DIY brakes

[Neurobit]

Update - just did the back pads and rotors at 39k miles. My pads were down to nothing - one was less than a mm away from metal. Actually couldn't find new hardware (spring and clips) anywhere so cleaned and reused what I had. Few notes:
-Electronic parking brake retractor works like a champ. On a $120,000 BMW you have to hook up a computer to retract. I love RAM has a box to click in the menu. Easey peasey.
-May be normal on trucks but both back brakes have a parking brake on them. Still plenty of room to work.
-After having a really tough time with the rotor retaining screw on the fronts - I gave these a hard bang with a socket extender and a hammer....came out easy. Make sure to do this first as the retaining screw is cheap and will easily strip.
-Rotors were super rusted on (truck gets a lot of miles and a lot of road salt and not enough washes) and it doesn't seem like RAM applies any anti seize before installing them. Popped them off by using a nut/bolt washer through the lower caliper mounting bolt hole. Hold the nut with a wrench and turn the bolt with my impact wrench and boom. Pops right off. If you do this - make sure you have a few bolts...when I went to reuse the one I used for the first rotor - the bolt snapped! video where I got the idea here:

Great tips. That method for removing the rotor is simple yet brilliant.

 

[Adkram]

Great tips. That method for removing the rotor is simple yet brilliant.

Man it is. I was killing myself trying go get the fronts off until I discovered this. All credit to that guy on youtube. I think he has received a lot of cases of beer as thanks!

 

[HemiDude]

Update - just did the back pads and rotors at 39k miles. My pads were down to nothing - one was less than a mm away from metal. Actually couldn't find new hardware (spring and clips) anywhere so cleaned and reused what I had. Few notes:
-Electronic parking brake retractor works like a champ. On a $120,000 BMW you have to hook up a computer to retract. I love RAM has a box to click in the menu. Easey peasey.
-May be normal on trucks but both back brakes have a parking brake on them. Still plenty of room to work.
-After having a really tough time with the rotor retaining screw on the fronts - I gave these a hard bang with a socket extender and a hammer....came out easy. Make sure to do this first as the retaining screw is cheap and will easily strip.
-Rotors were super rusted on (truck gets a lot of miles and a lot of road salt and not enough washes) and it doesn't seem like RAM applies any anti seize before installing them. Popped them off by using a nut/bolt washer through the lower caliper mounting bolt hole. Hold the nut with a wrench and turn the bolt with my impact wrench and boom. Pops right off. If you do this - make sure you have a few bolts...when I went to reuse the one I used for the first rotor - the bolt snapped! video where I got the idea here:

Interesting idea – thanks for sharing

 

[jdmartin]

The only thing that I find curious about that video - the guy shows himself trying to knock the rotor off with a hammer, block of wood, etc, but he's hitting it from the front - yet the bolt and nut method pushes it off from the rear. Did he just forget to try tapping it off from behind? It's not that his video or idea is bad - it's the exact same way you push a steering wheel off the splines of the steering shaft, for example - but I would like to know if it wouldn't budge giving it a tap with a block of wood and a hammer from behind.

 

[HemiDude]

The only thing that I find curious about that video - the guy shows himself trying to knock the rotor off with a hammer, block of wood, etc, but he's hitting it from the front - yet the bolt and nut method pushes it off from the rear. Did he just forget to try tapping it off from behind? It's not that his video or idea is bad - it's the exact same way you push a steering wheel off the splines of the steering shaft, for example - but I would like to know if it wouldn't budge giving it a tap with a block of wood and a hammer from behind.

Through the years I have hit pleny of rotors and drums with hammers, though I always used the non-surfaced areas as points of impact - a few whacks on the hub of a rotor is all it usually took. I wouldn't be super comfortable pushing the rotor from behind with a small bolt, but probably less comfortable hitting face of it.

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

Anyone here do a DIY brake change on the 5thgen yet? I noticed that the service manual calls for replacing the bolts that fasten the caliper to the knuckle if they are removed.

Have others followed this step? And do you think the average brake shop would take this step?

Replace the bolt? Whew, ha. That was a good one. I have never given that any thought in a vehicle before.

 

[Adkram]

Through the years I have hit pleny of rotors and drums with hammers, though I always used the non-surfaced areas as points of impact - a few whacks on the hub of a rotor is all it usually took. I wouldn't be super comfortable pushing the rotor from behind with a small bolt, but probably less comfortable hitting face of it.

For certain this method only plays if you are throwing away the rotor.

