Workdawg
NARWHAL
So, I recently did rotors and pads on all four corners of my Gen 1 Mazdaspeed3 (2008.5).
There are plenty of how-tos around if you google for it... so I didn't bother to take pics and I don't plan to write a whole post about it... but I do have some thoughts about things that I noticed while doing mine.
Fronts:
DEFINITELY remove the caliper slide before trying to remove the brake pads. You do this by taking the plastic caps off the back of the caliper and using a hex wrench to take the pins out. I found that I couldn't get good access to the top bolt until after I removed the caliper from the rotor, but I use hex sockets, so a standard allen wrench may work.
You also want to put the inside brake pad back in before re-installing the caliper slide. It's A LOT easier to jam that pad back into the caliper piston without the slide making things more complicated.
Rears:
On my car, the rotors were seized onto the wheel hubs REALLY badly. I hit those fuckers with everything I had for probably 10 minutes per side. I ended up spraying some PB Blaster at the lug bolts and it seemed to seep between the rotors and the hubs and helped free things up. I don't know if it really worked or not, but it seemed like it did.
The rear caliper pistons need to be turned while they are pushed back in. They turn clockwise and I would HIGHLY recommend you get the proper tool to do this. Something like this: http://www.harborfreight.com/media/...b33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_21554.jpg
Do not settle for something like this: http://www.harborfreight.com/four-wheel-disc-brake-piston-tool-68972.html
I bought something similar from Advance Auto and it didn't even fit my calipers, let alone it doesn't actually provide any force to push the piston in.
I used a pair of needlenose pliers and I had to quite literally put every bit of strength I had into pushing into the caliper while twisting to get them to go in. It sucked, A LOT.
Both:
Use some loctite on the bolts that attach the calipers to the wheel hubs.
There are plenty of how-tos around if you google for it... so I didn't bother to take pics and I don't plan to write a whole post about it... but I do have some thoughts about things that I noticed while doing mine.
Fronts:
DEFINITELY remove the caliper slide before trying to remove the brake pads. You do this by taking the plastic caps off the back of the caliper and using a hex wrench to take the pins out. I found that I couldn't get good access to the top bolt until after I removed the caliper from the rotor, but I use hex sockets, so a standard allen wrench may work.
You also want to put the inside brake pad back in before re-installing the caliper slide. It's A LOT easier to jam that pad back into the caliper piston without the slide making things more complicated.
Rears:
On my car, the rotors were seized onto the wheel hubs REALLY badly. I hit those fuckers with everything I had for probably 10 minutes per side. I ended up spraying some PB Blaster at the lug bolts and it seemed to seep between the rotors and the hubs and helped free things up. I don't know if it really worked or not, but it seemed like it did.
The rear caliper pistons need to be turned while they are pushed back in. They turn clockwise and I would HIGHLY recommend you get the proper tool to do this. Something like this: http://www.harborfreight.com/media/...b33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_21554.jpg
Do not settle for something like this: http://www.harborfreight.com/four-wheel-disc-brake-piston-tool-68972.html
I bought something similar from Advance Auto and it didn't even fit my calipers, let alone it doesn't actually provide any force to push the piston in.
I used a pair of needlenose pliers and I had to quite literally put every bit of strength I had into pushing into the caliper while twisting to get them to go in. It sucked, A LOT.
Both:
Use some loctite on the bolts that attach the calipers to the wheel hubs.
