Fast and Easy Brake Pad Replacement

Replacing your disc brake pads is not a difficult or even a time consuming job if you approach it in the right manner.

I had been noticing a lack of strong braking action on my vehicle and concluded that it was time to swap out the front disc pads for some new ones. I stopped at the auto parts store, told them what I needed and went home with some new pads.

Back at the house I prepared to change out the pads in an orderly and efficient method. First, I got out all the tools I would need. This would be a sturdy jack to get the front wheel off of the ground. A jack stand to rest the truck on so it could not fall. A four way lug wrench to remove the lug nuts so I could take the wheel off. A yard long steel pipe to use as a cheater bar. A socket set with the correct attachments to release the caliper from the brake assembly. And lastly...a C clamp. And a word here about lug wrenches. If you have one of those " L " shaped wrenches....go get a good four way wrench to use instead. Those L shaped tools are inefficient, hard to use, and will break a lug nut stud right off for you.

Finally ready I took the lug wrench and placed the correct socket end on a lug nut. And while holding it in place, I slipped the cheater bar on to the wrench as well..and slowly took up slack. Once the slack was gone..and the wrench was tight up against the nut..all I had to do was exert a moderate amount of force and the leverage applied to the lug nut through the use of this cheater bar extension...broke that lug nut loose in a hurry. If you have ever had a flat, an could not get the lug nuts loose due to the garage that put the nuts on using an impact wrench, you can appreciate the ease of using a cheater bar. This makes removing a lug nut very easy.

I repeated this process for all the lug nuts until they were all loose. I like to use a small floor jack to lift my truck as this jack is hydraulic, easy to slide under the truck and lifts very fast. Once I had the truck up and had a jack stand under it I could go ahead and drop off the lug nuts and remove the wheel. Now, the brake assembly is exposed and I can change out those pads for new ones.