How to Replace Front Brakes, Pads and Rotors 

just a tip for all you first timers trying this at home. It might not be as easy as he makes it look in the video for you to do on your own. He does an excellent job but keep in mind he is condensing a 2-3 hr procedure into a 20 min video. be sure you have all the proper tools.. most japanese cars use metric fasteners.. YOU WILL NEED METRIC TOOLS! finding the closest US tool isnt gonna cut it, especially for those super tight bracket bolts that you need to hit with a hammer. make sure you have good lighting and have someone do it with you if it is your first time. also keep in mind that you could encounter something that you may not be equipped to fix such as a seized caliper and then you will be stuck. just things to consider before you dig yourself into a pile of manure and with that best of luck

Where would I be without youtube?

My 5-year-old and I just watched this together and now he can't wait to help me change the brakes and rotors. He kept pointing to each part and repeating what it was called. Your videos are awesome!!!

Thanks a million for this video. Dealership wanted close to $2000 to replace front/rear pads and rotors. Picked up the parts for just under $500 and had all 4 done in just over 2 hours.

Shirke M You do not need an alignment after doing any brake work. The only time you may need an alignment is when you work on the suspension such as replacing control arms or ball joints.

Just a suggestion for all of you starters. If you have a junkyard in your area that allows you to pull your own parts (you pull and save) go out there for a couple of hours and “change” the rotors and pads there. Pull them off, put them on. Gather confidence.

So this is what they wanted to charge me $250 for? I could've done this shit myself it's so easy. Fool me once...

Instructions not descriptive enough, ended up replacing my alternator.

I’m a woman and I’m learning how to fix my own suv. I’m sick of overpaying for car service. $62 for engine air filter at auto service place. I’m changing it myself with $15 I bought at auto part store. Thanks for the how to’s.

I have been a dyi guy all my life and this is the best video I have ever seen of a brake job.

Caution : dont expose youre body in a transdermal manner to brake fluid , wear gloves !

Chris, This is a really detailed and informative video. Thanks for your efforts. I can't wait to start saving money by doing my own car maintenance. You've made it look easy.

awesome video. dodge wanted to charge me $659 for front rotors and pads. I did it for $150

I'm so grateful for people like you, Chris. You help poor folks such as myself learn how to do our own repairs, instead of paying so much for garage labor. Your videos are professional, clear, and straightforward. Thanks, man!

You know, I used to be anxious about messing about with car mechanics despite loving cars. This week I did my first service (oil, filters, plugs) on a family members car thanks to videos on RU-vid. I thought that's about where I'd stop, but I watch this videos and think to myself... Hey, I've got most of the tools now. I'll just keep my old second car and use it to teach myself more. Thanks Chris for these easy to understand videos, they really put a lot of confidence in us newbies to attempt work. I'd never risk safety and have a couple of good garages should I ever mess up and need a hand. After doing the servicing last week I'm convinced I'll never need to pay anybody to do oil/filters/plugs on any car I own again. We've got all the knowledge we need to learn how to do things right here, for free! Gotta love it.

Just a guy who is tight on money and looking for ways to do my own car maintenance without chunking out extra money to someone I don't even know will do it right. Thanks for all you do! I'm changing mine this coming weekend and even though I had to buy all the tools as well, it still came out under 200 unlike a shop would charge me.

that is the wrong kind of silicone to use for caliper pins. Use the paste type, not liquid.

Blessings unto knowledge to all those reading this..in Jesus mighty name amen

use a c clamp if you don't have that tool

Thanks to you I changed my front brakes for the first time! This is coming from someone who never even changed oil in a car before. Of course it rained and I stabbed my finger on the brake clips but I still did it! Thanks chrisfix!

Just wanted to thank u for the changing of brakes video I was scared to do it but man I followed ur video and did it with no problems. Thank u for sharing ur knowledge and for making things easy with ur videos

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! Your instruction made it soooooo easy. Tried to replace rotors and pads myself (first timer) by just looking at the puzzle pieces. BIG MISTAKE!! Watched your video twice, then got my hands dirty..., again. Had the first wheel back together in 15 minutes. Three more wheels to go... Your video inserts were a terrific idea. They help immensely. Thanks again :-)

Had to come see this,been over 15 years since i changed brakes myself. Gonna do 1 of my rears tomorrow and my fronts in about a week. Thanx,very helpful although to remove the caliper bracket you need a torx 50 to remove the 2 bolts,fucken ford and their torx !lol

Nice video. Looks easy to do. Very clear, good audio and good quality video. I had a quote for $620 to replace front and rear pads and rotors. This will save me hundreds of dollars even after getting the tools that I don't yet have. Thanks!

