Hi. I'm Mike from 1A Auto. We've been selling auto parts for over 30 years.
Hi there. This is Sue from 1A Auto. Today we're going to do rear brakes on a 2012 Equinox. We're going to take a 22 millimeter socket and a breaker bar and we're going to break the lug nuts off the wheel. Now with your vehicle up in the air or supported with jack stands, you remove the lug nuts.
Now I'm going to break free the caliper from the caliper bracket by removing these caliper slider bolts. This is a 14 millimeter wrench. Now in this particular 2012 Equinox it has ABS in it. When dealing with ABS on a brake service, you have to push the piston back with the bleeder screw open to avoid any ABS module damage. This is a 10 millimeter wrench. I'm going to put it on the bleeder screw, give it a quick snap. There we go. I like to turn it just about a half a turn. We're all set there. Use a catch basin to catch your brake fluid. Screwdriver or pry bar, slide this caliper right up.
I use a pair of welders clamps that I like to put inside the piston and I just give it a slight squeeze, till that piston bottoms out. This also gives me a chance to do a quick visual on the caliper piston boot. I'm looking for any tears or leakage. If you were to find them, you would have to replace the caliper. And this also is a good way to test the caliper, to make sure that it's not a seized caliper piston. Once closed, I re-tighten the bleeder screw. Release the clamps.
On this Equinox we have no place to hang the caliper to put no strain on the flex hose, so we'll just set it aside, right there on that upper control. Now it's time to remove the caliper bracket from the knuckle. This is a 15 millimeter wrench.
I use a pry bar especially when the bracket is frozen a little on there. Work it back and forth. Now with our caliper bracket on our bench I'm going to hammer out the pads. Noting once again the indicator goes on the inside of the bracket. Set it in a special order. Now I'm going to clean up the caliper bracket and sliders.
Now we're going to remove the rear rotor. This Equinox 2012 has a little mounting bolt. It's a Torx head T30. Make sure you set it aside. It's going to get reused. When removing the rotor from the hub, I like to use a penetrating spray right around where the hub hat meets. Let that sit in for a little bit. Then we'll hammer it off.
Here on this 2012 Equinox we're going to compare the old to the new and what to look for. This is the outer pad and wear right down there, right past three millimeter, so that's probably right around 1/32 in, one millimeter. You can see the rust that forms on the hubs and the inner well on that ring. Here's your new product from 1A Auto, Nakamoto, nice clean fins cooling down, same size hub, same weight distribution. OE fit.
Quick note on these rear brakes. You're going to see a rubber boot on some manufacturers. That is an indicator window for the ebrake shoes, the emergency brake shoes right on the inside of this hat. So we're going to make sure we take the old one out and transfer it over. I use that with a small screwdriver or a pry bar. You pull it right out. I relocate it right away. That way I don't lose it. Just give it a little push down in. There it is.
First thing I like to do is take a wire brush to clean the surface rust off. Use a little brake and parts clean. Then I'm going to clean the caliper tin. You can also buy brand-new caliper tins and caliper slider boots on 1A Auto. That's if you don't feel like cleaning them. If it's not in the budget, let's just do it right. You want to clean all the rust off and any dirt so the pads have a nice sliding surface. Going to do the same thing to the other side.
Now I'm going to take the caliper slider boot out. Just basically you pinch down on the rubber slot boot and pull the slider out. That's old manufacturer grease so I'm going to clean that off. You always want to apply brake caliper grease, nice thin coat to the slider. I like to put caliper grease on the inside of the boot. That keeps it flexible and I also get to check for any holes. You don't want any pin holes or rips on these boots because then water will get into the pin and seize it up from sliding.
Before I put the caliper tin back on, I put a little bit of that caliper grease underneath. This assures it not to get rusty and swell up and push that pad on tight and freeze it on the bracket. You do not want to put any grease on the upside for it will collect road dirt in the pad, dust and stop that pad from sliding back and forth. Now I'm going to do the same thing to the other side.
While I have the brakes off of my 2012 Equinox, I'm going to give it a quick visual on the emergency brake shoes. We're looking for any chips. Sometimes the bonding comes unglued and the shoe actually comes off the metal backing. At that point they'd have to be replaced. But here we get great shape, so I'll just clean them down with some brake parts cleaner, get rid of the old brake dust that stores in there. I'm also going to give ... This hub is nice and clean, but I'm just going to give it a quick, quick wire brush, just to get any surface rust off. I like to apply a thin coat of anti-seize, especially around the hub where it meets the rotor. It'll stop any rust buildup in the future. Just needs a nice thin coat.
I'm going to put the rotor on backwards for a second. So that way I can have it held without bothering anyone and clean off the clear lubricant coat that they put on for packaging. Then I'll just spin it around and do the same on the other side. I'm going to line up the mounting hole with the screw hole.
Here I have my mounting screw, torx T30. Make sure I start it in straight, and then just going to snug it up once it reaches the bottom. Before I mount the caliper bracket on the knuckle, I'm going to clean the old thread lock off the threads and apply a light coat of new thread lock. Just a light little dab and it'll go through all the threads all the way around. Set that aside and do the same to the other.
Now we're going to install the rear caliper bracket on the rear brakes of this 2012 Equinox. Slide it right in there. Grab the mounting bolt. Start it by hand. The head of this bolt is a 15 millimeter. I'm just going to snug it because the torque for these caliper mounting bolts are 92 foot-pounds.
Now we're going to install the pads. The one with the indicator goes on the rear inner edge. Slides right in. Line the ears up. Drop it down in. There you go. Now I'm going to place the caliper down. Once we have already pushed that piston back, let's slide right over. Now we're going to install the caliper bolts on the sliders. The torque on these is 20 foot-pounds.
Now that we have the rear brakes all together, caliper mounted on this 2012 Equinox because we had open the bleeder screw to push the caliper piston back, we're just going to gravity bleed it. No need to touch the brake pedal at all. We're just going to watch, make sure fluid flows out, no air bubbles. See the little air bubbles forming at the top there. We just want those to naturally fall right out. Once it's snug, bottomed out, just give it a nice half a turn. Use brake parts cleaner to clean it up. Put the cap back on and we're ready to go.
Now we're ready to put the wheel back on, the rear of this 2012 Equinox. We're going to lower it down just like you would at home with the floor jack, just letting it touch the ground enough to tighten these to the torque specs, 140 foot-pounds, and then you lower the jack the rest of the way. Now we're going to torque the wheel lug nuts in a star sequence. Once your brake job is completed and you've topped off the brake fluid, it's always a great idea to pump your brake pedal up before you start the vehicle or try to drive it.
Thanks for watching. Visit us at 1aauto.com for quality auto parts, fast and free shipping, and the best customer service in the industry.