Brake pad woes

[offtheline]

Ok so I attempted to change my pads today and after finally getting the rusted bolt loose, I was able to pull back the top of the caliper. I took the pads out and inserted the new ones only to find that the new setup was too wide for the caliper to go back into place. I realized that the cylinder needed to be compressed somehow, but only having basic tools, I wasn't able to figure out how to do it. Can anyone give me some tips on how to finish the job? Thanks.

[Supafly]

use a C-clamp or go to the auto parts store and get a disc brake compressor tool, they're cheap as hell.

the only ghetto way of doing it that i know of is to slide the caliper back over the disc (without pads) and jam a screwdriver down in between the brake piston and the rotor, but you can mess stuff up this way so you have to be gentle with it.

[Timos240]

Are you working on front or rear brakes?The front needs to be pushed back in with a C-clamp or something like it, and the rears need to be turned clockwise to reseat them.

[240marcuSX]

oh man tell me about it! i put mine in today also, pain in the ***. in my ghey chiltons manual it says to compress the rear pistons using needle-nose pliers by turning the piston clockwise. the fronts are much easier.

i also got my front rotors turned, i was going to have the rears turned too, but they said that they were "throw-out" rotors, meaning that they cannot be resurfaced? can anyone confirm that?

[navysnail]

never heard of throw out rotors, i resurfaced mine with great results.

[Hijacker]

some rotors have been resurfaced enough to where they can't be resurfaced anymore without compromising their minimum thickness. those are usually thrown out

[NoezUP]

hmmm, it was a pain, but I just used my hands to push the cylinder back in.

[offtheline]

Ok thanks guys. Yes, Im working on the fronts. I'll try the Cclamp thing.

[TachyonS14]

Ya, I did my rears and I tried to use a C-clamp and I was like WTF! MOVE DAMN YOU! Then I busted my chiltons and it told me I had to screw them.

[240marcuSX]

thanks for shining some light on that tenkawa. that makes sense.

[navysnail]

ya, it sounded like throw-out was some different design. i see what you mean now. thanks