Brake Pads and Rotors [Help]

[Jordan [VN]]

Hey, my brakes have been making squealing sounds for a while but stupid me chose to ignore it. Now my pads have worn to nearly nothing...

I've tried changing the pads myself but with the increased pad width its impossible to the the brakes back onto the rotors (if you know what I mean). Is there a trick to get them back on, I've tried using a clamp but it wont push that little plate in far enough to be able to fit the pads and the surrounds around the rotor.

If I can't do it, looks like I'll just need to take it in to a mechanic.... How much would new brake pads installed cost on a VN, all four wheels?

[Sabbath']

What plate are you talking about? There is no plate to be pushed back. Only the piston.

[levymetal]

yeah bit confused here, the pads have a steel backing plate attached to them. so you take the old pads out, and put the new ones in. compress the piston back as far as it can go with the g clamp. sounds as if you haven't taken the old pads out?

[sik_dose]

You take the caliper off and take the pad out on the side without the piston, take the cap off the brake fluid container then using a G clamp aginst the old brake pad tighten till the piston returns, watch for spillage from the brake fluid bottle. insert new pads bolt caliper back on, pump up the pedal and done.

[Tim Smtih]

If the rotors are old they shouldn't be causing a problem, actually it wouldn't hurt to check their width to see if they're safe to use still. I can't remember the minimum width but that info should be around here somewhere. I replaced both rotors (DBA slotted) and pads and didn't have any issues, didn't even need to clamp the brake piston. I set the pads in and fiddled with it until it slid over the rotor. If you've made a mess of it a mobile mechanic may cost as much as taking it to a shop depending on your location. Personally i never jump into something unless i've researched the topic and been shown what is what. It can rather annoying for your work to come undone especially as we're talking about cars here.

[Jordan [VN]]

What plate are you talking about? There is no plate to be pushed back. Only the piston.

Yeah, the piston Im talking about. I can't push that back far enough to fit the calliper back over with the new thicker pads in.

You take the caliper off and take the pad out on the side without the piston, take the cap off the brake fluid container then using a G clamp aginst the old brake pad tighten till the piston returns, watch for spillage from the brake fluid bottle. insert new pads bolt caliper back on, pump up the pedal and done.

I never took the cap off the brake fluid container, maybe thats why it was impossible to push the piston back in?

Thats the only problem I'm having, actually pushing that piston back far enough to fit in the new pads.

[sik_dose]

try removing the cap off the fluid bottle on the master cylinder. watch that is dosent spill if it does clean straight away.

[purrVN]

use a big set of multigrips to push the piston back, or if you dont mind risking the skin on the back of your nuckles use a couple of pry bars and big screw drivers and wedge them on the sides of the caliper on each side... ist just a matter of a bit of elbow grease really

[sik_dose]

I think the minimum width of 290mm rotors is 24mm im not sure about the 270mm ones.