Rear Brake Pad Replacement

Avoiding a proper maintenance of your automobile's braking system might lead you to many dangers on the road. You are risking your own life plus the lives of the people on road too! Undoubtedly, car brakes are the most important component of a vehicle. So when you find experience a malfunction in your car's braking system, consider the task of getting it fixed immediately. The usual problem under the car brake problems is the wearing out of the brake pads, either the rear or the front ones. They are the front liners who usually help in smooth braking system and hence the chances of it developing problems are high. At times, front brakes wear out in many vehicles, but still many people manage to drive their vehicle because of the rear braking system still being active. But don't take it for granted! If the rear brakes wear out too, you will have no means to bring your car to halt.

Working of a Rear Brake Pad

A rear brake pad definitely offers a high performance and is not affected by aspects like moisture, wet or icy surfaces. Rear brakes are just the same as the front disc brake system. But the only difference is that the rear brake system has to effectuate instantly at the time of emergency. Speaking of which, there are two methods used for emergency braking. The first method is the brake shoe present inside the brake disc which prompted by the emergency brake lever. And the second method is the screw style actuator present inside the brake caliper. Now, when these brake systems are activated, the brakes are pulled into the brake disc and are held very firmly by the emergency brake lever.

Replacing a Rear Brake Pad

Before you plunge knee deep into the procedure, ensure you have all the required materials before removing the worn out brake pads. Also, make a note that you will be removing the wheels off the car, so jacking up the car on an appropriate jack stand is vital. Your safety comes first.

Materials

• C-clamp
• Lug wrench
• Adjustable wrench
• Allen wrenches
• Hammer
• A small bungee cord

Procedure

1. In the first step of the rear disc brake pad replacement step, with the lug wrench, remove the lugs of the car right before you jack the entire car up to the stand.
2. Also, ensure that you do not work on your car which is merely supported by a jack. Rest the entire car carefully on a jack stand so that the wheel removal process goes smoothly.
3. In addition, the work process goes smoother and faster when the wheel is placed on the ground.
4. The next step is to remove the brake calipers so that the brake pads slide out through the top smoothly. It is placed right above the lug bolts.
5. At the back of the caliper you will find a bolt on either of its sides.
6. Remove all these bolts and place them aside.
7. Now catch the caliper from the top and start to pull it in an upward direction. Turn it around so that it loosens up quickly. If it doesn't come off easily, use the hammer to give it a few taps such that it loosens up a bit.
8. Once all this is done, pull it up slightly ensuring that you do not apply any pressure on the brake line.
9. Rest the caliper somewhere safe. Use a bungee cord to string up the caliper from a height in case if you don't find a place to keep it aside. Just don't hang it by the brake line, you might end up damaging the line and result a brake failure.
10. It is time to pull out your old brake pads. Before blindly pulling out all the connections thoroughly take a look at how all the metal clips were attached to the brake pads, etc.
11. Since the calipers have been removed, the brake pads should be easy to come off.
12. Hope you have understood all these steps of how to replace brake pads clearly, up till here correctly. It's time for new rear brake shoe replacement. Slip in the pads into its original place and make sure that you replace all the metal clips and parts the way it was removed earlier.
13. The job isn't over yet. Well, in the mechanism of braking system, the fact is along with the wear out of the brake pads, the caliper wear out too. So you will have to check the interiors of the calipers to check on the condition of the piston that juts out of the calipers.
14. Hold a c-clamp where one side of the c-clamp wraps around the caliper assembly and the other containing the screws rest against the piston.
15. Begin to tighten the clamp slowly and steadily until you see the piston propelling right into the caliper assembly all the way over the new pads.
16. Since the piston is hard compressed, the sliding of the caliper assembly over the new pads should go smoother.
17. Hope these instructions of changing rear brake pads is fine till here! If everything is fixed well, replace the bolts and nuts back the way they were and tighten them hard.
18. Finally, you can check the brakes by pressing the brake pedal a couple of times to ensure the brake pressure.
19. If everything looks great, out the wheel back into its place and tighten all the lug bolts carefully. The procedure is thus, successfully completed.

That didn't seem too long right, although the procedure for explaining would be lengthy, but the brake repair job definitely is not. If there are major car brake problems taking place in your vehicle, neglecting them is certainly not an option, all you have to do is resolve them by bearing some extra cost. Perhaps, you can do-it-yourself, if you are technically sound in solving car problems or else, you can call a professional.

Replacement Cost of Rear Brake Pads

The brake pad replacement cost is ideally less than $10 per piece. Note that, the brake pads with the calipers should be purchased together. They cost around $15 to $30 along with the calipers. If you are going for any sort of brake pad replacement, say rear or front, it's advisable if you do the replacement with a pair of wheel too. It is advisable to replaced both pads and calipers at the same time, just to maintain uniformity of wear.

Well, to keep a vehicle in a good running condition, you cannot turn a blind eye towards maintenance and regular check ups. It's best and wise to maintain this habit, if you wish to reap a good performance off your automobile.