1980 Front Brakes

#1
New member here, I have an 1980 Wagon that has been in my family since 1990. I remember this car when I was a kid growing up and now it seems like every one of us "kids" have had the car at some point due to lack of a vehicle or a break down and lack of funds. The ladder is my predicament, my truck's radiator decided that it wanted to start leaking 1-2 gallons a day and no funds for a new radiator meant it was my turn in the 'yota.

All was well until last week when the right front brake started grinding and grabbing hard when braking. I figured it was time for a brake job, no big deal I can handle that. So I make my way to the parts house for new pads, rotors, and a bottle of DOT3 for good measure. Grand total $67 after tax - I can barely buy pads for my truck for the much. Felling good about myself I go home, get it up in the air, spin the lug nuts off, and crack a Rainier. That's where I get stuck... how do I manage to get the caliper off to change the pads/rotors? This is not my first brake job, not even my first brake job on a Toyota but I feel like an idiot and just can't figure it out. A walkthrough, link, video, anything would be much appreciated.

TL;DR 1980 Corolla Wagon need front brakes... parts are cheap but I can't figure out how to take off the caliper and rotors. I feel like a moron but wish to be enlightened.

tango_sierra
 
#3
I would hope you have it figured out by now but..... To remove the caliper you remove the two bolts holding the caliper bracket to the strut/knuckle. Once those are out you can remove the caliper from the rotor and remove the pads. once the pads are removed you can then pull the caliper off the slide pins and clean\grease those and reinstall the caliper. To get the rotor off you will have to remove the dust cap in the center of the hub, remove the wheel hub\bearing retaining nut and corresponding cotter pin( not in that order) and pull the whole hub from the spindle ( this is also a good time to replace front wheel bearings and seals). there will be 4 bolts on the back side of the hub bolting the rotor to it, remove them and discard the old rotor. Reassembly is the reverse of removal. tighten the bearing\hub nut up until you feel a slight drag on the bearings but not so tight as to make it hard to turn( sorry if that makes little to no sense).
 
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