Rear brakes, 2013 2500

[ptheland]

Finally got around to dealing with my rear brakes. I did the fronts last month, and it was clear that wasn't the axle triggering my brake wear sensors. The general operation of the rear brakes is pretty similar to the fronts. The caliper has a single piston rather than the two on the front. But the caliper is attached to its carrier in the same way, with two bolts. On my van the front caliper was attached with two allen screws, the rear had two standard hex bolts - 13 mm if my memory is correct. The caliper carrier is attached with the same two large bolts - something bigger than 19 mm and smaller than 23 mm. The other major difference is that the rear disk has a brake drum inside it for the parking brake. I didn't fiddle with that, as the parking brake was working just fine.

Here's my general process, slightly adapted from the WIS pages I printed out and read through before starting.

1. Remove the tire and wheel. This proved to be easier than the front, but still required a heavy hammer to break the wheel free from the rotor.

2. Disconnect the wear sensor. I had a hard time trying to remove the sensor from the pad. Taking the other end off the connector attached to the caliper was much easier for me.

3. Remove the caliper by removing the two bolts mentioned above. I was able to comfortably flip the caliper over and set it on top of the leaf spring. This gives you sufficient access to replace just the pads if that is your goal.

4. Remove the pads from the carrier. Pay attention to the pad clips on the carrier. There are two clips on the top and two on the bottom. These are mirror images of each other and should not be interchanged.

5. If you have a clamp large enough to squeeze the piston back into the caliper, use that to retract the piston. Get it all the way in - flush with the surrounding caliper. Don't forget to check the fluid at the master cylinder. You're pushing quite a bit back in. My pads were completely worn. I estimate that I put about 1/4 of the master cylinder reservoir back in to it for each side. Since I recently did the front brakes, I had to remove some fluid from the master cylinder to make room.

If you don't have a large clamp, temporarily re-attach the caliper and use a pry bar between the OLD rotor and the piston to push the piston back. I also left the worn pad on that side to have something disposable to pry against. Needless to say, I don't have a large clamp.

6. Take the caliper off again, remove the old pad if necessary, then remove the caliper carrier by removing the two large bolts on the back (inside). I found it easier to replace the pad clips with the carrier out of the car.

7. Remove the set screw from the rotor (between a couple of wheel nut holes). My potentially faulty memory is that this was a T-30 Torx screw. Remove the rotor from the hub. You will probably find this easier if the parking brake is released. I know I did. Some friendly persuasion from a heavy hammer is again helpful. Unfortunately, due to the shield behind the rotor, access is a bit limited. Fortunately for me, tapping on the accessible portion followed by tapping it back into place did the job.

8. I know this will be controversial, but with the rotor off, I lightly took a bit of sandpaper to the hub to ever so slightly clean up the mating area for both the rotor and the wheel. My goal wasn't to make things perfectly smooth, but to level off the small bits of rust that will inevitably be there.

9. Re-assembly is just reversing everything. Attach rotor and install it's set screw. Attach new clips to the caliper carrier and install the carrier. Install pads. I put the new wear sensor on at this point, threading the free end through the caliper. Might be better to wait until after the caliper is on to install the sensor. Install the caliper and attach the wear sensor. Install wheel/tire.

Here's a couple of photos of my rear brake system - the passenger (starboard) side.
General orientation. Front of car to the right. Set screw for rotor attachment visible at about 8 o'clock position.


Looking at the leading edge of the brake. Wear sensor connection just to the right of center. Upper caliper attachment bolt is above the wear sensor and slightly aft (to the left) into the accordion rubber piece. Pad anti-rattle clips are visible on the outboard side of the carrier. These clips are not installed correctly. The clip should be nearly flush with the caliper.


New anti-rattle clips. Top two are mirror image of bottom two. On the left side (as viewed here) of the clips you can see a little piece with cutouts. These go toward the center of the carrier.


Here are the old clips still on the carrier. The bottom clip is out of place and should be much further toward the center of the carrier.

 

[220817a]

Finally got around to dealing with my rear brakes. I did the fronts last month, and it was clear that wasn't the axle triggering my brake wear sensors. The general operation of the rear brakes is pretty similar to the fronts. The caliper has a single piston rather than the two on the front. But the caliper is attached to its carrier in the same way, with two bolts. On my van the front caliper was attached with two allen screws, the rear had two standard hex bolts - 13 mm if my memory is correct. The caliper carrier is attached with the same two large bolts - something bigger than 19 mm and smaller than 23 mm. The other major difference is that the rear disk has a brake drum inside it for the parking brake. I didn't fiddle with that, as the parking brake was working just fine.

Here's my general process, slightly adapted from the WIS pages I printed out and read through before starting.

1. Remove the tire and wheel. This proved to be easier than the front, but still required a heavy hammer to break the wheel free from the rotor.

2. Disconnect the wear sensor. I had a hard time trying to remove the sensor from the pad. Taking the other end off the connector attached to the caliper was much easier for me.

3. Remove the caliper by removing the two bolts mentioned above. I was able to comfortably flip the caliper over and set it on top of the leaf spring. This gives you sufficient access to replace just the pads if that is your goal.

4. Remove the pads from the carrier. Pay attention to the pad clips on the carrier. There are two clips on the top and two on the bottom. These are mirror images of each other and should not be interchanged.

5. If you have a clamp large enough to squeeze the piston back into the caliper, use that to retract the piston. Get it all the way in - flush with the surrounding caliper. Don't forget to check the fluid at the master cylinder. You're pushing quite a bit back in. My pads were completely worn. I estimate that I put about 1/4 of the master cylinder reservoir back in to it for each side. Since I recently did the front brakes, I had to remove some fluid from the master cylinder to make room.

