First of all I don't take any responsibility do this at your own risk (as I did).

This guide is for the front pads on an R33 GTS-T. Although i suspect other models would be extremely similar.

FRONT PADS

1. Put a brick behind your rear wheel and then release the handbrake. Loosen your wheel nuts and then grab your jack and a jack stand ($20/pair at Supercheap) and jack car up to suitable height, then remove the wheel.





2. Remove the spring at the back of the caliper by pulling upwards and then slide it towards you to remove.




3. Push the bottom of the metal bracket inwards to loosen the tension and then slide the bottom pin out towards you. Then remove the top pin taking the metal bracket with it.




4. Slide the brake pad outwards in an even manner removing both metal shims as well. Note the position of these shims. (You can figure out the way the shims go by looking at the marks on the back of the old pads if needed.)





5. Do the same for the pad on the other side of your rotor and then reverse all of the instructions to put everything back together.

(If you are just checking your pads or want to remove the glaze from them grab some 80 grit emery paper -$1ea page- and rub the pads in up/down/circular motions for 30sec to roughen them up)





6. Check, check again and then check everything again 3 more times before driving.


7. Pump your brake pedal 2 or 3 times.


REAR PADS

8. Literally exactly the same as the front only the caliper and brake pad are slightly smaller. Everything else is near identical.








9. Find a suitable street/area to bed your brakes in (I did 6x 100km/h -> 50km/h and then 2x 60km/h -> 20km/h brake sessions and then drove using no brake pressure at all for 15mins before returning home). Some people will say different things and I couldn't remember exactly so thats what I done. Basically you are burning off the resins used in manufacture of the pad and matching the pad to the disc face.


The whole process above took me the best part of 40mins and it was the very first time I took the wheel off my car let alone removed the brake pads. Most mechanics will charge $40-60 for this (from memory) and I seriously would say its easier than changing your oil (and heaps cleaner haha).

The next time I do this (everytime I change my oil from now on) it will take me the best part of 20-25mins so Mark Skaife you better boot 1 of your chief mechanics coz im on my way !!!

If you have any constructive criticism or feedback lemme have it.

Register on the forums for fewer ads.

sounds quite easy, did u use a gclamp to push the pistons in or just let them sit there ? thats all im afraid of the pistons popping out, but my mech said they wont pop out unless u push the pedal. its easier on a GTST it seems, for NA we have to take the caliper off the mount!

sweet thanks for all your time and photos

No I didn't they just stayed where they were. Besides you'd need a pretty small sized G-Clamp to fit it in there.



Well that was my theory too and it seemed to be correct.

i just want to put sum anti squeal stuff on my pads and backing plates, great bit of info thanks a heap man

Great stuff Ben! Thanks for posting it.

A word of caution to all:

Try not to breath in any brake dust.

It may contain asbestos. A good idea is to wet down the area with water to stop the dust becoming airborne.

I snorted brake dust

my pads dont contain asbestos THANK GOD

If your old pads are worn, you will have to push the calipers back. You can use a small G-clamp as already suggested, or a screwdriver for the bush mechanic method.

If you use a screwdriver, alternate the sides from which you push the piston back or else it'll go in crooked and may stick. The instructions with my new brake pads also say not to lever off the disc, but don't say why. Presumably so that you don't scratch the disc or put too many stresses across the disc, though I don't think you'd warp it with such minimal pressure.

Edit: There's actually a tool designed specifically for pushing brake pistons back, but unless you got it really cheap I don't think it'd be worth getting.

I've updated the initial message to now include both FRONT and REAR instructions/pictures.

i might do one of these for NA cars tomorrow, gonna take mine off to have a looksie and make it stop squealing !

Shouldn't you do a bleed on the brake fluid and replace at the same time?

If you haven't changed your fluid in the last 12mths then probably yes. Although my fluid was only changed about 2-3mths ago and i didnt actually change the pads in this DIY (I only sanded back the current pads to remove the glazing).

omg - last time i bled brake fluid and got it on my hands, it felt like it was burning my skin, i've never felt anything like it. it kills. so i presume that brake fluid is rather acidic. any suggestions?

i heard if u mix brake fluid with baking soda it blows up or sumthing, so i presume its quite dangerous!

Nismoman18: Where can u get anit-beake squeal? My brakes squeak yet there is alot of pad there, obviously a hard pad??