How to Change the Disc Brakes on Anti-lock/Traction Vehicles

The brakes on a vehicle equipped with an anti-lock braking system, or ABS, and traction control work a little differently than non-ABS vehicles. Anti-lock braking prevents wheel lock-up during hard braking, while traction control helps avoid wheel spin during acceleration and hard turning. Over time, the brake pads in your vehicle will wear down and a small metal tab will scrape against the brake rotor. This will indicate that the brake pads need to be replaced.

Instructions

Jack up on your vehicle's front and rear main jack points using a floor jack and place jack stands under the frame of the vehicle or the proper jack supports. Then lower the vehicle onto the jack stands.

Unbolt the lug nuts using an impact wrench and pull the wheel off of the wheel hub assembly.

Inspect the brake rotor for damage. Scored brake rotors need to be replaced or they will cause premature damage and wear to the new brake pads.

Wrap a c-clamp around the brake caliper so that the screw end of the c-clamp is pressing against the visible portion of the outboard brake pad and the back of the clamp is pressing against the back of the caliper.

Tighten the c-clamp to push the caliper piston (which is not visible yet) back into the caliper. A gap between the outboard brake pad and the caliper bracket will begin to appear. This is what you want to see. When you can no longer tighten the c-clamp, the piston will have bottomed out inside the caliper. At this point, remove the c-clamp.

Unbolt the caliper pin bolt on the bottom of the caliper. This bolt will be the bottom-most bolt on the back side of the caliper.

Unbolt the upper and lower caliper mounting bolts and pull the caliper off of the rotor.

Zip tie the caliper to the suspension if you are changing the brake rotor. The brake rotor is probably held in place by rust, since rotors are made of iron. To remove the rotor, rethread the lug nuts into the wheel studs. You don't need to tighten the lug nuts; just cover them to prevent the ends of the studs from becoming damaged. Then hit the center of the brake rotor with a hammer to knock the studs loose. If you miss and accidentally hit a lug nut, you will have to replace your lug nuts, but it's much cheaper than replacing the wheel studs. When the rotor pops off of the wheel hub, remove the rotor and replace it with a new one.

Open the caliper and remove the old brake pads. Note the orientation of the existing pads so that you get the proper orientation when installing the new ones.

Place a small dab of brake grease on the back of the new pads and install them into the caliper. Then close the caliper.

Place a dab of thread locker onto the threads of the caliper mounting bolts and thread and tighten the caliper mounting bolts and the pin bolt to the torque specifications listed in your vehicle's service manual with torque wrench. Then spray the brakes with brake parts cleaner to remove any residual dust or grease that has gotten onto the rotors or brake pads. The rest of the installation is the reverse of removal. When the vehicle is on the ground again, verify that the ABS system and traction control are working by starting the vehicle. If you don't see any warning lights on the dashboard, your system is working fine. Pump the brakes a few times before driving to restore full brake pressure to the system.