My front brakes are worn down. Since I'll be down there anyway, I decided to also put in new Stoptech rotors so I can have black instead of rust. After all, it's much easier to replace perfectly fine rotors than for the oem rotors to come with $.25 worth of paint on them to prevent rust in the first place. :banghead:
Anything odd about replacing the brakes and rotors on an Altima, or is it just like doing it on every other car?
My buddy has a lift which makes it easier - 2 weeks ago I put on StopTech rotors and Hawk HPS pads (all around). Took about two hours with no issues at all - pretty standard.
My lines and fluids got replaced last year so I did not need to bleed anything.
Few tips. I just did my brakes, shocks and struts last weekend and had to replace a rear caliper.
In the front, you only have remove the bottom caliper bolt (think it's 14mm) and rotate the caliper upwards to access the pads.
In the back, remove the top caliper bolt/pin and rotate the caliper downwards to access the pads.
If you are working on the rear, there is some clearance "issues" you have to take into consideration when removing the caliper bracket bolt (18 or 19mm). Socket won't fit, a ratcheting/open end wrench would be your best option for it.
Three bolts is all you have to mess with. The hardest part of this job is jacking the car and removing the tire, IMO. But you have access to a lift, so you should have no problems at all.
In this case, I WANT new rotors. In the past, when the rotors on my old car were out of round, the quote I was given to turn them was not much less than a new set. Plus, I would have had to leave my car on jacks and find a way to get the rotors to the shop.
I'm of the same mind.
The pads of today--ceramic and semi-metallic wear the rotors faster than the older asbestos based pads did.
I'd much rather spend a little more and get brand new rotors.
As for the caliper bolts, using a 6 point socket on the caliper bolts will keep them from getting rounded 99% of the time.
If the clearance is tight, try jacking up the control arm to get more clearance or use a 6 point socket on a breaker bar to break the initial tightness and then remove it the rest of the way with whatever you prefer.
There are also some 6 point closed end/box end or combination wrenches, which are fine to use.
The key is 6 points rather than 12.
Do make sure to lubricate the caliper pins before putting them back in.
Your brake calipers are called sliding calipers and they can't slide on dry pins.
I use sil-glyde for the pins.
It is widely available at many stores.
In reference to jdublup's post, when the rear brakes are done, you can jack up the lower control arm itself to gain enough clearance to remove the lower caliper bolt.
It's been a while since I changed mine, but the fronts were easy. If you have the vehicle on a lift or the front on jack stands, you can turn the wheels to get space behind to use an impact wrench for the caliper bracket bolts. Not absolutely necessary but man does it make life so much easier.
In the rear, I don't remember what I ended up doing but I remember rounding over one of the caliper pin bolts, but still managed to get everything off to change the disc. Careful with using an open ended wrench on these. Even with a box end wrench it slipped on the head of one of the pin bolts and rounded off the corners.
the fronts are very easy, since you can fit a pneumatic tools to take off the 22mm caliper bracket bolts off. the rears are a little more time consuming since youll need a racheting 19mm wrench to take everything apart (space confinement with all the suspension components in the way)
For the rears, I set the car on jack stands, then used the jack to raise/lower the rear axle assembly until the suspension parts moved into an alignment that made accessing the caliper bolts easy. I needed two heights, one for each caliper bolt, then you can use standard tools to get them off easily.
If your rear rotors are seized on, found a genius shadetree trick. With the caliper removed, there is a section of the inside rotor that is exposed from behind. Use the factory scissor jack horizontally between the exposed inner edge of the rotor, and a solid part of the body/suspension. Expand the jack so there is enough force to hold it in place and then a bit more (like maybe another 1/2 turn or so).
Spray some penetrating lube around the base of each wheel stud. With the inner edge of the rotor under tension, pull out a decent sized hammer (Thor need not apply here)...like a framing hammer or a 2lb sledge and whack the crown of the rotor sideways (ie from stud to hub) around the edges of the raised portion. If it doesn't free after a couple of good thwacks, apply a bit more tension on the jack and retry. Had a 100% success rate in under a minute doing it this way.
Doug you know I love picking on you because your a great sport, AND you are knowledgeable, so I wont shy away from this time....YOU KNOW the Altima doesnt have a rear "axle assembly. lmao There actually is no axle...just rear control arms etc. upper and lower...In all good sport however, I knew what you meant. (Doug is very knowledgeable, and valued member)
Lawrence
For the rears, I set the car on jack stands, then used the jack to raise/lower the rear axle assembly until the suspension parts moved into an alignment that made accessing the caliper bolts easy. I needed two heights, one for each caliper bolt, then you can use standard tools to get them off easily.
