I just purchased a 21' trailer and I need to replace my front rotors and pads.
I have bought the Carquest blue pads and am wondering if the carquest rotors will be sufficient. The trailer has brakes, and of course I have all the relays hooked up.

I have seen the write up for the 4x2 rotor change but I haven't found one for the 4x4. Is this an easy brake job or would I be better off paying someone?
I have never replaced rotors before. And I need to get this done before I pick up the trailer this weekend.

Thanks.

If this needs to be moved to the towing section, I appologize for putting it in the wrong spot.

 

Pretty straight up job. I think it's a little easier on the 4X4 too. The main problem will be compressing the new pads in the calipers. Be sure to clean and lube the sliders.

 

I did the front brakes on my 2002 this weekend (2wd), it took about 4 hrs, 2 of which were spent driving around trying to find a place to resurface my rotors. (It seems almost all the brake lathes around here crapped out)

I hadn't done it before, but it was pretty easy, just 2 bolts to take off the caliper and two more to take off the capliper bracket. You have to turn the wheels to be able to get to some of the bolts. Then take off the dust cap and the castle nut and the rotor comes off (might be slightly different for the 4x4) To compress the caliper, I just used one of the used brake pads and a C clamp and losened the bleed screw, then you tighten the C clamp on the pistons and that's it. Top off the master cylinder and bleed the brakes.

 

Like They Said Straight Forward Hour Tops Even Quicker If U Said U Already Did The Pads Just The Two Bolts Pull The Rotors Right Off. Im Pullin A 32ft Camper And I Am Runnin Not The Most Expensive Rotor But Like The Mid Grade From Autozone And It Works Just Fine. Good Luck!!!!

 

Got it done in about 90 min last night.

I got the stock replacement rotors from Carquest and what they call red pads, which I guess is a step up from the blues that everyone raves, they are ceramic.

Hardest part was breaking the rotors free.

Here is my half-a$$ed attempt to a write-up.

1. Park it and put the e-brake on
2. Place wheel chocks behind the rear tires
3. Loosen the lugs on both front wheels (don't take them off!)
4. Jack the truck up to get the wheels off the ground and place jackstands under the frame
5. Lower jack so truck sits on frame, but don't remove the jack just in case
6. Remove the wheels
7. Take the wheels outside and wash the brake dust off (not necessary)
8. Use a 12mm socket to remove the calipers (place caliper on front half shaft or zip tie up)
9. Use a 18mm socket to remove the caliper bracket
10. Use brake clean on new rotors to remove any grease, etc.
11. Beat the old rotor with a hammer to break free
12. Place new rotor on the studs
13. Re attach the caliper bracket
14. Clean and grease caliper slides
15. Place new pads in the slides
16. Use a wrench and c-clamp to compress the pistons (I opened the brake fluid resivor and placed a shop towel over it.
17. Place caliper over pads
18. Torque 18mm and 12mm bolts to spec.
19. Place brake fluid cap back on and pump the brake pedal a few times.
20. Bleed breaks if necessary
21. Put wheels back on and hand tight lugs
22. Remove jackstands and lower truck
23. Torque lugs to spec
24. Clean up
25.

 

Did I do something wrong? I pick up the trailer tomorrow and don't want to have bad brakes towing it 60 miles home.


Today is the first day I have driven the truck since I did the brakes. My wife usually drives the truck to the park n ride.

The brakes seem to be softer, what I mean by that is when I hit the brakes it takes longer to slow down. Could I still be in the "break in" period. Only a total of maybe 20 miles have been put on since the brakes were done.

When I first changed them there was a little rubbing of the pads to the rotor, I drove it around the block stopping a few times and that seemed to fix that problem.