HELP... Rear Pad install

mpentico

New Member
Dec 7, 2004
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I attempted to install some Hawk HPS pads on the rear of my stang today before going to work in the afternoon...... and failed.

I purchased a universal caliper piston rotating tool and went to work.

Disassembly went fine, man my rear brake pads were baked!

Anyhow, the caliper piston rotates clockwise, but does not retract.
I even opened up the brake fluid line... no luck.
I checked to see if the parking brake was the problem, and disconnected the cable from the spring tensioner. Still no luck.
I even pried a screwdriver between the pads in an attempt to move the piston. Nothing.

As a last resort, I consulted the repair manual, nothing written there to indicate the piston should not move back.

Anyone else have this problem????:shrug:
 
both sides or just one? have you been power braking the car? how many miles on the car?


I only tried one side of the car... no time to check the other side.
Power braking? I do like to stop fast, and have had the car on the VIR road course a couple of times. The car has 48K miles on it. The original pads are mostly worn down and have cracks in the material. My car does have the parking brake freeze problem, but it is nearly 80 degrees today!
 
This is normal and happened to me also. The little box shaped tool that most auto parts stores sell would not fit mine. It wasn't big enough. In the end I took an old 1/2 drive socket to the grinder and made a tool myself. The piston will rotate without retracting if you do not apply enough pressure. You have to rotate the piston while pushing REAL hard. If you can push hard enough the piston will retract in about a turn and a half. You'll know it when it starts going down. Alternately, Summit Racing has a tool set that I think would work for 47.95 although I have not tried it yet myself. Hope this helps.

http://store.summitracing.com/egnse...DDS=1&Ntt=w89200&searchinresults=false&N=+115
 
This is normal and happened to me also. The little box shaped tool that most auto parts stores sell would not fit mine. It wasn't big enough. In the end I took an old 1/2 drive socket to the grinder and made a tool myself. The piston will rotate without retracting if you do not apply enough pressure. You have to rotate the piston while pushing REAL hard. If you can push hard enough the piston will retract in about a turn and a half. You'll know it when it starts going down. Alternately, Summit Racing has a tool set that I think would work for 47.95 although I have not tried it yet myself. Hope this helps.

http://store.summitracing.com/egnse...DDS=1&Ntt=w89200&searchinresults=false&N=+115

The Ford tool appears to fit over the entire surface of the piston and has a big handle, which would make pushing it much easier. I had to grind the universal brake piston tool to make it work.... but it is so small it is hard to turn and push at the same time. Guess I'll have to pump some iorn before making my next attempt.
Thanks.
 
+1, for the grinding of the autozone square tool, had to take the dremel to it, to make it work for my 01 GT, also as they said, make sure you are pushing in hard as you rotate it with the tool. Good luck.:nice: