Many of us may have worked on brakes before and will find that the Camry's front brakes are pretty straight forward. But to some it might be new. So, here’s a little step by step of a complete front brake job on a 2002 Camry 2.4L with 165K miles. The front brakes were worked on by Firestone 6 years ago with Wagner Thermoquite pads. But I had to re-machined the rotor every two years due to warping. Then it started to squeak and shake again so it was time for an overhaul.
Disclaimer
Use this guide at your own risk. I nor TN assume no responsibility for any damage to your
vehicle or personal injury as a result of following this guide. Any suggestion to improve the procedure will be gratefully received and incorporated where possible.
Parts:
Brake Pads Set (Ceramic Suggested)
Rotors (2)
Disc Hardware Kit.
Tools and Material:
Brake Fluid Dot 3/4
Brake Cleaner
Brake Lube/Grease
Socket set and ratchet
Jack and Jack Stands
Tire Iron
Flat blade screwdriver and Hammer
C-clamp (or proper caliper tool)
Let's start.
First, loosen but do not remove the lugs nuts. Jack up and support the vehicle on jack stand before removing the front wheels. Love the look of rusty rotors and calipers.
(Note: The red plastic is just a hub centric ring use for aftermarket wheels. Most cars won't have them.)
Remove the two 14 mm bolts next to the rubber boots. These are the calipers slide pin bolts. (Circled in red) Then the caliper can slide off towards the front of the vehicle. To prevent damage to the brake hose, the calipers should be supported. You can hang it with wire from the strut/springs or set it between the dust shield and strut body. Basically to avoid stretching the brake hose.
The two brake pads can be pulled out from the sides. These brake pads had about 50% left but were squealing.
To remove the caliper bracket, remove the two 17 mm bolts behind the steering knuckle. (Circled in red)
With the caliper bracket out, pull out the two slide pins. Don’t mix them up as one of the slide pin has a rubber ring on it. (I don't know why but it's there.)
To remove the old boots, get a flat screwdriver between the bracket and lip of the metal (attach to the boot) and pry and hammer it off. Clean out the rust and grease inside the bracket with brake cleaner. Allow to dry completely.
Here is the new hardware kit from Oreilly; Made in USA.
To install the new boots, get a 22mm deep socket and place one boot in it where the only metal ring is exposed. Then gently hammer it into the bracket.
After installing the new boots, replace the rubber ring on each slide pin. Lube and reinstall all slide pins in original location. (I find that “Sil-Glyde” brake lubricant from Autozone work the best as other brands tend to turn into glue.)
Next, compress the calipers piston with C-clamps or other proper methods. It is highly recommended to open the bleeder screw to prevent overflow of the reservoir and damage to ABS units.
Important: Many new brake rotors have a costing of oil on them to prevent rusting on the shelves. Just simply wash it off the rotors with brake cleaner and let dry.
Optional: If you have plain cheap plain rotors like mine and want to prevent surface rust. I used Dupil-color
Aluminum Engine Enamel and painted just the hat and vented area.
I when ahead to clean and paint both calipers and caliper brackets with high temperature aluminum paint.
Tap on the wear sensor if desire onto the ends of the pads; One on each pads. I skip it.
Pry off the old anti-rattle clips/”spings” and press the new ones on the caliper bracket from the kit. Two clips on each bracket and all the clips are the same so there can be no mix up. After that, slide on the new rotors and install the caliper brackets. Tighten the two mounting bolts behind each bracket to 79 lb ft.
Add a bit of brake grease to the ends of the new brake pads where it touches the clips. Install any shim that the brake pads may come with. Then slide the pads onto the caliper brackets. (Ignore the black rotor; it melted and I had to clean and repaint it silver as stated earlier.)
Slide on the brake calipers. I put on a bit of brake grease on the edge of the piston and inside of calipers where it meets the pads/shims. Tighten the slide pin bolts to 25 lb ft.
Bleed the brake system to remove old fluid and possible air. Check the break reservoir continuously to prevent the master cylinder from running dry. (That would be a pain.) Add DOT 3/4 brake fluid when necessary and fill to max level. Cap the reservior when done and be careful as brake fluid will damage paint.
Check that all tools are removed and all bolts are tightened. Reinstall the wheel and all lug nuts until it seats firmly on the wheel. Lower vehicle just until the tire touches the ground then tighten all lug nut to 76 lb ft. in star pattern. This is to prevent wrapping the rotors. Finally lower vehicle completely.
Pump the brake pedal to set the calipers and check for leaks. Start the vehicle and pump the brakes again. Drive and bed in the new brake pads and rotor with personal or manufacturers’ methods. I just run a few 30 MPH to almost complete stop, a short cruise, and then some harder 40 to 0 MPH stops. Check the brake fluid level again and add if needed. After brakes are cooled, wash the car and enjoy the looks and feel of new brakes behind some chrome wheels.
Don't forget to clean the mess left in the garage.
The front brake took me longer than usually because of painting and having to do the brakes twice because the black paint melted. The Silver/Aluminum engine paint is doing just fine. But the brakes can be completed in a couple hours. The Oreilly's BrakeBest Select (SC908) were mix ceramic/organic and made in the USA. They stop just fine but do produce a bit of low noise. I spent just a little of $100 and that's cheap for a brake job with two new rotors. If the rear has drum brakes, it's recommended to clean and readjust it.
Took me a while to type this up but hope this DIY help others.
DIY: Camry Complete Front Brake Job (Lots of Pictures)
Stella
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