Pump your brakes when you’re all done before you take off !

Very helpful dude. I'm buying a new car soon and it'd be my first car and I wanna learn how to do simple maintenance like these.

Years ago I keep hearing "ChrisFix" but have no idea who you were, never tried to fix or replace anything myself and here I am years later, remembering to look you up for guides because I now have an interest in cars. Your videos are very clear cut, straight to the point. I appreciate you.

Chris, a couple other tips: don’t forget to grease the end tabs on the brake pads with high-temp brake grease; spray the rotors off one last time with brakleen to get remaining grease smudges off; and don’t don’t forget to ‘seat’ or ‘bed’ your new brakes for max life and even wear.

I hope I have enough man power to do this💪🏽😁. I can't afford to pay someone to replace my brake pads and rotors

Make sure you pump your brakes after you're done installing everything oready elsee your brakes may not work

Best brake pad replacement video out there. Thanks!

i have a question, how do you knw the amount of pounds to torque to

8 years later your videos have evolved as a RU-vid Shop Teacher. keep up the great work

This should just slide right off 2:25 😅😅😅😂

Is the breaker bar necessary and what kind of grease did you use other than the crc

just changed mine out, 90 minutes, fixed brake shuddering and improved brake feel with no labor cost!

How could anyone down vote this? This is an incredibly well made video! Thank you!

I cant wait to tighten my piston tool and crank away.

i watched a couple videos and was inflated with confidence. so i went out to remove replace my brakes. oh so naive. the clouds of failure collected, figuratively, and also overhead, literally. i threw a pad in backwards that fell out while trying to fit the caliper in my rush. yes, i did the impossible. i did what cant be done. i believe in my self.. at this point it's pouring rain. i put it all back together, get my tools outta the rain, and the grinding begins. after four or five 35-0 stops i'm like hmmm... maybe somethings wrong. pull over. take a look behind the wheel and see shards of shiny backing plate and a nice deep gouge on the rotor. bright side's now i have new rotors too. take your time and always check the weather kids.

Just used this to replace the pads on my 2004 pontiac grand am. Super useful video! Only thing is I didn't have the piston compressor tool so I had to improvise but it worked out. Thank you for making these videos so clear and easy to follow!

Thanks Chrisfix I just removed, painted, replaced my brakes z front and back... I had extra rust inhibitors and paint so I gave both cross members a good sand down and soapy water wash before applying rust inhibitor sealant, primers and ceramic paints. Woohoo you're one of the best instructors. Thank you! I'll post pics on insta because I can't here.

You're awesome dude! To the point and easy to understand for a first timer like me!

This is a very good, clear and step by step video. I have been doing my brake pads for over a decade but I have never done the rotors. I'm just considering replacing the rotors. I probably can do it but this video does give me more confidence and shows me the simple and proper steps on doing it. Thanks Chris!

The most important thing to me from doing brakes myself is having the proper tools, 1/2 inc breaker bar, impact socket set, good quality wrench, brake caliper press for the front pads and the one for the back, anti-seize as he said, brake cleaner, low profile Jack just in case you have to do other people cars in the future, Jack stands, hammer, flat head screwdriver, a little common sense and some music 😍 thank me later

Incredible video. Camera angles and lighting made this an absolute Breeze. You are amazing for making this, thank you so much. 🎉

YOUR DIY VIDEOS ARE THE BEST, you take your time, talk plainly , explain things and show repairs in a easy manner , no crappy music etc. in the back ground !! WELL DONE TWO THUMBS WAY UP !!!

I am not a mechanic and I will need new brake pads soon and after watching your videos I feel confident I can do the job myself and save some bucks. Tyvm