 

[jdmartin]

Replace the bolt? Whew, ha. That was a good one. I have never given that any thought in a vehicle before.

Ha, no doubt - I think just about every manual I have since about 2000 tells you to replace these bolts. I just use a dab of blue (not red!) loctite on the bolts the manual claims are stretch to torque. Never had a problem. Hell, back in the day we always reused cylinder head bolts, and nothing's stretch to torque if those aren't. You just had to be cognizant of torqueing them properly, in the right order, and then going back after you ran the vehicle for a bit and rechecking.

 

[EugeneYYZ]

Update - just did the back pads and rotors at 39k miles. My pads were down to nothing - one was less than a mm away from metal. Actually couldn't find new hardware (spring and clips) anywhere so cleaned and reused what I had. Few notes:
-Electronic parking brake retractor works like a champ. On a $120,000 BMW you have to hook up a computer to retract. I love RAM has a box to click in the menu. Easey peasey.
-May be normal on trucks but both back brakes have a parking brake on them. Still plenty of room to work.
-After having a really tough time with the rotor retaining screw on the fronts - I gave these a hard bang with a socket extender and a hammer....came out easy. Make sure to do this first as the retaining screw is cheap and will easily strip.
-Rotors were super rusted on (truck gets a lot of miles and a lot of road salt and not enough washes) and it doesn't seem like RAM applies any anti seize before installing them. Popped them off by using a nut/bolt washer through the lower caliper mounting bolt hole. Hold the nut with a wrench and turn the bolt with my impact wrench and boom. Pops right off. If you do this - make sure you have a few bolts...when I went to reuse the one I used for the first rotor - the bolt snapped! video where I got the idea here:

Nice video , i dont have computer but i have 120.000$ bmw and iphone , so rear brakes (in case if you dont have computer ) has a HEX hole in it to reales brake retractor , it takes less than 1 minute to release "hand brake" brake pads . Just my 2 cents , peace .

 

[Beaverflipn]

Does anyone have the torque specs for doing the pads and rotors for front and rear I am getting ready to do this and soon to be stopped at finding them

 

[Neurobit]

Does anyone have the torque specs for doing the pads and rotors for front and rear I am getting ready to do this and soon to be stopped at finding them

Here you go:

 

[klotz50]

It's probably good practice, but I've never known any shop that will replace the caliber bolts as a routine step. If you were doing your fourth or fifth caliber removal, then it might be good idea.

Be advised that if you're doing rears you should disconnect the battery. If the e-brake gets initialized the motors will run to its limit and I've been told it's a very hard process to get them back into home position.

Best regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 045044 miles.

Is there not a service mode like most vehicles have?

 

[Ninety-9 SE-L]

Anyone here do a DIY brake change on the 5thgen yet? I noticed that the service manual calls for replacing the bolts that fasten the caliper to the knuckle if they are removed.

Have others followed this step? And do you think the average brake shop would take this step?

Everyone is using the word "Bolt" I imagine we're all referring to the caliper slide pins?

Yea, I've never replaced one of those. I usually try to replace the boot/rubber, if it comes in the kit, but not the pins.
99% of the time, I completely wipe away all the old grease from the pins, and I try to remove some of the old grease from the boots/hole.
Putting it back together, I will lightly pack the boot with fresh grease, then I'll put a nice long bead along the length of the bolt.

Be advised that if you're doing rears you should disconnect the battery. If the e-brake gets initialized the motors will run to its limit and I've been told it's a very hard process to get them back into home position.

There is a service mode, which should be preferred. If anything, it retracts the piston so the fresh pads will insert properly. Disconnecting the battery will only stop the motion.

I actually learned this the hard way on my old CX-5. Never worked on an electronic E-brake. I took the calipers off, I couldn't get the pistons back in, so I thought it would be a good idea to fiddle with the button, thinking they would retract on their own. BIG MISTAKE!!

The motor started winding the piston out, and it kept going, and going, and going, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Eventually, the piston reached its max position, it was no longer threaded on the motor, and the motor finally timed out. I had to disassemble the motor to get to the back of the shaft, then I had to screw the piston all the way back to its home position.

That caliper was never the same, again. Right before I sold the car (to a dealership), I was having trouble getting the e-brake to retract during normal operation. The first time I had a locked wheel and I had to fiddle for 10 minutes before it retracted. The second time, it was partially engaged while I was driving. I turned the rotor bright red until I could smell it and I pulled over. Again, I fiddled for about 10 minutes and it finally retracted.

