I need to replace my rear brake pads on my 2007 G35 Coupe. It's not the brembo model.

I've done brakes before on my old car but I just used a rachet to compress the piston in the caliper. The service manual for this car says i need a "disc brake piston tool".

Is this something special that i need to buy or can I use a vice grip or something similar?

The dealer is charging me $400 for both rear brakes versus $68 for just the pads.

 

Use a C clamp and your old pad to compress the piston. I have used a large pair of channel locks as well. Super easy, especially if you have worked on brakes before.

 

just did my rear brakes yesterday. you need a 4 way, 14mm wrench, and a c clamp. you dont need a caliper tool, u can compress it with the c clamp and old brake pad. i changed my serpentine belts too, and stripped the damn nut on the AC compresser tensioner pully. nissan wanted to charge me 80 bucks for labor since i already had the belt. Funk that, we unbolted the whole tensioner pully assembly and hammered a spiral socket on it and air ratcheted the motherfunker. me-1: stealership-0. you can definitely do these brake pads pretty quickly depending on your workspace and tools on hand. took about 15-20 mins per side tops.

 

I've always used a c-clamp and the old brake pad, but I actually saw one of the tools at Sears the other day. It was Craftsman and I think it was like $10. It basically looked like a c-clamp with a brake pad attached, haha.

Probably a little bit easier to use, but you definitely don't need it.

 

For you guys that replaced the rear pads, did you only remove the top caliper bolt, or the bottom one, or both? I've read contradictory info in the FSM and some DIY's on here!

 

I haven't worked on my G's brakes yet, but I don't know how you could replace the pads without removing the entire caliper. Just take both out and slide the caliper off the rotor.

 

When I did my rears I removed the top bolt only and a c-clamp to compress the piston if needed.

 

Just did it today on my 07 G35x - easy.

The caliper is quite wide and has the brake hose attachment opposite the piston, you'd need an awful large c-clamp! I used a screw type puller (harmonic balancer puller) between the piston and the outer pad mount, although now that I think about it a steering wheel puller might be a better tool due to small size. Use a piece of wood against the piston so you don't damage the boot.

Only other watch out is that you can't get a socket on the lower mount, you need a combination wrench to get it if you're planning on removing the rotor.

I haven't seen a tool list before, so here's what I used
Mount 19 mm
Caliper sliding bolt 14 mm
Bleeder screw 8 mm
Lug nuts 21 mm

 

How did you strip it? (Just curious, cuz I'm going to be changing this soon, and don't want to do the same thing) Did you use a 12 point socket instead of a 6 point socket?

 

Worst-case, if you don't have the proper tools, just push away. It's certainly harder to do it this way, but i've never had issues with it.