How to Install Front Brake Pads

Video Transcript

"MARK BLOCKER: Okay. In this segment we're going to cover installing the brake pads. There's two brake pads, the inner brake pad and the outer brake pad. The inner brake pad is equipped with like, a low-warning device. It's a piece of metal that has been mounted on there so that--that piece of metal tab is going to start rubbing or contacting the rotor itself prior to the brake pad's wearing down to where you're out of friction material. And when this piece of metal contacts these rotors, you get that high-pitch shrill that you hear from--you may have heard it from your cars or from other cars, its almost ear-piercing, loud screeching sound when you apply the brakes. And what that is, that metal tab is contacting the rotor and is causing a metal-to-metal point. And they way it's been designed--designed to create that high-pitch frequency to let you know that "Hey, my brake pads are getting worn to the point where they need to be replaced." And they always do that prior to the friction pad being completely gone and getting down to metal where other parts can be damaged as well as affecting the ability of the vehicle to stop safely. And that pad goes on the inboard side, curved side out on the bottom. Okay, we got the inboard side where it's installed and it will be a little bit easier for you to see it on the outboard side. I'll show you the procedure. These springs up here and I keep referring to them as springs that are sprung steel. They'll create a tension on the pad and what you have to do after sliding one side in, you have to push down on that. And that's going to push that spring inward that holds it and allows you to slide this pad in to the upper side. Sometimes, you'll see them--that's where it gets a little bit tricky and it's hard to show you that from the inside. And once you get one notch in, you want to push down the other and then--it got clearance to slide in and then just gently slide it across. Now, you've got both pads installed, installed correctly. You want to take a rag at this point, as you can see, that anti-seize, once it gets on, it gets tracked around really easy. Wipe off any excess here. Maybe a little bit of brake clean on a rag will help you get that off. And that anti-seize--what that'll do is it's just going to create a spot for dirt and everything to attract and stick to it. So, you want to wipe off any excess you may have spread around, got it on the rotor or anything else before you assemble it. Now, you've got the pads in correctly. Please watch our next segment on installing the caliper. "