Replacing the brake pads on your Toyota can be costly if you take your vehicle to an auto mechanic. However, if you don't want to pay a professional to replace the pads, you can do the job yourself. If you take your time and follow directions closely, you can replace one or all of the pads. Brake pads come in pairs, with two anti rattle clips for each pad. These clips are very important and must be placed carefully to secure the brake pads.
Instructions
- 1
Jack up all four sides of the vehicle without raising the wheels off of the ground. After you jack up the car, secure all sides with jack stands. Once you place the jack stands in the positions you desire, lower the jacks until your car is sitting on the jack stands.
2Loosen the lug nuts. While you are loosening the lugs from each wheel, you will notice that one of the lugs is different from the others. It is called a locking lug and it needs a special kind of socket to loosen it up. This socket, called an impact wrench, is located in your glove compartment. If you do not have an impact wrench to loosen the lugs, you will need to take these lugs off first before jacking up your car.
3After you remove the wheels from your Toyota, remove the vehicle's brake caliper bolt with a 17-millimeter socket and ratchet. Remove the top and bottom bolt. Slide the caliper off of the rotor. Once the caliper is removed, you will be able to get to the brake pads. Remove the brake pads from the caliper without putting pressure on the brake holes. To keep tension off of the brake holes, place the caliper on something to keep it leveled. Keep the brake pads with all of the hardware that came with them (e.g., the anti rattle clips) as you remove the brake pads from the caliper.
4Raise the hood to remove the cap on the master cylinder and to prevent yourself from putting pressure on it while you readjust the piston in the caliper. Place one of the old brake pads in front of the piston to keep from pushing directly against the piston. Use a large C-clamp to push the piston with the old brake pad in front of it. Do this until the brake pad hits the back of the caliper, and then remove the C-clamp and the old brake pad.
5Replace the brake pads with new ones. Remove the tabs from the old brake pads and place them on the new ones. Replace the old clips with the new ones. Apply temperature caliper grease on the back of the new brake pads. Attach the anti rattle clips to the brake pads. Insert the brake pads one at a time, with the clips together. Align the clips with the holes at the bottoms of the pads. Install the second brake pad the same way that you did the first.
6Reattach the caliper as before, and replace both bolts. Tighten the bolts securely, but not too tight. Repeat these steps on all four sides of the vehicle. Once you are done with all four sides, reattach the Toyota's wheels. Replace the lug nuts and tighten them. Remove the jack stands and lower your car.