did a 95 Camry with no torque wrench. Wonder if the brakes will fall off

Bug at 0:24 disappears and then reappears at 0:31

Nice video, and very detailed and informative. Show me in general, one of the newest vehicles that I had to get back in November that is my current new vehicle and it’s a kind I’ve never had before because I’ve only had regular sedan type cars, because I had a 2012, Mazda three before this and a 2004 Kia spectra before that, but this one is a 2005 Honda CRV. Now, in general with me, at least over the last decade, and I don’t remember completely when or how I learned them, but I am someone who has to watch to learn, but I also catch on fairly quickly, so three of the simplest things that I know how to do myself is change a car tire, Weatherby from regular to another regular, or regular to spare, I know how to change out a car battery, but I have yet to have to do that with mine, so I’ll learn how to have to do that sometime eventually down the road, and it seems like the casing for my battery has a lot more to it than my Kia, or my Mazda did, and I know how to jumpstart a car. I started thinking about different certain things that someone would have to work through to fix or replace and I’ve seen videos of oil changes being done as well, not from the sky yet, but I’ve seen videos of oil changes being done, and I’ve been told that if you have your own supplies, they will definitely save money and changing your oil is relatively easy and only takes about 5 to 20 minutes depending on who’s doing it, but I’ve seen the way Brakes and brake pads look in various different ways over time with cars and I thought to myself, I wonder if changing brake pads and rotors is relatively easy, may be a little bit more time-consuming than changing your oil, but relatively easier than people might think, and even though there were a handful of different minor variable things to have to do in the change up of things, and to make sure the new things are going to work properly afterwards, watching this entire video, and despite the fact that my short term memory is not that great, I kind of already feel I remember half the video, and despite all the things that went on in it, it was still for about an eight minute or so video, still informative, the breakdown helped me understand everything, and I feel like I would be able to do my own as asinine as that sounds after just watching the video 😂, but the way his video shows it being done, it makes it seem capable of being done, and not like someone might thing changing, brake pads and rotors. Seems like algebra to have to take on. There are videos I watched by somebody else, who is kind of a geeky, nerdy, mindset kind of guy, and he does three dimensional, illustrated videos on multiple different variety of things where his videos break down in detail, how something works, like a door knob, handle, or a lock, or breaking down the inside of the Empire State building, the White House, the Titanic, even show me how a pole back and go car wax, but if the videos break stuff down and there, step-by-step and easily understandable And very explanatory in a very easily understood way, I find it easier to understand at least from my perspective and it’s definitely helpful and nice.

Awesome video dude! :D

Great videos Chris, tackled this job on my 2006 Ranger a few weekends ago and will be replacing my shocks this weekend. Just wanted to leave a comment to potentially help someone else out, doing the clamshell method could potentially bend the brake hardware and cause it to not fit well and scrape against the rotor when you are all done. I had to completely remove the caliper from the mounting bracket to avoiding bending the hardware.

best video I've seen yet. Thanks for details on where the Silicon grease goes. Well done, dude!

for regular dudes who dont do this regularly. assuming you have all the tools, it took me about 3.5-4 hrs to change front and rear brake pads as well as do a brake fluid flush

This is very important *** only use the product made for the job synthetic brake caliper greese which is made to not dry out in extreme temps . I've never seen the rubber get hard from using the greese that is made for this specific job . Regular greese is totally out of the question .

Short sweet and direct. Thanks for being thorough and to the point

Dude. I think I love you.

Nice video, thanks Chris! One comment, be sure to clean both sides of the brake rotor with Brake Clean before installing it. You can just spray them in the cardboard box that they came in. Chris only cleaned the front side of the brake rotor. He should have cleaned the back side as well.

Anyone notice the supplies he has laid out doesn’t match what’s in the description or in the video? He has lithium grease laid out but uses heavy duty silicone. And in the description it’s silicone paste. Also in the description he has anti sieze yet it’s not used in the video. So what should we use?

For all the cars I have had over the decades I have spread white lithium grease on the mating surfaces of both the back of the wheel and the front of the rotor. Keeps them from becoming super stuck together. Having done that, I have never had a wheel whimper a protest about coming off. If I were doing a rotor replacement, I would do the same to the back of the rotor where it contacts the axle end. A little prevention now can prevent a lot of crying later.

I did a brake job on my silver suburban (profile pic at time of post) with new rotors, pads, caliper bushings, pins, brake lines, and fluid flush all because of you. Saved me hundreds! I'm sure you get tons of comments and thanks, just had to send another your way.

500$ estimate for brakes and rotors. First time doing it myself, all parts less than 200$. Detailed and thorough video. Thanks Chris 🙏

I'm pretty sure, all those dislikes are from mechanics who lost lots of customers!

2:35 Chris, you forgot to use brake cleaner on the other side of rotor.

This is the best video to learn how to change brakes.

