Not sure if I should post this here or in the mod day section; either way is fine with me if someone wants to move this thread over.

Going to do my front brakes and replace wheel bearings. Not sure if anyone in the area has work they want to do, or just to see a newb mechanic either struggle or triumph through this repair but feel free to come on by.

Based on the other threads I read it looks like everyone says to just go to NAPA for brake and bearing parts so I figure these should be OK, yes (already have the rotors and pads)?

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Catal ... 0198690946

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Catal ... 0198690684

The repair seems pretty straight forward from what people have described and this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UQ7Yi706FU

How much time would everyone estimate for this? Keep in mind I don't have air tools like the guy in the video; is that essential? Obviously would need a torque wrench though.

Gonna try to do it either this weekend or next if anyone is interested in watching to learn from my struggles/mistakes or to give a hand, or if they also want to come by to work on their stuff since I have plenty of room in the garage to work out of the direct sun or rain. Located in the Portsmouth, NH area.

Finally started that project, but about halfway through I'm totally dead in the water:

Struggled a bit with replacing the inner and outter races for the bearing replacement since that wasn't noted in any of the videos I watched (maybe most don't replace?), but finally got it done and everything back together again there. Yeah!

On to the brakes.

I had to push the piston back in and was able to get it back in on the driver's side easy enough. On to the pads. WTF...could barely get the new ones back in (took WAY more finessing than I would have expected and from what I saw on YouTube) and when I did the retainer clip (?? not sure what else to call it) seemed to stick out further than it should. I progressed anyways. Put it all back together and sure enough at a loose fit the clip was dragging on the rotor. I figured it would all settle once I finished snugging down the caliper bolts. Couldn't even turn the rotor after that since there was sometime digging in way more than it should.

Tired of working on just the one side for more than 3-4 hours I figured I'd come back to it after working on the other side. Not so much. The same issue with the piston being out like the driver's side, but WAY worse in terms of the amount of effort to get it to budge. Tried a C clamp. Nothing. Tried knocking it back in with a block of wood and hammer. Nothing.

Not sure what else can be done for the piston and properly installing the pads, but I can't think of anything else and may have to tow this into a shop now.

Im sorry to hear you had so much trouble doing the breaks and bearings.

As for the bearings i never replaced the race because it wasnt damaged. If it is not etched or damaged from a busted bearing you dont really need to replace them.

The breaks should have been fairly simple. How bad did you need them done? Was the caliper piston fully extended where it wouldn't go back into the caliper? Did you open the brake fluid reservoir so it would be easier to push the piston in? Also use the old pad with a C clamp to push the pistons in simultaneously, that will help.

Hope this helps, if your taking it somewhere they will better understand what the issue is with the breaks.

Damn; wish I had asked before doing the races. Thought it was a standard thing. Oh well; that part wasn't too bad really once I found the right tool to do the job.

In terms of how bad I need to do this it's not an emergency like a daily driver, but certainly need it back on the road soon enough. It's also something I'd like to do if I can without having to take it to a shop since it seems like brakes are one of the easiest things to do and I'm embarrassed I'm having this much difficulty with them (have done them countless times on my motorcycles with zero issue). I might end up standing corrected after this experience.

I only saw the part about opening the resevoir after I had taken everything apart and pushed the driver's side pistons back in with no difficulty really (was able to do it by hand with just overized channel locks). After struggling with the passenger side I went back and read through everything again and opened the resevoir (by that I mean just taking off the cap, right?) and the pistons still wouldn't budge.

I tried using the C clamp with a block of wood since I had already tossed out the old pads. Just seems the big issue is just keeping things going in evenly really, right?

I started doing more reading and some people saying that there could be issues with dirty brake fluid getting into the master cyclinder and messing all that up; not sure if that might be my issue?

The passenger side should go in just as easy as the driver side. Sounds possible about old/dirty fluid but I'm not sure. You could have a frozen caliper then you would need to replace the whole thing or buy a rebuild kit...

Yes the block of would will help them both be pushed in at the same time. And just loose the cap to the resivior would be fine so it can breathe

OK, so after taking a breather from this repair/maintenance I finally have success getting it all back together! Turns our I just needed a bigger/stronger C clamp than the one I had.

Was too tired to go through the burnishing/bedding steps last night after working all day too, so I'll do that tonight; hopefully will be a success and will keep you posted.

After this experience I'm so glad I did it myself: Local Nissan dealership said they wanted $750 for the front bearings (they said don't rebuild, just replace the whole "hub" assembly since it costs the same when comparing labor), and $450 for the brakes and rotors. All in for me doing it: Pads and rotors - $110. Wheel bearings, races, and seals - $145. Feels good knowing I saved $1,000 in comparison to what the stealership would have charged, but I know they definitely inflated some costs.

In hind site it would have been hilarious to do a version of DIY's "Renovation Realities" TV series but instead called "Home Mechanic Nightmares" or something like that. I'm sure my caffine, lubricant, and fume induced rants of insanity would have been nothing short of entertaining to say the least. Probably would have to be on late night due to the string of obscenities coming from my mouth.

Good job! yeah the whole process is all labor and if you can do it you might as well at least try to do it all yourself. Good thing it worked out. Go have a brew

Update: Test drive and pad break in a success!

Now I think my liquor cabinet needs to be restocked with the money saved to celebrate this victory!

Actually, will be going into doing a couple other things like replacing my steering gearbox and spark plugs.