captainsae Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Was wondering if there was a tutorial on changing the front brakes including the pads and the rotors on a 1995 Pathfinder. I tried to use the search feature but didn't find anything and my useless Haynes manual only covers brakes on a 2 wheel drive Pathy. I need to know how to repack the auto-locking hubs, bearings, etc. I was hoping that someone has already posted how to properly do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJSquirrel Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 (edited) Factory Manuals are available here: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=26616 You need a decent pair of snap ring pliers, a torque wrench, some hex key sockets, and a lockring socket to set the bearing preload properly. Google for OTC7698 to find what you need. Your local auto parts store may have one to loan out. Nissan sells them too. Supposedly the tool for a Dana 60 works also, but I don'tk know if that's true or not. Don't forget to use lock-tite on the locking hub bolts as you put it together. Check your CV boots on the front halfshafts while you have the hub out of the way and you can see everything. The biggest mistake people make is reassembling the hub incorrectly. Make sure all the parts are installed in the correct order, and you'll be golden. Make sure you break the rotor bolts free before you remove the hub. Its a royal PITA to do it afterward unless you have a vise and aren't concerned about damaging the old rotor. The brake disc bolts onto the back of the hub, so you need to remove it all to get the rotor off. Initially, I cursed Nissan for designing it this way, but I realized the design mazimizes wheel bearing life by reducing wheel offset and maximizes brake cooling. Your first side will take a few hours to master all the details. The second side should take about an hour or so. I've done this a few times now and can swap both front rotors out in about 1.5 hours working at a nice pace. Edited June 22, 2010 by RJSquirrel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainsae Posted July 7, 2010 Author Share Posted July 7, 2010 Factory Manuals are available here: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=26616 You need a decent pair of snap ring pliers, a torque wrench, some hex key sockets, and a lockring socket to set the bearing preload properly. Google for OTC7698 to find what you need. Your local auto parts store may have one to loan out. Nissan sells them too. Supposedly the tool for a Dana 60 works also, but I don'tk know if that's true or not. Don't forget to use lock-tite on the locking hub bolts as you put it together. Check your CV boots on the front halfshafts while you have the hub out of the way and you can see everything. The biggest mistake people make is reassembling the hub incorrectly. Make sure all the parts are installed in the correct order, and you'll be golden. Make sure you break the rotor bolts free before you remove the hub. Its a royal PITA to do it afterward unless you have a vise and aren't concerned about damaging the old rotor. The brake disc bolts onto the back of the hub, so you need to remove it all to get the rotor off. Initially, I cursed Nissan for designing it this way, but I realized the design mazimizes wheel bearing life by reducing wheel offset and maximizes brake cooling. Your first side will take a few hours to master all the details. The second side should take about an hour or so. I've done this a few times now and can swap both front rotors out in about 1.5 hours working at a nice pace. Thanks RJ! This may be better left to a pro. I have most of the tools to do this but I would probably end up spending more money on the ones I don't have and a better manual than it would cost just to get them done somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Down load the free Factory Service Manual anyway, it will come in handy in the future... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSlowReliable Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 (edited) WOW sorry to thread jack slightly...but I missed the last sentence of your paragraph, about the repacking of hubs and such....so when RJ started talking about specialty tools and snap rings and such...I got a little scared because I just changed my brakes on my car and didn't use any of that! I was like "dang, good thing I didn't tear the brakes down this week, guess I won't be getting new brakes any time soon! lol...almost had a heart attack If you'd still like some sort of tutorial just holler, I kinda wanted to do my front brakes soon anyways Edited July 7, 2010 by OldSlowReliable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 I have done my brakes a few times...had more trouble outta the dang rear drum brakes then I ever did with the front. Its pretty basic and straight forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 I find most brake jobs to be fairly simple and predictable (no rust state) including wheel bearings and whatnot but I rarely push someone to do them especially if they don't feel comfortable/capable or don't have supervision. Brake jobs usually dont cost too much at a shop and it's something you want done right the first time... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSlowReliable Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Brake jobs usually dont cost too much at a shop and it's something you want done right the first time... B Unless you live near me....sister just took her kia in for $500 just for the front. I won't be doing my DD's drums any time soon (plus they don't need it) but I did do the front discs out of neccesity (GM didn't design brakes right, so the inner pad wore down to metal and welded to the destroyed rotor while the outer pad/rotor looked brand new) $100 at autozone, lifetime pads and 1yr rotors, will get the $50 lifetime wagner rotors from oreilly next time though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJSquirrel Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Sounds like the caliper guide pins rusted to the knuckle, so only the pad on the piston-side ever moved. As a Michigander you know about rust even better than I do, on the "dry" side of the lake. I'd make sure the calipers are properly lubed, and nothing is binding up, or you'll be doing the job again very soon. Anti-sieze and lithium grease are your bestest buddies in the rust belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSlowReliable Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Sounds like the caliper guide pins rusted to the knuckle, so only the pad on the piston-side ever moved. As a Michigander you know about rust even better than I do, on the "dry" side of the lake. I'd make sure the calipers are properly lubed, and nothing is binding up, or you'll be doing the job again very soon. Anti-sieze and lithium grease are your bestest buddies in the rust belt. Yeah, I figured the slide pins weren't sliding, lol. They still had grease in em, but I put more in there anyways. I may rip it apart and put antiseize on the bolts, but they had locktight on them before and it wasn't hard to remove them (cept for 2) and antiseize worries me, sounds like "anti-tight so it falls off when you're not looking" to me, lol I worked em in pretty hard (like an online manual said) and they feel like my mom's 2003 JGC which has discs all around. On the original topic..lol.. I don't change my own oil, but I have no problem tackling brakes...if you can do basic stuff, I can almost promise you that discs won't be hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 The hardest part of drums is getting some of the springs into the right locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Exactly...especially when you take the drum off and everything falls out...then what! Happened to me...and man it was rough trying to figure out where everything went... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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