Q: How do I take off the caliper when installing front brake pads?

Hello, thanks for writing in. Here are some steps to remove your brake calipers:

1. Jack up your XKR, after securing it, remove tire exposing the brakes and rotor.

2. Remove tension spring holding the calipers in the front using a flat head screwdriver.

3. At the rear of the brake caliper, there are two pillars with black plastic caps covering them. Remove the caps, and loosen both screws. These are star orientated bolts. Loosen these until they are roughly a half inch past the top of its pillar. (Note, on the rear brakes, the bottom bolt is a bit difficult to maneuver because of the brake fluid line, go slow and be careful not to strip it)

4. Once you have both bolts loosened, wedge your flat head screwdriver in between the pad and caliper slowly pushing it open to loosen the caliper. Once complete, you should be able to remove the caliper and pads from the rotor by simply pulling it off.

5. Remove old brake pads, and use caliper or c-clamp to push the brake cylinder back SLOWLY. Install the new brake pads with the pad that has the metal attachments first inside the brake cylinder.

6. Using your star key socket and ratchet, line up the caliper and bolts in the back and tighten. Do not forget to reinstall your plastic covers, this prevents water from rusting those bolts shut. As you reinstall the caliper pins, lubricate these pins with synthetic caliper pin grease. These two pins should stay in their original positions.

In the event, you are not able to perform a job such as this, I would recommend having an expert from YourMechanic come to your location to [replace your brake pads] https://www.yourmechanic.com/services/brake-pads-replacement. Best of luck!