take off the calipers (and wheels so you have more room)
- remove old pads (throw out the stupid dust shields),
- get you some brake cleaner and spray the caliper out like MAD - you might even pump the brakes up to push the piston out further, and spray all that.
-clean off the gunk with a old tooth brush or w/e you have
-clean your old rotors with some emory paper or that stupid green scrub pad your mom would use cleaning her counters or something. (get a new one though)
- so open the bleeder and have towel or catch can and push the piston back in.
-put in the new pads and bleed your brakes good to always be having fresh fluid in your system
i'd suggest TAKING them out anyhow, to clean them.
I guess I don't know what you mean by one side at a time? I put the new pads in, space the pistons apart and put it on the rotor. Then do the other caliper?
One at a time, meaning only one caliper pulled off at a time with the front wheel installed. That, or stuff the other one full of business cards to keep the pistons from pushing out.
If you want to keep it simple and just change the pads:
1) remove the calipers and don't remove the wheel
2) do not touch that brake lever one the pad it out.
If you do it like that, it's simple. (30 minutes for both front disks including taking out and putting away tools... that is if you don't have a stuck bolt).
When your brake fluide is due to be changed, you'll have to bleed you brake to change it anyhow... so decide to thoroughly clean your calipers then and change your pads at that time... but this will be a bigger job... especially if you don't have a special bleeding tool and you have to pump your brake to push out the fluid.
no special tool really needed to bleed your brakes. i've changed out a master cylinder and steel lines, and bled them through with in 10-15min of install after putting the mc and lines on.
but you really can't take out old pads, put in new pads. 99% of the time the new pads are thicker then the old ones, and will require you to space them out before you put it back on the caliper.
i've seen several and heard of several siezed calipers. you can almost contribute that to lack of bleeding, cleaning, and inspecting of brake systems.
Yes, cleaning is important. But you don't have to take the pistons out to do it. Nor do you have to break the system. New pads, full resivoir. The diaphram collapses as the pads wear. New pads, push the fluid back to the resivoir. No need to remove the cap. Closed systems don't change volume. Too many people keep topping off their brake system. As long as it's above the minimum mark, you're fine. In fact, opening the system is bad for it. You're just letting in more moisture.
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