If your rear rotors are seized on, found a genius shadetree trick. With the caliper removed, there is a section of the inside rotor that is exposed from behind. Use the factory scissor jack horizontally between the exposed inner edge of the rotor, and a solid part of the body/suspension. Expand the jack so there is enough force to hold it in place and then a bit more (like maybe another 1/2 turn or so).
Spray some penetrating lube around the base of each wheel stud. With the inner edge of the rotor under tension, pull out a decent sized hammer (Thor need not apply here)...like a framing hammer or a 2lb sledge and whack the crown of the rotor sideways (ie from stud to hub) around the edges of the raised portion. If it doesn't free after a couple of good thwacks, apply a bit more tension on the jack and retry. Had a 100% success rate in under a minute doing it this way.
Thanks for telling me the bolt sizes, the manual never stated them. I'm not even certain I have those sizes in my set; that would have been annoying to discover after going through the trouble of jacking up the car.
For that matter; where is the best place to jack and put stands on the 4th gen Altima?
Depends on what I'm doing. If I'm just changing a wheel, for the rears I put a short piece of 2x4 on my floorjack cup and raise the lower arm (base of spring) just high enough so the tire clears the ground (then I don't have to jack the arse end sky high). For the front I jack using the side middle (front to back) of the subframe assembly (sort of H shaped). Jack stands, I try to use one of the four official jack points under the rocker panels--generally keeps them clear of whatever I'm doing.
Yeah, I knew that...was trying to phrase it for the layman who wouldn't understand 'rear wheel hub assembly' quite so easily Thanks for keeping me honest!
I probably have the correct socket. I do not have a very long wrench if things are stuck. I certainly do not have a torque wrench. I'd be working in my office parking lot.
I've used the OE Lug wrench to cheat for leverage on stubborn bolts - but it was tight space-wise. I've done it many times without a torque wrench but since I bought one I got spoiled with the satisfaction of knowing.
$70 per "axle" really isn't too bad - depends on how much you think your time is worth.
EDIT:
I imagine the e-brake system is similar to the 3rd gen: a drum style brake on the back side of each rear rotor (i.e. the e-brake does not engage the rear caliper). Meaning you will not need a piston retraction tool to retract the rear pistons - they'll go right in (c-clamp method).
I serviced my rear rotors last week. Wasn't too bad, but the radius arm is huge PITA! It's right in front of the lower bolts so you can't use sockets on the lower slide pin or the lower caliper bracket bolt.
The caliper bracket bolt is 19 mm so it was able to resist rounding over but the lower slide pin rounded over a few years ago when working on the brakes before. Once I had the caliper bracket bolts out, I could set the whole works on top of the disc and then used my impact on the slide pin bolts. Surprisingly, even though that lower slide pin would not budge with a box end wrench (12 pt), there was enough for the 6 pt impact socket to grip on to and it got it off. Not wanting to tempt fate I replaced that pin just to be safe.
Also, you can't use a torque wrench on either the lower slide pin bolt or lower caliper bracket bolt. For the lower slide pin, you'd have to torque it before putting the caliper bracket back on, and when it's off there isn't much you can do to brace it as the brake line limits how far you can move it. Seeing as it's not clamping anything, I think the German torque setting gudentight is good enough. As for the lower caliper bracket bolt, the box end wrench and a few taps with the rubber mallet.
I serviced my rear rotors last week. Wasn't too bad, but the radius arm is huge PITA! It's right in front of the lower bolts so you can't use sockets on the lower slide pin or the lower caliper bracket bolt..
D'oh! Indeed I missed that part about raising the whole works to get clearance. Ironically I had the back end on jackstands so the jack would have been available to do it. Well there's always next time.
How much did it have to be raised? My concern is of pushing the car off the stands/tipping the stands. When you did this did you have both sides on stands or just the one?
How much did it have to be raised? My concern is of pushing the car off the stands/tipping the stands. When you did this did you have both sides on stands or just the one?
I used two different heights for the obstructed bolts--hence the handiness of having the jack. You don't get anywhere near lifting the car off the stands, you just compress the spring a little bit, and from Gr 11 physics...F=kx, where k is the constant for the spring, and x is the compressesion distance...since x only needs small changes, you never get enough F (force) to lift the car off the stands. In other words, you never get close to compressing it at much as when it's at rest on the ground.
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