Beer Forum

Does anybody have experience/tips regarding changing brake pads on a pickup? I am about to try and wondered if anyone had any suggestions as to what to do or what to lookout for. Thanks in advance!!

It's pretty straight forward unless you're swapping calipers... which is also pretty straight forward but with a few extra steps. Anything specific you were wondering about?

I am assuming these are disc and not drum brakes? If they are drum brakes, don't do it, they are horrible lol

If they are disc brakes it is pretty easy, just make sure you open the calipers as wide as possible before you pull out the old ones, the new ones will be tough to get in and you don't want to pry on the new pads trying to get them in.

Ozwald wrote:It's pretty straight forward unless you're swapping calipers... which is also pretty straight forward but with a few extra steps. Anything specific you were wondering about?

No, I've never done it before and don't want to get my truck apart and not be able to put it back together...

what they said, and if they're disc brakes, I have stuff I always keep in my toolbox for that.... a coathanger to suspend everything (don't let it hang by the hose), a couple of thin pieces of wood and a c-clamp used to compress the cylinder.

oh, and i always take the cap off of the brake fluid reservoir and make sure it isn't going to overflow when I'm compressing the cylinder.

Once you get that out of the way, just slap the new pads into place, re-mount everything and pump 'em a bit, and you're good to go.

One more thing... If you have clips or springs holding things in place, take a photo of that before you remove anything. Those can be a bitch to figure out.

if you have had a brake pedal pulsation when applying the brakes or if the old pads were worn so far that the rotors are scored, then replace the rotors also.

thank you all for your help. I went to Autozone for the pads and they needed to know if they were vacuum assist or hydro assist. I looked through my owners manual for about 15 minutes and couldn't find anything. Then I tried calling a dealership parts dept and hung up after about 10 minutes on hold. As it was pissing rain today I gave up. I am not having any problems other than some noise that is getting on my nerves. My truck has 66K miles and is still on the factory brake pads so I guess they are due for a change. Maybe next Monday...

codewritinfool wrote:
oh, and i always take the cap off of the brake fluid reservoir and make sure it isn't going to overflow when I'm compressing the cylinder.


One more thing... If you have clips or springs holding things in place, take a photo of that before you remove anything. Those can be a bitch to figure out.

SPECTACULAR IDEA!!!
I have genetically inherited from my father a knack for taking things apart and not being able to get them back together. My pop would take apart his motorcycle to "service & maintain" it and have to ask my maman'em to come out to the garage and help him figure out how to put it back together. I can see this being one of those same type instances.