If you don't have a large clamp, temporarily re-attach the caliper and use a pry bar between the OLD rotor and the piston to push the piston back. I also left the worn pad on that side to have something disposable to pry against. Needless to say, I don't have a large clamp.

6. Take the caliper off again, remove the old pad if necessary, then remove the caliper carrier by removing the two large bolts on the back (inside). I found it easier to replace the pad clips with the carrier out of the car.

7. Remove the set screw from the rotor (between a couple of wheel nut holes). My potentially faulty memory is that this was a T-30 Torx screw. Remove the rotor from the hub. You will probably find this easier if the parking brake is released. I know I did. Some friendly persuasion from a heavy hammer is again helpful. Unfortunately, due to the shield behind the rotor, access is a bit limited. Fortunately for me, tapping on the accessible portion followed by tapping it back into place did the job.

8. I know this will be controversial, but with the rotor off, I lightly took a bit of sandpaper to the hub to ever so slightly clean up the mating area for both the rotor and the wheel. My goal wasn't to make things perfectly smooth, but to level off the small bits of rust that will inevitably be there.

9. Re-assembly is just reversing everything. Attach rotor and install it's set screw. Attach new clips to the caliper carrier and install the carrier. Install pads. I put the new wear sensor on at this point, threading the free end through the caliper. Might be better to wait until after the caliper is on to install the sensor. Install the caliper and attach the wear sensor. Install wheel/tire.

Here's a couple of photos of my rear brake system - the passenger (starboard) side.View attachment 158717
General orientation. Front of car to the right. Set screw for rotor attachment visible at about 8 o'clock position.

View attachment 158718
Looking at the leading edge of the brake. Wear sensor connection just to the right of center. Upper caliper attachment bolt is above the wear sensor and slightly aft (to the left) into the accordion rubber piece. Pad anti-rattle clips are visible on the outboard side of the carrier. These clips are not installed correctly. The clip should be nearly flush with the caliper.

View attachment 158719
New anti-rattle clips. Top two are mirror image of bottom two. On the left side (as viewed here) of the clips you can see a little piece with cutouts. These go toward the center of the carrier.

View attachment 158720
Here are the old clips still on the carrier. The bottom clip is out of place and should be much further toward the center of the carrier.

Have you greased/lubricated the pins?

 

[ptheland]

Have you greased/lubricated the pins?

I did not. The rubber accordions were in good condition and the pins moved very smoothly. The pads had also worn very evenly between the inside and outside. I'm only an amateur wrencher, but I usually see a lot more difference in wear between the inside and outside pads. Therefore, I thought it best to leave them alone rather than attempt to re-lube the pins and risk making things worse.

 

[ptheland]

Have you greased/lubricated the pins?

Your question made me go back to the WIS and check the steps again to see if I missed that. I don't see re-lube or inspection of those pins in the procedures there for either the brake pads, the brake caliper or the brake disk. But maybe I'm still missing it. It's all in pretty tiny print and I'm having a harder time with small print these days. What I did miss was to lightly grease the hub before installing the new brake disk. That would help with the bit of rust I noted there. It might also help with removing the wheel.

It's tempting to revisit that while my memory is fresh and the parts are not stuck together. To remove the brake disk, I don't think its necessary to remove the caliper from the carrier. It looks like you can just move those two out of the way as an assembly to get at the brake disk.

 

[220817a]

Your question made me go back to the WIS and check the steps again to see if I missed that. I don't see re-lube or inspection of those pins in the procedures there for either the brake pads, the brake caliper or the brake disk. But maybe I'm still missing it. It's all in pretty tiny print and I'm having a harder time with small print these days. What I did miss was to lightly grease the hub before installing the new brake disk. That would help with the bit of rust I noted there. It might also help with removing the wheel.

It's tempting to revisit that while my memory is fresh and the parts are not stuck together. To remove the brake disk, I don't think its necessary to remove the caliper from the carrier. It looks like you can just move those two out of the way as an assembly to get at the brake disk.

See attachment below...

 

[ptheland]

OK. That's the steps for reconditioning the brake caliper guide. So where in the steps for changing the brake pads and/or brake rotor does it say to recondition the brake caliper guide?

My comment was not that such a guide did not exist. Pretty much everything is covered in the WIS. It was that re-lubing the pin is not a part of replacing the brake pads or the brake rotor.

 

[220817a]

OK. That's the steps for reconditioning the brake caliper guide. So where in the steps for changing the brake pads and/or brake rotor does it say to recondition the brake caliper guide?

My comment was not that such a guide did not exist. Pretty much everything is covered in the WIS. It was that re-lubing the pin is not a part of replacing the brake pads or the brake rotor.

Logically... When do you think that reconditioning of the caliper should happen? When you change engine oil?... transmission fluid?... Or maybe when you change tires? I think you do that when you change brakes. Don't you think so?

 

[manwithgun]

A frozen slider pin is one of the few things that can go wrong with brakes (seems more common on the front though). My protocol is to lube them up whenever the brakes are done. With the caliper bolt out, the job is practically already done. A torn boot might be the lead factor in a pin freezing, but a lubed pin cannot freeze. For DIY’s on higher mileage vans or those without a service record, I would even suggest replacing the boots with the money you’ve saved from bypassing the service bay. True preventative maintenance.

Another note regarding rear brakes. If the emergency brake lever has increased in travel along with reduce effectiveness, the E-brake material has a tendency to come loose from the shoe which creates a gap, rendering them useless.