Let me start off by saying that this is a fairly straight forward procedure and many people have asked about a brake pad replacement how-to or DIY with pics, so here is mine. Does not include replacing the rotors. This is just my way of doing it and is by no means, the only way to change them but this is what I find the easiest. This applies to the front brakes of an SC400 but the rear brakes are practically identical. So here goes. Pics can be found here.

Parts:
-brake pads of course. Any brand will do. I prefer to use OEM and that’s what I used here.
-pad shim kit. You can reuse the shims if you have them. My car didn’t have them so I bought new (about $25 per axle and includes the brake grease)
-hardware kit. Again, you can reuse what you have already.
-DOT3 brake fluid
-brake grease (if reusing your old shims)

Tools:
-jack and jack stands
-21mm socket
-14mm socket or wrench
-17mm slim wrench
-3/8" ratchet
-torque wrench
-twine or wire
-breaker bar
-C clamp


Start by parking on a firm and level surface and set your emergency brake. Using your 21mm socket and wrench, break the lug nuts free (do NOT remove them yet). Use a breaker bar if necessary. Raise the car and place your jack stands accordingly. I prefer to raise the front, do them first, then lower the car and do the rear. When doing the rears, be sure and chock your front wheels so it doesn’t roll anywhere.

Once the car is firmly up in the air, and you know it’s not going anywhere, remove the lug nuts and then the wheel. This is what you will see when you get the wheel off.

To see the entire DIY, see link above.

 

Sweet write up.

 

I believe the "clips" you were talking about are the pad thickness indicators, aka squealers. doesnt matter if its on the inside or outside of the rotor as much as it matters which direction its sitting.

you want the squealer to sit so that when the rotor is traveling in the normal forward direction, it will pull the squealer down towards the pad, not away from it:



feel me knockin'?!

Good write up!

 

That's what they are...thanks for the tip Spooled.

 

for shoooooo

 

use my vid

 

just did my brakes using this tutorial. pretty easy. but did not get rid of my grinding sound... damn!

 

Like you said, that's your way of doing it and that's what you find to be the easiest.

But you didn't mention the spreader springs, and not everyone thinks it's a good idea to push brake fluid back into the system, as you advise.

A lot of installers skip the springs, especially in the rears, but the fronts are pretty straight-forward. You can see the springs in the center of this pic, taken from the excellent DIY page, www.lexls.com:


As for the fluid, I know that many installers just push it back (including LexLS!), but a lot of brake manufacturers, like Bendix, do not recommend it. Nor do I do that when I replace my own pads - it's just asking for trouble. This is what I do, from http://bendixbrakes.com/download/pdf...-Brake-Job.pdf:

"Always open bleeder screw and place a hose on it to direct used fluid into a container while caliper piston is retracted. Never retract caliper piston with bleeder screw closed, this forces dirty fluid back into the ABS hydraulic unit and master cylinder."

 

ah crap. i wish you posted this before. i already did my brakes. should i flush my brake fluid?

 

Maybe you ought to read more DIYs beforehand- there have been dozens posted.
Millions of pads have been replaced the way schwarz describes to no ill effect.
It's just not the way I do it, for the reasons described above.
And it still doesn't eliminate the need to flush my brake fluid from time to time.

 

How do you manage to do this without stripping that one bolt that requires a key. I've attempted to merely remove the damn bolts and I just got done stripping my second bolt key. Can you use WD-40 to loosen up the bolts?

 

i will be doing this real soon thanx

 

Link on post #1 was not working.

 

Good write up, man.
I just did this two days ago using the same basic principles. As said above, it's not wise to push the old fluid back into the resivior... It's also human nature to do whatever you wanna do... Which is why I didn't bleed anything and pushed the fluid back into the resivior. I use changed my brake fluid so it should be tip top and not too much of a worry. Anywho, the falls above are correct to those who are new to the process. Do as we say, not as we do.

 

where can i order those springs for the pads ?