The Ninth Generation Honda Civic is commonly referred to as the FB chassis. This 2015 Honda Civic Brake Install guide will show you how to replace Honda Civic brakes with just hand tools. Our guide will also help you upgrade brakes should you want more stopping power from your Honda.
As with all of our how-to guides, make sure to follow the proper safety guidelines when working on the vehicle. This 2015 Honda Civic Brake Install and today we’ll be installing brakes as scheduled maintenance.
2015 Honda Civic Brake Install
Our test vehicle is a 2015 Honda Civic EX, and we’ll be upgrading to a set of Centric brake components to help us replace Honda brakes properly. Parts we are using for our 2015 Honda Civic Brake install are as follows :
- 2 Centric 121.40040 C-Tek Standard Brake Rotor
- 2 Centric 121.40036 C-Tek Standard Brake Rotor
- 1 Centric 301.09140 Brake Pad, Ceramic
These parts will go into the Civic brake install, but you need to have a few things ready. Before you begin, these tools will absolutely be needed to complete the job.
The first one is a brake caliper press, or brake hand compressor. These tools are very cheap, and it’s imperative to have this tool before you begin.
Find the best price on brake caliper hand press by checking the links if you need one fast. The proper tools and equipment are vital when you want to complete any Civic How to Guide. Whenever you work on your own vehicle to save money, the last thing you want to do is damage or waste money.
This brake tool is used to compress the brake caliper back into the housing. Doing this without damaging the caliper piston boot is important. Do not use vice grips or wrenches to compress your brakes.
Honda Civic Brake Install – Prep
Ensure you are working on a flat surface before you begin. Use a breaker bar and loosen your front lug nuts. Raise your Civic and engage the parking brake. Make sure to chock the rear tires to make sure you are operating safely.
Always use automotive jack stands when working on your vehicle. Once you have the Honda raised safely, you can remove the front wheels.
At the beginning of our guide, I explained that you will need several tools. The next tool is an impact screwdriver. These brake tools help you remove the ABS screws that hold the brake rotor in place. Finding the best price to remove ABS screws from your brake caliper is easy enough to do.
Now that you have these screws removed, you must remove the Civic brake lines. These lines are rubber and connected to the upper front control arm of your vehicle.
Removing Honda Civic Brakes
When removing the screws, use a hammer and strike with firm heavy blows. This will prevent you from stripping these screws, which you definitely want to avoid.
This bolt is a 12mm in size, and should be removed in order to free your brake line as well as your Civic brake caliper. Next, look on the back of your Civic brakes to locate the bolts you must remove.
These Civic bolts are 12mm in size, and you will be removing the lower bolt only.
Once you have this Civic bolt removed, flip the caliper upwards to reveal your brakes.
There are two bridge clips you will be removing here. Notate the orientation of these Honda clips, and remove them. Now that you have these clips taken off, you can go ahead and pry out the old Honda Civic brake pads.
Now that this is done, you can remove the 19mm bolts that hold the caliper housing to the spindle. There is a lower bolt and an upper bolt that must be removed.
Installing New Civic Brake Parts
Take off these bolts and slide your Honda Civic caliper off. Secure this caliper safely using zip ties or a coat hanger. Never allow the brake caliper to hang, as that could compromise the integrity of your brake lines.
Removal of these Civic bolts may require a breaker bar or a hammer. Make sure you are keeping tension off the rubber brake lines.
Now that you have the Civic brake caliper removed, you can slide off the rotors. This may prove harder than you expected. Should you have problems removing your Honda Civic brake rotor, use a dead blow hammer to tap it loose.
Reinstall your Brakes
Slide on the new Honda Civic brake rotor, and screw in the ABS screws you removed. Use the impact screwdriver and install these screws with the same hammer and double check to make sure they are tight.
Now that part is done, you will be re-installing the Civic brake caliper.
Torque the upper and lower 19mm Civic bolts. Make sure you have these tight and secure.
Next remove the brake clips on your Civic, there should be new units that came with your pads. These metal brackets help hold your brake pads in place.
You are halfway through the front half of our 2015 Honda Civic Brake Install Guide.
Install these Civic brake clips and make sure they are flush against the caliper. Once these are in place, slide in your Civic brake pads.
Now it’s time to install new Honda bridge clips, these keep the pads aligned with the proper tension for optimum performance. Next you need to compress your Civic brake caliper to allow for clearance of your new pads.
Use your hand brake compressor to push the brake piston back into the housing. Use care to ensure that you do not damage your caliper boot.
Once you have the Civic brake compressed, you can slide the caliper back in place. Reinstall the 12mm lower caliper bolt, and you should be ready to rock and roll. Put your Civic wheels back on, and torque to the proper specifications.
Now head to the other side of your Civic, and complete the other front of your brakes. Next we move on to the rear of our 2015 Honda Civic Brake Install Guide.
Rear Honda Civic Brakes
The rear of your Civic is slightly different in that there is an E-Brake component to the rear caliper. For the sake of our guide, I will be showing you this section first to help eliminate any confusion.
Chock both the front and rear of your Civic wheels in front. Because there is no braking mechanism inherently in your Honda’s front wheels, you want to take extra precaution.
With the rear wheels removed, you can take a look on the back of your braking system. Much like the front of your Civic, there is a bolt that holds your brake line in place.
Remove this 12mm bolt to free the rear Civic brake line. Now turn your attention to removing the rear caliper housing from your Honda.
Remove the bolts that hold your brake caliper in place, and then slide the entire assembly from the rear spindle. You should have just enough clearance to slide off the caliper and e-brake assembly.
Yank off the rear Honda Civic brake pads, and from this point on it’s fairly easy to access and remove what you need.
Take off the Civic rear rotors, and you can then slide on the replacement units. You are nearing the end of our 2015 Honda Civic Brake Install guide, and with just a few more steps you’ll be done.
Now install the rear bolts to secure the entire rear Civic brake caliper. With this done, you can then remove the lower bolt to the caliper bridge.
Compressing the caliper in the rear of your Honda Civic is slightly different than the front. Using a flat head screwdriver, rotate the piston by leveraging the cross-hatch of the piston head.
Once you have screwed this piston in far enough, you can slide on the new brake pads and the caliper bridge. Torque the lower 12mm bolt and you have now replaced one side of the rear brakes in our 2015 Honda Civic Brake Install tutorial.
Repeat the process on the other rear wheel, and now you can re-install your Civic wheels and torque to specification. Congratulations, you have now completed our 2015 Honda Civic Brake Install guide, and should be ready to drive with peace of mind.
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