[stapleHit]

I want to change the rear brake pads on an '88 MX73, but when I tried to open the caliper by taking out the lower guide pin the pin would only come out partly before hitting the strut.

Is the only way to change the rear brake pads by removing the entire caliper from the rotor?

 

[kamesama980]

I want to change the rear brake pads on an '88 MX73, but when I tried to open the caliper by taking out the lower guide pin the pin would only come out partly before hitting the strut.

Is the only way to change the rear brake pads by removing the entire caliper from the rotor?

That is the *right* way: remove the bracket, then remove the caliper from the bracket.

FYI the rear dampers on an x7 are just shocks, not struts.