How to Change a Parking Brake

When it's becoming more difficult to engage the brakes on your car, you're likely in need of a brake pad replacement. This is not a task to delay. Replacing the brakes is important for your safety and the safety of others. Replacing the brake pads, whether you do it yourself or have a mechanic do it for you, is part of being a responsible driver. You can pick up a brake pad kit at your local hardware or autobody shop and complete the job in a short time, although there are a lot of tools involved.

Instructions

1

Insert support jacks under all four corners of the vehicle.

2

Use a socket wrench to remove the hub caps. Insert the head of the socket wrench onto the lug nuts and turn them counterclockwise to remove. Use a wrench to remove bolts and nuts under the hub to remove the wheel and tire.

3

Pull the brake drums off the wheel studs with your hands. Use a pry bar if you're struggling to pull them off.

4

Use the needle nose pliers to remove the parking brake lock pin and the clevis pin. Pull the parking brake cable out of the way.

5

Remove the brake hose bracket. Remove the two calliper bolts with the 14mm socket and torque wrench. Twist them off the rest of the way using your fingers or a ratchet. Set them aside.

6

Remove the calliper body by loosening it with your hands and pull out until it is maneuvered out of position. Wrap a wire around the calliper body and tie it around the vehicle frame. This will provide support for the calliper body so that it's not hanging from the brake hose.

7

Remove the old brake pads and shims. Shims are a thin layer of rubber or metal that fits between the brake pads and rotors. Not all vehicles have shims but most brake kits will have them. Use a large flat-blade screwdriver and pry out the shims and remove the pads.

8

Above the pad retainers are two calliper pins. Remove them and clean them off with a cotton cloth and grease them with a high-temperature grease. Reinstall the pins by snapping them in place. Make sure the two flat surfaces of the pin heads are horizontal. Clean the upper and lower pad retainers with an emery cloth.

9

Install the new brake pads. If the brake pad kit comes with two shims, install the one with the hole for a tab on the inside pad.

10

Use a special brake tool to screw the calliper piston clockwise. After about 20 revolutions, it should be installed. Line the cutout of the piston with the brake pad tab. Use a cordless drill, if you have one, to drill the piston to the brake pad. Use a turkey baster to collect any excess fluid.

11

Remove the wire holding the calliper body. Reinstall the calliper over the brake pads and onto the calliper bracket. Fit the flat sides of the calliper pins into the calliper body.

12

Install two calliper bolts. Screw them part way with your fingers and use a 14-wrench and torque them to 36-foot-pounds all the way.

13

Insert the pin through the lever in the cable to reinstall the parking brake. Use the needle-nose pliers to position the pin and install the lock pin.

14

Reinstall the calliper shield. Hold it in your left hand and position so that the underside screw hole is above your thumb and the upper hole is directly across from you.

15

Install the brake hose bracket using a 16-foot-pound torque from the wrench. Reengage the parking brake from the cockpit.

16

Pump the brake pedal several times to make sure it is firm. Lower the car and remove the support jacks.