DIY Brake Pads

Rad000 and myself took it upon ourselves to swap over the CH mivecs brake pads to EBC green stuffs, and figured we might as well take a few pictures and make a quick write up if anyone else felt like doing something similar.

First things first, loosen the wheel nuts and jack the car up, fit it safely on stands, didn't take pictures of this but I'm sure you've gotten this far before.
Once the cars jacked up remove the wheels and have a good look at the disc/caliper.
turn the steering wheel in the appropriate direction to get easier access to the caliper.

To start with typically people use a coat hanger to hook the caliper onto and hang it from the car to prevent the need to remove brake hoses, we didn't do this as there were two of us and we wanted to handle it a lot for photo's

First things first for the front calipers, slightly loosen the two bolts connecting the frame of the caliper, pictures as the two outer bolts, this is just to make it easier to remove later as unfortunately on the fronts to fit the pad spreader in it needs to be taken off. Then remove the two inner bolts securing the caliper to the disc, pictures with the black wd-40 staining.

314194_10151160715638214_1080902201_n.jpg


once you've safely removed it from the disc (it's a little heavy) and the inner nuts are quite tight, we used my little auxiliary powered ratchet gun to loosen them (best 40 dollars I ever spent)

At this point pop the pads out of the caliper, didn't take a photo of this as it's easy done.

After that remove the caliper frame so you can fit your caliper piston spreader in the groove (a clamp also works)

522888_10151160715748214_1616343446_n.jpg


427941_10151160715823214_1537095909_n.jpg


At this point you want to use your caliper piston spreader to push the piston back to fit the new brake pad in the appropriate groove, make sure you have your brake fluid reservoir cap open as this can force some excess fluid up, not as big an issue if you're planning to bleed/drain and replace your fluid but we weren't.

22518_10151160716233214_1513563730_n.jpg


522866_10151160716388214_726539459_n.jpg


at this point it should look like this

196123_10151160716613214_2036788763_n.jpg


Then it's a matter of re-securing the caliper frame tightening the nuts, then replacing the brake pads into the slots left by the previous pads, attaching the shims to the back of the pad, ours are pictured below.

403514_10151160716753214_347584050_n.jpg


409371_10151160716868214_103140323_n.jpg


at this point slide the caliper back onto the disc (after swapping it over if you're changing the discs as well they just slide straight off), then line the bolt thread up to appropriate slot behind the disc. securing it as pictured.

32423_10151160716958214_1073190435_n.jpg


And by this point you've finished, repeat the process for the other side after making sure it's all secure.

The only difference for the rear discs are the scale you're working at as they're much smaller, another thing to note is for the rears you don't need to remove the frame of the caliper in order to compress the piston, it's actually easoer as it's quite difficult to remove one side of the frame as the brake line runs directly across it.

If i've missed anything, or said something incorrect let me know and I'll correct it.
And before anyone comments on the ghetto cable ties, the coilovers don't have the mounting point for them :lol:

After fitting new brake pads keep in mind that it takes some time for them to bed in appropriately depending on the brand you're using, go easy to start with until brake effectiveness is restored
I take no responsibility for any issues that may arise when following my DIY guide.

Thanks to rad000 for the use of his car port and his help and advice showing me how to do them
 
green meenies , good job man :thumbup: for putting in the effort to do a diy guide also.
 
You don't need to remove the whole caliper usually, just remove one of the other bolts (has a rubber boot on it) and flip the centre section of the caliper up. Make sure you grease up the slide Bolt you just removed too. Wouldn't hurt to do the other one too
 
unclepaulie said:
You don't need to remove the whole caliper usually, just remove one of the other bolts (has a rubber boot on it) and flip the centre section of the caliper up. Make sure you grease up the slide Bolt you just removed too. Wouldn't hurt to do the other one too

that makes sense, didn't think of that, made for better photo's to take the whole unit off though, especially for the inexperienced like us, but yeah the rubber boot bolt was quite well greased on mine, didn't even need to bother on the rears. could swap them in and out without removing.
 
Definately keen to see how these pads feel as I need new ones. How much were they if you don't mind me asking?
 
Have you got ABS? (I'm guessing by the 4 lines on the firewall you do) Because if you do have ABS apparently it can damage the ABS module forcing the fluids back up the line. What you are supposed to do is put a brake line clamp on, open the bleeder and force the fluid out that way when pushing the pistons out. This will then mean that you need to bleed any air from the brakes upon completion...
 
some ones been topping up brake fluid along the way haven't they. brake-fluid is generally a non service item (ie you don't top it up as it drops as it is generally a good indicator of your brake pad health)
 
leadfoot said:
some ones been topping up brake fluid along the way haven't they. brake-fluid is generally a non service item (ie you don't top it up as it drops as it is generally a good indicator of your brake pad health)

You should actually be bleeding the fluid every 2 years, so if you bleed the fluid between pad changes it would cause the fluid to overfill when pushing the pistons back out...
 
i never said you don't change the fluid as it does go off being hygroscopic what i meant was between pad changes you generally should not top up the fluid as you'll get just what you got there and over flow situation.

when it comes time to bleed the system i would be looking at changing pads as-well because they tend to go off over time from heat cycling as-well
 
I haven't personally topped up the brake fluid, can't speak for prior owner though, only had the car for 15,000 k's. the image seen there is whats happened as the piston has been compressed forcing the fluid up, the level stabilized once the pad was seated and brake pedal pumped.

pads are still in the wearing in stage but the pedal feel fills more confident, slightly more bitey. I wanted a brake pad I could be more confident with repetitive use and I'm hoping this does the trick.

Ryan's correct, this isn't the textbook method of doing it in an ABS car, and mine has been unaffected but I suspect my fluid has been changed quite recently, supposedly it can damage the ABS valves so perhaps I'll update this DIY when I bleed my fluid out and replace with a higher rated fluid, and add the bleeding component
 
you may need to say about pumping fluid back in pressing the pedal till its all back to normal. or they may forget this step and find they have no brakes.
if this has already been done then ingnore my comment
 
Hello guys..Yeah i totally agree with you magnats that without pumping fluid how the [pedal is in normal position i also think about this conversation....Scale of the brake pad is looking nice.
 
Hey mate nice write up. My brakes make an awful squeak when braking reversing out my driveway so I thought maybe ill change my pads and see if that helps. What's the go with these green pads? I've noticed a few people are using them on the forum?
 
They are EBCs, try QFM HPX they are what you want for spirited driving or A1RM for hard and extended abuse. Try the forum sponsors or if in a hurry GSL Rallysports.
 
Back
Top