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Changing Rear Brake Pads on 2015 Nissan Frontier

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CaptainDan

CaptainDan

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I changed the rear brake pads in my 2015 Nissan Frontier pickup truck yesterday and I took some pictures of the process, so I thought I'd share them here. It was a fast and easy job. Very few tools were necessary and the entire endeavor took about 25 minutes to complete. Most of the time was used jacking up the truck and taking the tires off.

To start off, I loosened the tire lug nuts and then jacked the truck up. Then I completely removed the nuts and removed the tire as well. I believe I used a 21mm socket to remove the lugs. When finished, this is what I saw. I checked the rotor to see what kind of condition it was in and determined that it can wait for another pair of pads to wear down before I turn/cut or replace it. It was okay, but nothing great. Nothing terrible either.

nissan-frontier-rear-brake-rotor.jpg

To remove the brake caliper, I loosened the two 14mm bolts that were facing the inside of the truck. Then, I carefully pulled the caliper off of the rotor and rested it on the leaf spring (or the wooden support blocks), making sure not to kink or twist the rubber brake line.

removing-nissan-frontier-rear-brake-caliper.jpg
removed-rear-brake-caliper.jpg

As you can see, the pads are very worn down. They needed to be replaced. Sometimes the pads are stuck onto the caliper mount, so a screwdriver comes in handy when pulling them off. On one side, the pads fell right off, but on the other, I had to do some knocking with a hammer and a screwdriver. Once their broken loose though, they pull right off. Anyway, to remove the pads, pull them straight off away from the truck and towards the truck, respectively.

removing-rear-brake-pad.jpg
one-brake-pad-removed.jpg
both-rear-brake-pads-removed.jpg

Here are the new brake pads compared to one of the old ones. What a difference.

comparing-new-old-brake-pads.jpg

The next step is to compress the caliper piston. I've read that you need to remove some fluid from the braking system during this step, but I have no idea what the people who said that are talking about. The piston compresses easily and no fluid needed to be let out. To compress the piston, use a c-clamp and an old pad and squeeze the piston back into place. Don't go too far, as you'll damage the rubber boot, and you don't want to do that. Also, spray the area with some brake cleaner to remove any debris.

nissan-frontier-rear-brake-caliper-piston.jpg
nissan-frontier-rear-brake-caliper-piston-compressed.jpg

I personally use a c-clamp for this step, but there's also another very nice tool you can use. It's called a disc brake pad spreader. There are many different types of tools that would work well for this type of job. Look them up to learn about them.

Finally, I installed the new brake pads, but before I did that, I applied brake grease to any part of metal that will be contacting another other part of metal. These areas were the tops and bottoms of the new pads as well as the sliders that the caliper bolts to. Here are the new pads installed.

new-brake-pads-installed.jpg

I then bolted the caliper back on and then put the tire back on. Let the jack down and did the other side.

In a perfect world, the rotors would have been replaced as well, or, at the very least, cut. I know, I know, I'll get to that next time. For now, I just wanted the pads replaced because they were so worn out.
 
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