Ford Freestyle 2006 brakes link for future reference. Front seemed to be ALMOST as easy as advertised. The trick was that the caliper would not slide off as advertised. The inside brake pad was stuck to the caliper piston. This made the whole assembly loose, but would not come off. Use a strong light, to find the right area for prying, then attempt the screwdriver removal of the backing of the pad while still in place.

Do you know where to find them?

1) Two Dollars
2) A refrigerator with a padlock.
3) Huge tracts of land!
4) Some 3-in-1 oil and some gauze pads. Ten quarts of anti-freeze, Quaker State.
5) A cool dry place.
6) Maraca nut tree sap.
7) Some new words of wisdom, the old ones just bore me to death.
8) Red Rider BB gun.
9) A rug, to really tie the room together, man.
10) A carpenter’s cup.
11) Some art, a Picasso, or a Garfunkel.
12) A mask, they are terribly comfortable.

So I settled on a solution due to my frustration with DirecTV DVR’s. The user interface doesn’t justify the monthly fee. I was not looking forward to paying up, or signing a contract for HD service. So I built the HD TV antennae. Still works great, and ran it to the above HDD DVR and then the new TV. The HDD DVR software is a step back, to a classic VCR type interface. Set time and date for single event or repeating programming. Recordings are Standard definition, but you can take out the commercials, and then high speed record to DVD. I also use the HDMI output to provide picture in picture. So I was going to purchase at least a unit to provide another tuner.

There are other units out there, some solutions require a dedicated a computer, on all the time. This unit turns itself on, and sits silently with standby power to the timer, buttons, and IR receiver only. Anyway, I put the standard definition DTV on vacation hold. This unit has no monthly fees and the unit has paid for itself. So I am investing in another one. Before you pay for another receiver, or upgrade your cable DVR’s consider how many of the programs you watch are free anyway!

0:30

Let’s see, to simplify the steps, since I will obviously have to do rear brakes on this car every 20 to 40 k miles. Parking brake cable remains attached. Two different sized bolts involved. The 15mm are holding the caliper bracket (only comes off for rotor removal). Bust two of those loose, and leave them, then work the two 13mm bolts. These screw into the back of the caliper mounting pin. When re-attaching the 13mm bolt, there is some aligning to do, flat portion of the caliper pin has to be horizontal to guide this back in. Take note when removing. Emery cloth worked great to smooth the edge so the caliper would slide off the rotor. The caliper can come apart, and be placed to the side, so the 13mm bolts are the first ones to remove completely. When they are off, separate the caliper from the rest of the bracket to gain access to the threaded piston. To replace the rotor, the bracket has to come off as well.

A handy tip is, after turning the caliper piston by hand with the special tool, run it in with your drill. Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Stop at proper orientation or run back to grab the post on the brake pads. Also, I’ll need a real T-40 torx bit and new screws if going to use, what some say is optional, rotor hold down screw. Going back together was straighforward except for the two tips mentioned above. Three hour job including a trip to the hardware store once it was determined that metric sockets do not have clearance for the removal steps.

Anyway, I hoped the hot water heater would need replacement, and I would get to do two jobs at once. Nope. So a few years back, I tore the mess out, and rebuilt it. Doesn’t do any good to have the thing strapped to the wall if the base is likely to slide right out from underneath. The part I didn’t want to mess with was the number they had done exposing the insides of walls and not replacing with fire resistant drywall. Ah, the fun.

Anyway, since I got around to drywall repair, patching and texture, I spent a good bit of time upside down crawling around in, under, behind, reaching, stretching. Oh, the joy of pulling nails in tight spaces!

Is there any advice in here? No, not really. But if your remodel, not demo, includes “I’ll just run the chainsaw through here and be done.” Maybe ask around a bit.