. If the brakes weren't put in properly you could also get that noise, but it's not likely since brakes cannot usually be installed improperly.

I had the same problem. It sounds worse than the old breaks. I upgraded to a break pad that has copper in it. It is a softer pad, but works great. Also get the rotors turned. That will fix the problem.

Any good machine shop can tell you if the rotors are a candidate for resurfacing or need replacing. They will know how to do this if they are reputable. You can get a new rotor for this car for $20 (rear) to $30 (front). I don't ever recommend having a rotor or drum turned, and I don't do it on my own cars. You need all the metal you can get to carry off the heat. I shall tell you the height of idiocy: The only place in town that has Volkswagen Beetle tires is Pep Boys. I wouldn't take a car to Pep Boys to get the ashtray dumped if I had any other option, but in this case I didn't. The worst idiot I have ever seen with an ASE patch on his shoulder was turning a brake rotor that had a huge chunk of metal broken out of it--by the time they were done the rotor was two inches smaller than it was when it came out of the box. That couldn't possibly have been safe to use--in addition to losing a lot of your braking surface and your heat-dissipation capability, a rotor that had suffered that much damage is a stress fracture waiting to happen.

Firstly pop the bonnet and remove the cap from the break fluid reservoir, now crack the nuts on the two front wheels. Jack the car up take the wheel nuts off and remove the wheel, the caliper holding the pads around the disc will usually have two bolts going from one side to the other remove the bolts and pry the entire caliper away from the disc. remove the old pads and push the piston on the break caliper back in with either a G-clamp or a big pair of grips. place the new pads in the caliper slot it over the disc line up the bolt holes and but the bolts back threw tighten them up and then replace the wheel tighten up the bolts diagonally from each over to make sure the wheel goes on straight. once you have done this to both sides replace the cap on the break fluid reservoir make sure there is no spilled break fluid as it strips paint if there is pour water onto it. there is no need to bleed the breaks unless the fluid has been in there for years as over time break fluid absorbs water which compresses so you have to push the pedal harder for less breaking power.

Remove tire.

Remove Caliper and pads

The Rotor will just slip right off the spindle...

Put new rotor on, put caliper plus pads back and the tire and your done, its really simple to do.

Jack up the car, remove the rear wheel, find the caliper and behind it there are two large 19mm bolts (on a 2002) and loosen them both, pull the caliper off and be careful not to hyper extend the brake line hose, pop out the old pads...they are two different pads in a set, identify inside and outside, insert the pads, use a 'c' clamp to spread open the pads and replace the caliper unit, bolt on your wheel and take it easy braking for a few miles in order to seat the pads well.

CHECK YOUR MODEL YEAR! DON'T COMPRESS WIHT CLAMP JUST YET!

In my experience with the 97 Altima, the rear brake piston CANNOT be compressed in with a C-Clamp! If the piston face looks like a 4 leaf clover, it must be TURNED back in, not compressed! Use a pair of needle nose pliers and insert into the grooves in the face of the piston. Turn clockwise to get the piston back into the caliper. Using a clamp could damage the caliper.

There could be several reasons. The ones that come to mind are;

Your front brakes are shot and the rears are doing all the work. This probably means it's time for a 4 wheel brake job.

The rear brakes are shot and have damaged the drums. This can make them stick sometimes.
The rear calipers are old or damaged and need to be replaced.

The upshot here is that you have a brake problem. Brake problems are a bad thing. If I were you, I'd get the car to my mechanic or a brake shop as soon as is possible. This could develop into a serious situation. PLEASE! Take this seriously!

Stuck drums happen regularly on cars and is one of those real curssed type things! When it does, the word easy is not one that comes quickly to mind in relation to it. Frequently by the time your done, other words will. Make sure you back off the adjusting star all the way - even releasing hydraulic bleeder can help. Bang, bang, bang. Liquid Wrench (especially if the studs are through the drum). Various pullers (there are some common ones that can fit many wheels). This is not a time for restraint...fact is drums are cheap and may not be able to be turned (warped, worn, rusted, etc) anyway.

after changing rotors

You can purchase one or more.

jack up the back end and pull off the tires. take off the regular brake calipers (2 bolts) and pads. remove the caliper bracket (2 bolts). slide off the rotor/drum (will probably come off hard). The parking brake shoe should slide straight up.

Actually, yes it is. Wether you replace all three parts or just the rotor backing plates, you still need to dissasemble and re-assemble all of the same parts. Basicly it's just a difference of putting back the used parts or installing the new ones. either way, same amount of work. Hope this helps.

First, make sure to pump the break pedal about 25 times to relieve any pressure in the booster reserve if you have anti-lock breaks. If you have 4 wheel disc breaks, the method for changing the pads is really no different than changing the front pads. Aside from the obvious of loosening the lugs, raising the vehicle and removing the tires, take a C-clamp and compress the caliper by putting the fixed end of the clamp on the rear of the break caliper and the adjustable end on the outside shoe. Compress the piston so the shoes are loose. Loosen the mounting bolts at the back of the caliper. Remove the caliper and remove the pads. Reverse the process to reinstall. Hope this helps.

At the "Y" in the cables at the rear of the car