G35: Replacing pads and rotors.

[elwesso]

Infiniti G35 Brake Job

Wes Stinson



So anyway, this weekend, I went over to Ryan’s house to replace the brakes on his 2003 G35 Coupe Here is what we used:



Hawk HPS padsStillen slotted rotors.



Just so anyone knows, this was a really easy job and it was certainly worth my drive down there (because I got to bed the pads) and it was worth Ryan time rather than paying the dealer a few hundred to do it. Incidentally, the dealer will not install non-OEM parts, so he would have been forced to take it to another shop.



Here is a diagram of the front brakes, the rears are basically identical.



Here is what you’ll need, as far as tools.

- 22mm socket for the caliper bracket bolts (I think its 22mm, we used a 7/8 socket because we only had up to 19mm)- if memory serves, the rear caliper bolts were 18mm- 3inch or bigger C clamp- Brake grease- Breaker bar, air tools preferred- various extensions and so forth- Jack and Jack stands (Do not use the factory jack for this, you may kill yourself)





So we started with the front. Really wasn’t that hard, except getting the calipers off. It’s pretty hard to get in there, because the wheel well is so small and those huge bolts are really cranked on there good. This is where air tools would make it easy because you could get in there with an air gun without too much problem.... (Figure 1)

Figure 1





Just 2 bolts on the caliper bracket, and the caliper and bracket come off. Be sure to support the caliper on something; we had a crate that we set it on. You don’t want to let the caliper dangle by the line.



At this point, if you’re just replacing the pads, then you can simply undo one of the caliper pins (illustration), lift the caliper up, and replace the pads as stated later.... (Figure 2)



Figure 2. Shows the caliper in red, caliper bracket in yellow, and the caliper bracket bolts (slide pins) in blue...





So now the caliper is off. You can now take the rotor off. What I thought was especially nice, is that on most rotors they give you a threaded hole to push the rotor off with a small 12mm bolt. On the G, they already have bolt there for you...



(Figure 3)



Figure 3 shows the holes you can insert the bolt into to get the rotor off (not on a G35 but it is the same idea.



Once the caliper is off, you can take off the rotor. If it won’t come off by hand, use that 12mm bolt supplied on your OEM rotor. Simply screw it in and start tightening it. It forces the rotor away from the hub and you’ll feel it POP off. Then simply remove the rotor.



It is ideal to thoroughly clean the hub of all the rust and stuff with a dremel or wire brush.. Unfortunately; I didn’t have my wire brush thing for my dremel so I didn’t do that. However I applied some WD40 on there, and it might be a good idea to put some grease on the hub to make taking the rotor off in the future easier.



This is a picture of the hub and as you can see it needs some serious cleaning; this was before I cleaned it. This G35 has already had the brakes done once and only had 45,000 miles!



Now that the rotor and caliper is off, you can replace the pads. On the OEM calipers, there is a small clip that holds in the pad on the upper left hand side of each side of the caliper. Get some needle nose pliers and pull that clip down, and then you can simply push the pad out with your finger. I noticed that only 1 per side of the hawk pads had these clips, whereas the OEMs had 2... Doesn’t really matter... but definitely put the one without the clip on the piston side.



One thing I sort of discovered by accident is that the caliper bracket just slides off the pins. You have to remove the caliper bracket in order to push the piston back... So simply pull the caliper bracket away from the caliper, and set it aside. You can then use your C clamp to push back the piston. BE SURE TO TAKE OFF THE LID TO THE MASTER CYLINDER! What we did, instead of sucking fluid out is removed the lid and put a towel over it. YOU DO NOT WANT TO SPILL BRAKE FLUID ANYWHERE!! If this is your first time messing with brakes, you should probably replace your brake fluid.



So once you push the piston back, you can put the caliper bracket on the slide pins and install the pads. Before you do that, put a little bit of that grease on the pins. If the pins have some rust or corrosion on them, it is a good idea to clean them up before reinstalling.



To install the pads, simply put them in with the flat side facing down (the top of the pad is curved, and the bottom is flat). It does not matter which side they go on.



Cover the back and sides of the pad with the grease, and install into the caliper. Basically anything that moves or touches the brake pad needs to have grease on it, except the piston of course.



Once you install them and the caliper is ready to go back onto the car, put the rotor on. I noticed it helps to put a few of the lug nuts on finger tight to hold the rotor in place... You don’t need to put that little nut back on the rotor as with our aftermarket rotors they did not work. Save them for later use.



Repeat this 3 times. The rears were MUCH easier than the front; I did one rear brake in about 15 minutes.



Another thing of note is that I did not see any jack points for the rear. The frame goes too far forward, and the chassis is so stiff it will actually fall back somewhat.... I supported it on the sub frame with my jack stand, there is a level place, it is hard to describe, but you should see it.



Now that your brakes are done, you are now ready to bed the pads. An excuse to violate the brakes, life is good, right??



It is VITAL that you bed the pads in correctly or they will not work right.



First off be sure to pump the pedal a few times so you get full pressure back..



Now go out and make about 10 40-almost 0 stops, ideally you would like to not come to a complete stop. Apply slightly over half pressure. Just stop most the way but while your doing the bedding process, NEVER come to a complete stop with your foot on the brake.



After you do that, let the brakes cool for a few minutes, and then do a few 60+ to zero stops applying moderate (say 75% pressure). It is best that you do not be really hard on the brakes for 100 miles or so to allow them to break in. If you are hard on the brakes during this time you can glaze the rotors causing unwanted vibrations.



Congrats you have just replaced your brakes on your G35! Now, next time wear some rubber gloves so that you’re not scrubbing brake crap off your hands for 3 days!