DIY brake job

[LXRitw]

Hello so I completed my first brake job yesterday, everything went somewhat smoothly I did have to replace my front right caliper as the one slide pin was seized and I could not remove it. However I believe I placed the pad with the squealer tab on the outside of the rotor not the inside like you’re supposed to.
 

I know it’s better to place it on the inside as that side usually wears faster, I’m just wondering if it would be worth it to take everything back apart to swap the pads around. Will it hinder my braking performance if I don’t swap them around? 

[2late4u]

not a big mistake,I wouldn't bother to redo it myself

[John/Horace]

Should be fine. As long as pad is sitting square and not riding on the stainless guide clips. I have broken off wear squealer tap and swapped pads back to front on a Journey with no issues. Pads were wearing unevenly from a stuck guide pin. Didn’t have new set of pads on hand and swapping around helped even things out slightly. Drove another 20k miles before installing better new pads. Squeal clip could have stayed in place, broke it off out of caution.

 

Important detail on installing new pads is making sure it’s an easy slide in fit on holder bracket. Often a file or grinder is needed to remove 20-30 thou of metal off the ends. Too tight accelerates wear a bit. Dabs of sylglide brake grease on the now exposed metal ends  also helpful.

[LXRitw]

Thank you guys the brake pads on the drivers side slid in pretty smooth but the passenger side where the slide pin was seized I did have to kind of hammer in there. So once these storms pass us I will go ahead and see if I maybe didn’t clean up the bracket enough with my wire brush or possibly may need to file the pad ears on that side.

 

I will say however that once I got the pads in on the passenger side they did seem to move nicely, I did use some of the purple permatex grease on the ears of the pads as well on the slide pins.

[2late4u]

13 hours ago, LXRitw said:

Thank you guys the brake pads on the drivers side slid in pretty smooth but the passenger side where the slide pin was seized I did have to kind of hammer in there. So once these storms pass us I will go ahead and see if I maybe didn’t clean up the bracket enough with my wire brush or possibly may need to file the pad ears on that side.

 

I will say however that once I got the pads in on the passenger side they did seem to move nicely, I did use some of the purple permatex grease on the ears of the pads as well on the slide pins.

the brake pads SHOULD fit into the bracket clips with ease IF you had to pound them in then you need to redo it all remove the clips and clean or wire brush the bracket and then reinstall the brake clips /or use new ones and make sure you have cleaned and regressed with caliper grease your caliper pins one at a time so you don't get them mixed up as well

[John/Horace]

Caliper pins top to bottom are often different, so remove one at a time. Wipe away old contaminated sylglide brake grease, then a very thin film of new grease on entire pin. Try not to trap air when pin is slid in place. Too much grease can have hydraulic affect, make pins not seat properly. Should float slightly from bottom position when pressed with finger.

Purple is a full synthetic grease, so fine, no oil based anti seize compound's on rubber. Makes them swell, break down.

 

New stainless clips have to contour to shape of  bracket holder. First pad install trial can be very tight. Try it few times to help new clips shape themselves. File or grind a bit as needed after trial install. No tool or major force should be needed to fit pads after tweaking.  As they wear they need to be able to creep inwards along clip holder bracket evenly.

[LXRitw]

3 hours ago, 2late4u said:

the brake pads SHOULD fit into the bracket clips with ease IF you had to pound them in then you need to redo it all remove the clips and clean or wire brush the bracket and then reinstall the brake clips /or use new ones and make sure you have cleaned and regressed with caliper grease your caliper pins one at a time so you don't get them mixed up as well

I only had to pound the passenger side pads in but as I said once they were in they seemed to move freely within the clips/bracket. The caliper on that side is a new reman caliper so it is completely rust free for now, I suspect I may need to file down the pad ears a bit or recheck the new clips I installed. The drivers side pads went in with no pounding or problems. It looks like we’re clear of rain the next couple days so I will take a look before I head to work tonight.

 

Also it has been 2 days since I completed the brake job and everything seems to be functioning properly. I don’t have any noises or grinding and the rotors are wearing in properly but I will still triple check my work. It was my first time doing a brake job by myself, usually have help of some sort so I was just following along with a YouTube video.

Edited October 20, 2025 by LXRitw

[2late4u]

sometimes the clips can be slightly different from each other so that might have been the case for your problems with the pads being to tight...one thing Tom do when you follow YouTube is to watch about 10 of them because remember YouTube is filled with a lot of shade tree mechanics that either do it right or wrong or don't know what all they are doing ,,,that said YouTube is a good way to get a view of what to do and each one can give you good info on what to do ,,,that is what I always do ...also when ever you get ready to do your rear pads remember that the caliper TWIST in and NOT pushes in as the fronts do,,,, take care and sounds like the brakes are working properly since they are working okay...