Changing Brake Pads

[WileyCoyote]

So I've always dint my brakes myself on my previous cars ('02 Corolla, '13 Dart) but looking at the 500L calipers, I'm not sure what I'll need to get them off so I can swap the pads. I have the pads ordered and I'm just want to know what other parts I should pick up and what tools make it easy.

Thanks

[WileyCoyote]

Because I got no responses I just worked my way through it and I'd thought I'd do a quick write up about my experience and a step by step how to. (Didn't take pictures though). Hopefully this helps someone.

NOTE: This is for front tires only and this is how I did it. If its not the way anyone else did that's fine. Whatever works for you.
1) Break loose the lug bolt with car on ground. Safely jack car so that tires are off the ground (jacking points were labeled on the side skirts on my trekking. They are denoted with downward arrows). USE JACK STANDS. Remove Bolts and tires.

2) First thing I did was remove the metal anti rattler clip on the front on the caliper. Use a little leverage to pry out one of the points. Once one is out the other shouldn't be an issue.

3) Next, on the interior wheel well side there are two bushings with plastic caps. One Higher and one lower. Remove the caps and use a 7mm Hex (Allen) key to unscrew the bolts underneath. You may need a bit of force to break them loose.

4) With those out, the caliper is not attached to the car however you may need to compress the cylinder to get it loose enough to remove the caliper. Keep and eye on your fluid reservoir to avoid overflowing. Remove old pads.

5) Inspect rotors. From what I know you want smooth rotors for maximum stopping. Don't forget the backside.

6) Using brake cleaner, try and clean off any dust or grease that has built up. Try to avoid the rotors.

7) This is the step others may differ but I've always done it this way. Use high temp grease (Usually comes with the pads, but make sure its for brakes) to put in the cradles (where the pads sit into the part still attached to the car). In my opinion this helps reduce clatter. Uses sparingly as there are 4 cradles per tire (and I use it a little later).

8) Using a C-Clamp (or something similar) carefully compress the cylinder all the way in. Watch the reservoir to make sure you don't overfill and bleed if necessary.

SIDE NOTE: THIS IS THE POINT WHERE YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE PUTTING THE CORRECT PAD ON THE CORRECT SIDE OF THE CALIPER AND THE CORRECT DIRECTION. THEORETICALLY IF YOU'RE FOLLOWING THIS YOU SHOULD BE GOOD AS I DON'T THINK THEY WILL EASILY GO ONE WRONG. IF IT'S FIGHTING YOU, YOU MAY BE DOING IT WRONG.

9) The interior pad clips into the cylinder (on mine and the Mopar ones THAT I REMOVED). You may have to bend the clips a little to make them fully clip in. Play with it.

10) Next, peel off anything that may be on your outer pad (mine had an adhesive film, yours may not). Then place the pad into the cradle. They should seat fully.

11) Now take the cylinder portion of the caliper, and slide it into place with the rear pad attached. The rear pad has cradles that are harder to see but they should also seat fully.

12) If correctly installed, you can now grease the bolts removed and reinsert them into the bushing. If you run into any problems with alignment check that the pads are seated correctly.

13) Tighten up the bolts, reinstall the clips by putting one end in the hole and use some leverage to insert the other. Check the other side if you're having trouble for exact alignment of the clip.

14) Reinstall the tires. Tighten bolts but don't torque.

15) Lower car and torque the bolts to 75 ft lb.

16) On a safe stretch of road test.

Being as I just did the change, the process is still fresh. I can answer questions if needed.

[DeSoulo]

Thanks again WileyCoyote and where did you source the pads and how much?

[Fabio13]

I might add to pump the brake pedal a few times before driving off the first time otherwise no brakes!

[WileyCoyote]

So as anyone with a 500L knows parts are tough to find. I called all the Napas, Autozones, Peo Boys, & O'Reily's (only parts stores in my area) and it would take 3-5 business days for them. Then I called the CDJR dealer in my town and apparently Mopar isn't Mopar because they're not an authorized dealer for Fiat parts. So off to Amazon I went. These are what I found:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S8D329W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_QkW9xbHNH1PGE

So two days later (Prime IS worth it) they came in. Just in time too.

