2013-2018 Nissan Altima front brake pads and rotors

Chock the rear wheels, put the transmission in Park with the parking brake set, and crack each front lug nut a quarter turn with the breaker bar. Doing this before the wheels are in the air keeps the front hubs from spinning against you.

Raise the front of the car with the jack under the reinforced pinch weld or the front subframe crossmember, and lower it onto jack stands positioned under the frame rails behind the front wheels. Do not work under a car supported only by a hydraulic jack. Once the stands are set, shake the car hard to confirm it does not walk off.

Pull the front wheels. Look at the outer pad through the caliper - if less than 3mm of friction material remains, replacement is overdue. Check the rotor for lip depth on the outer edge. A lip deeper than 1mm usually means the rotor is at or past its minimum thickness and should be replaced rather than resurfaced.

Before removing anything, use the piston compressor or a C-clamp against the outer pad to push the piston back into the caliper bore. This makes the caliper easier to lift off the fresh rotor later. Open the master cylinder cap first to let displaced fluid rise back into the reservoir. If the reservoir is already at MAX, siphon a bit off with a turkey baster before compressing - do not force old fluid backward through the ABS module.

The caliper slides on two 14mm guide pin bolts on the back of the caliper. Remove both bolts and slide the caliper straight off the rotor. Support the caliper with a bungee cord or a stiff wire hook hung from the coil spring. Never let the caliper hang by the flexible brake hose - you will damage the hose internally and not know until it fails weeks later.

Pull the old pads out of the bracket. Note their orientation and any wear-indicator tab position. Then remove the two 19mm caliper bracket bolts and lift the bracket off the rotor. The rotor should now slide off the hub. If it is corroded to the hub, thread two M8 bolts into the threaded jack-off holes on the rotor face and drive them in evenly - do not hammer the rotor face.

Wire-brush the hub face until it is bright metal. A rusty hub causes lateral rotor runout and comeback pulsation complaints. Wipe the new rotor down with brake cleaner to remove shipping oil - skip this and the first stop will smoke and stink for miles.

Set the new rotor on the clean hub. Reinstall the bracket bolts with a drop of blue threadlocker. Torque the caliper bracket bolts to 87 ft lbs (118 Nm). Verify against your service manual.

Fit the anti-rattle abutment clips into the bracket, then slide the new pads in. Smear a thin film of ceramic grease on the pad backing plate ears where they contact the abutment clips, and on the caliper slide pins. Do not get grease on the friction surface.

Confirm the piston is fully retracted, then slide the caliper down over the new pads. Reinstall the guide pin bolts. Torque the caliper guide pin bolts to 25 ft lbs (34 Nm). Verify against your service manual.

Mount the wheel and hand-thread the lug nuts. Lower the car and torque the lug nuts to 83 ft lbs (113 Nm) in a star pattern. Verify against your service manual. Before driving, pump the brake pedal firmly six to eight times until it is high and hard. Skipping this step means the first stop attempts to bring the car down with no piston travel - a very short stopping distance panic moment.