Dude, you just saved my bacon!!! I've done bakes my whole life but today they did not fit. turns out the floater pin was rusted stuck. your method of removing the top pin found my problem. Awesome

Don’t be afraid to do this. It is satisfying work. You will learn more as you encounter other issues such as rusted screws, bad calipers, bleeding brakes, etc. You will be able to deal with every situation as you work more and more on your car

2:23 This should just slide right off LMAO... Not unless you hit it with the sledge a few times.

The brakes on my 2017 Kia forte were changed with new ones. Now 2 months after I hear them make noise . Seeking is more like it. What could it be

U forgot to tell people to put the brake cap back on and most importantly to pump the brakes!!

Excellent video 🔧

Chris, nice video. One negative. If you're going to tell us to do something, always tell us why. Why did you paint your calipers? And did you just spray them, or did you prep them for paint in any way?

YOUR DIY VIDEOS ARE THE BEST, you take your time, talk plainly , explain things and show repairs in a easy manner , no crappy music etc. in the back ground !! WELL DONE TWO THUMBS WAY UP !!!

My rotors are getting extremely hot 🔥 does that mean I need to replace and when I brake they don't squeal.the make like a squeeking bed sound and feels crunchy if that makes sense ?.Amy advice fellas ?money is tight so don't want to replace something I don't have to. But nervous working on brakes something I noob shouldn't be doing but I have to.learn one way and one day any help is appreciated thx

Shouldnt you clean the hub face prior to fitting the new rotor? Doing this will ensure it sits correctly and reduces the likelihood of warping rotors

Thanks currently teaching myself how to be a mechanic

Hi Chris. Firstly I love all of your informative videos. I am considering getting a hybrid car, but if the batteries recharge through the anti lock brakes, would a brake job be different?

That is very useful tip have to fix my wheel rotor and brake pads both got worn out like haven’t changed for 5 years the metal start to fall apart and pads make those screech noise when brakes thanks for the usefully tips now I know how to do it myself 😅😅😅

Breaks are easy. Just don’t do the front like the back. Bleed the breaks from air and you good. Make sure you don’t turn the break line

Just takes the rotor right off like it's nothing...I needed Thor's hammer to get mine off 🤦‍♂️🤣

Hi Chris , how long change brake , roto , my car 50.000 miles .Thank Chris

Ok.. I watched your video 3 times! Wish me luck! Thank you, I will let u know how it goes! LOL! 😓😷🖒👌💣💥😊😘

I did my car 1st time and it was okay i tested fo 60 mi for now

How come you didn't replace the brake pads hardware clips? Is it necessary or do you change it when they get worn down?

Thank you for teaching us. I wanna do mechanic. Learning from different videos

You are very clear and seem very thorough... Awesome

A C-Clamp in the middle of the old brake pad works well for compressing the pistons also.

All looks good except for cleaning your rotors with brake cleaner

VERY VERY SKILLFUL

Funny. I had to come back to this video to see which silicone paste you used for pins. Same thing I bought but 3M doesn't make this anymore! What are you using these days?

I was quoted 330 to replace front pads and discs plus bleeding on my car by a dealership. Me being me i started searching if its a good quote. Parts it self 250ish, so if i was going to do it my self thats nearly 100 in my pocket.. then i would had to buy hydraulic oil, some tools, anti seaze, take a day off work, so the 330 quote is looking cheaper compared if I was going to do it my self

Are akobono brake pads good pads I am trying to change mine but idk which brand to get

Chris I have a question for you. My wife drives a 2015 Cadillac Srx Luxury AWD. I'm going to change the front brakes and rotors my because my mechanic has gone M.I.A. I have a prosthetic leg below the knee. Will the Cadillac Srx be a complicated job because it's a Cadillac or can I do it myself? Your instructions make it seem so simple. 👍🏾

You skipped so many steps, brother man.

I tried changing my brake pads after watching several of you videos. I was successful but there’s a mild sound in the left front wheel. I couldn’t do the rotors because I couldn’t brake the bolts so I just did the pads. I don’t know anything about card but after watching your videos I saved myself $300 dollars but it seems I might have missed something, any advice has to what may cause the sound? Oh, the brake work great though.

Did I mess up if I put the break pad with the clip on the inside of the rotor instead of the outside?

I like your edits Chris. You did this in record time. Good job.

Thanks, this helped a lot! I've been hearing that squealing sound from the indicator for about three months now! I think I'll finally replace the brake pads tomorrow.

Why didn't Chris clean the back side of the rotor with brake cleaner?

Most of the items are not available in AMAZON, is it possible to update it?