I just ordered front and rear rotors and pads for my 04, SLE. Are there any tricks or tips for changing the rotors and pads on these cars? I have been working on vehicles, mainly pick ups all my life, just havent even had the ol' Bonnie apart other than oil changes, tire rotation, tranny filter & fluid, bleeding brakes.

Very easy to do, should take about a hour or so. You will need a turn in tool for the rear caliper.

I did all ends of my 01' and was able to compress the calipers with a large c-clamp and a small block of wood. Pretty easy job.

You can do the rears with a C clamp, but you risk damaging the caliper. The piston needs to be turned a bit before it can be pressed in more then a few MM. You can if your careful turn it with a large channel locks. What I did was to tighten, the loosen the C clamp several times. And that rotated the piston enough to go in.

I did all four points on my 00' SSEi. I used needle nose pliers to spin down the rear calipers. Just make certain you have a good bite on it and try not to score or damage the piston surface. The front pistons i compressed with the old pads and a C-Clamp. I bleed the brakes down with a vacuum pump seeing I didn't have anyone around to pump the brakes for me at the time.

I put on new Raybestos rotors and pads. I went with the "Advanced Technology" ones. I got them from Rock Auto. I also had to replace the hub and bearing assembly on the rear drivers side. It was shot. The brakes, so far, are great. No special tools, the pistons in the rear brakes would have thrown me off if not for reading the replies in this forum. Thanks for the advise and help.

Glad we were able to help. If you need anything else, just ask.