Update - just did the back pads and rotors at 39k miles. My pads were down to nothing - one was less than a mm away from metal. Actually couldn't find new hardware (spring and clips) anywhere so cleaned and reused what I had. Few notes:
-Electronic parking brake retractor works like a champ. On a $120,000 BMW you have to hook up a computer to retract. I love RAM has a box to click in the menu. Easey peasey.
-May be normal on trucks but both back brakes have a parking brake on them. Still plenty of room to work.
-After having a really tough time with the rotor retaining screw on the fronts - I gave these a hard bang with a socket extender and a hammer....came out easy. Make sure to do this first as the retaining screw is cheap and will easily strip.
-Rotors were super rusted on (truck gets a lot of miles and a lot of road salt and not enough washes) and it doesn't seem like RAM applies any anti seize before installing them. Popped them off by using a nut/bolt washer through the lower caliper mounting bolt hole. Hold the nut with a wrench and turn the bolt with my impact wrench and boom. Pops right off. If you do this - make sure you have a few bolts...when I went to reuse the one I used for the first rotor - the bolt snapped! video where I got the idea here:

The rotor method seems to work, but I still prefer the hammer method. Whack, 90°, Whack, 90°, Whack, 90°, Whack, until it comes off. Usually 1-3 hits will do it.

Through the years I have hit pleny of rotors and drums with hammers, though I always used the non-surfaced areas as points of impact - a few whacks on the hub of a rotor is all it usually took. I wouldn't be super comfortable pushing the rotor from behind with a small bolt, but probably less comfortable hitting face of it.

Nea, I hit right on the face. Fu*k it, they're going in the scrap pile anyway.

Is there not a service mode like most vehicles have?

Ram made it pretty easy to get to. I stumbled on it the first time I went through the menu to personalize my vehicle.

My CX-5 had it buried somewhere, but IIRC, I had to do a little song and tap dance to enter service mode. It required me to enroll in YouTube University for a quick class.

Lesson learned from my story above, I'll never fu7king service an electronic parking brake without finding that menu.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Only times I've replaced the caliper slide pins is when they have corroded on older cars due to poor maintenance of keeping the greased.

 

[theblet]

I reuse the bolts and put some red lock tight on them

 

[pkman]

Everyone is using the word "Bolt" I imagine we're all referring to the caliper slide pins?

Yea, I've never replaced one of those. I usually try to replace the boot/rubber, if it comes in the kit, but not the pins.
99% of the time, I completely wipe away all the old grease from the pins, and I try to remove some of the old grease from the boots/hole.
Putting it back together, I will lightly pack the boot with fresh grease, then I'll put a nice long bead along the length of the bolt.

I think the OP was referring to the caliper adapter bolts. They are listed in the posted torque chart as needing replacement

 

[The Critic]

I think the OP was referring to the caliper adapter bolts. They are listed in the posted torque chart as needing replacement

Yep - and they require angle torque. Might be torque-to-yield.

 

[HSKR R/T]

I think the OP was referring to the caliper adapter bolts. They are listed in the posted torque chart as needing replacement

There should be no reason to remove those if just replacing pads

 

[Threesuns1]

I don't even try taking those disc retaining screws without an impact screwdriver, see below. As for stick rotors or drums a little PB Blaster around hub and upper studs to let it run down, then a few whacks with a hammer around the flange and they pop right off. Sometimes I clean the hub with emery cloth to insure once it's loose it will slide off. When I put it back together, I use a thin layer of anti-seize around the hub before I install rotor or drum. It also helps with getting aluminum wheels off later.

 

[Darksteel165]

I don't even try taking those disc retaining screws with an impact screwdriver, see below. As for stick rotors or drums a little PB Blaster around hub and upper studs to let it run down, then a few whacks with a hammer around the flange and they pop right off. Sometimes I clean the hub with emery cloth to insure once it's loose it will slide off. When I put it back together, I use a thin layer of anti-seize around the hub before I install rotor or drum. It also helps with getting aluminum wheels off later.


View attachment 149271

I have never had a problem taking the retaining screws out with an impact screwdriver.
Just make sure you are using the correct size bit before you start hammering away.

Last car I did had OEM rotors at 138k miles. Getting the screw out was the easy part, I think I hammered for almost 10 minutes to get the actual rotor off.

I have 6 Bit Impact Screwdriver Set With Case but also a Lisle 30200 I acquired for free.
I find the $10 Harbor Freight one is easier to hold.