5POINTOH

OK just waiting for my Hawk pads and Rotopros rotors to come.....so I thought I would get ahead and start taking things apart for the front on my 05 Mustang GT.

I have loosened the two bolts that hold the caliper bracket in place. I have also taken off the two bolts that hold the caliper to the caliper bracket.

Now for the life of me, I can not separate the caliper from the caliper bracket. Isnt is suppose to come off fairly easily?

What am I doing wrong?

tx_zstang

If it's the back brakes, make sure the emergency brake/parking brake is NOT set.

The caliper should work out/away from the rotor, with the pads coming with it or staying somewhat in place.

You'll also of course need to compress the calipers back in to fit over the new pads. You'll need a brake caliper compression tool for the back ones (rent/borrow from local auto parts store).

5POINTOH

Does the emergency brake need to be off for the fronts as well?

I believe I need a C clamp and a special tool to compress both the brake pistons in the front and back respectively.

wingless

This is the tool I use for pushing the pistons back into the calipers.

It works for one to eight piston brakes.

It is expensive and is very well-made.

slidai

The emergency brakes apply the rear. I just turned the front rotors on my 06. You might have to push the caliper off a little (try using a long flat-head screwdriver to pry it off) but it will come out. Mine was a little bit of a pain to get off also.

Get large channel locks, put one of the old pads against he piston and squeeze the piston back into the caliper slowly. You don't need some expensive tool. Also, i would get some of the brake fluid out of the reservoir before you push the pistons back into the caliper because the fluid will most likely overflow while you are pushing the piston and thus leak all down your engine and to the ground. Then just top off to the "fill" line after you have both rotors and pads in place.

5POINTOH

Once you separate the caliper from the anchor plate, do the pads remain on the anchor plate? Or do the pads come off with the caliper?

I am a little bit confused with the brake fluid thing. I know that compressing the piston will push some fluid back into the reservoir. My car has only about 14,000 miles and there is plenty of pad and fluid left in the car. I am just upgrading to Hawks pads for performance and drilled/slotted rotors for looks. In a situation like this is it really necessary to take fluid out of the reservoir? I noticed some people say to do it and others not. Others say just take off the cap on the reservoir and push the piston back in SLOWLY to prevent a surge of fluid going back in the reservoir.

tx_zstang

Do NOT take the fluid out of the reservoir! But, I like to loosen the cap, so as you compress the calipers, it will push fluid back into the reservoir, and push air out...and if you're already really full, overflow out.

The pads stay in the caliper bracket I believe, for the fronts. They come out with a tilting motion. The backs just pull out.
Take notice how they are in there, so you get them back in properly. The back ones use a spring from the caliper itself to push into place, while the fronts sort of snap-in to the bracket, using the snap springs to push the pads away from the rotor.

To get the rotors off, you'll need to remove the star washer on one of the lugs. The rotor will come right off then (with the caliper bracket out of the way).

slidai

Just keep an eye on the brake fluid level. All brake pads have a way of fitting into the slots but it's not rocket science. If they don't come off with the caliper, or if they do come off with the caliper, just make note of the position of the pads (squeal indicator up or down. On the inside or outside pad, etc) and you should be fine. You will need to cut off or pry off the 'tinnerman' nut. That's the thin circular star center nut mentioned before. Don't worry about saving it. It's only on there to keep the rotor on from the factory as the car moves from place to place before the wheels and tires gets put on. Just throw it away after you pry or cut it off. All in all, this should not take you more than 10 minutes to remove and installed the news ones. You will need to compress the piston but not by much since you have so little miles on the car.

5POINTOH

I finally got the caliper separated from the caliper bracket today. It turns out all I needed to do was stick a flathead screwdriver in between the caliper and the caliper bracket (top and bottom) and just pry gently and then wiggle the caliper away from the caliper bracket.

I guess what I will do next is give the caliper and the caliper bracket a good cleaning.

When installing the new pad.....do you:

1. Install the new pads, caliper bracket and caliper all as one piece onto the rotor at the same time.

or

2. Install the caliper bracket first, slip the new pads into the caliper bracket and then put the caliper on.

Obviously, I would compress the caliper pistons first. Is there 2 pistons on each side in the front? If so, do you compress one at a time?

It sounds like it is not necessary to drain some brake fluid out of the reservoir and that just opening the cap to the reservoir would be OK.

Thanks for everyone's input so far!

slidai

You could do it either way as long as the piston is back into the proper position. I do the bracket first, pads, then caliper obviously remembering to tighten the bolts down for each step.