[NGEN]

Great writeup!

FYI - we offer brake pads and rotor for the 500L. We will be changing the pads and rotors on our 500L in the coming weeks.

[WileyCoyote]

Awesome that you source the parts. Definitely keep you in mind next time if I have more time to wait for shipping. But the sensor on the pad sounded bad so I went with Amazon for speed of delivery.

[jlasinski]

I recently changed my front brake pads and rotors following your directions. Thanks for the help, made things go a lot smoother. I am having an issue with squealing noise coming from the pads like they are dragging. Can especially here at low speeds with windows down. They seem to be working well and stopping the car ok just squealing. What did i miss? Thanks, john

[KellyfromVA]

I recently changed my front brake pads and rotors following your directions. Thanks for the help, made things go a lot smoother. I am having an issue with squealing noise coming from the pads like they are dragging. Can especially here at low speeds with windows down. They seem to be working well and stopping the car ok just squealing. What did i miss? Thanks, john

Not a 500L, but I just did the brakes on my wife's 500 Sport. One thing I noted, was the new brake pads came with a lot of paint around the edges of the metal edges. When I slid the new pads in place, I thought they were too tight of a fit because of the excessive paint. I took the pads over to the workbench and filed off the paint where the pad slides across the mating caliper surfaces. Before putting them into the caliper, I coated both sliding surfaces with a light coating of high temperature metallic anti-seize (Permatex), being careful not to get any on the pad contact surface or rotor. Works like a champ!

As the OP discovered, these brakes are pretty simple to replace. The hardest part for me, was getting that little spring around the edges, then into the holes.

[Fiat500USA]

Not a 500L, but I just did the brakes on my wife's 500 Sport. One thing I noted, was the new brake pads came with a lot of paint around the edges of the metal edges. When I slid the new pads in place, I thought they were too tight of a fit because of the excessive paint. I took the pads over to the workbench and filed off the paint where the pad slides across the mating caliper surfaces. Before putting them into the caliper, I coated both sliding surfaces with a light coating of high temperature metallic anti-seize (Permatex), being careful not to get any on the pad contact surface or rotor. Works like a champ!

As the OP discovered, these brakes are pretty simple to replace. The hardest part for me, was getting that little spring around the edges, then into the holes.

I find a lot of aftermarket brake pads can come with that thick coating on the backing plate that frequently needs to be filed down so the pads can fit into the bracket without hanging up. The pads have to be able to slide in without force or they will get stuck for sure, so do what Kelly did and you won't have issues. It is best to do this in steps because you can overdue this as you don't want them too loose where they will rattle.

[jlasinski]

Thanks, I will try that. John

[WileyCoyote]

Great advice. Mine didn’t have any clatter or screeching but at good to there’s a solution here if I ever come across that issue.

Also so this is just a tidbit for the REAR BRAKES:

The rear brakes are like most brakes I have changed. They don’t have a specific hex key to undo just a normal socket (can’t recall the size) and there is no metal clip/clamp holding anything together. However, and this is the important part, TO DEPRESS THE CALIPER PISTON YOU NEED TO USE THE SPECIAL TOOL THAT ROTATES THEM INWARD. Trying toforce the piston back in will cause it to break. Now in my area Autozone “Loans tools” so I found a store with the tool and used it for a day and returned it. It was 100% free. Just had to pay for it like a security deposit and when I returned it I got all my money back.

[Ez2517]

Hi,

does anyone know the minimum strength of the brake discs ?

Brandy

[Robert Nixon]

Ez2517,
I'm not sure what you are asking about minimum strength of brakes, are you talking about torque settings to change them or something like that?

[Robert Nixon]

WileyCoyote,

thanks for pointing out the tool to depress the rear piston...I learned that when I was in the middle of a brake pad job last year! Bought the tool at an autocrats store, 10 bucks or something like that.