How difficult is it to change brake pads for front and rear?

[CaliManDan]

Just wondering how difficult of a job it is to change the front AND rear brake pads for a 2003 Pontiac Vibe Base model. I called a few places and they are quoting around $400 to do the job. Seems ridiculous to me. So I'm wondering about doing it myself. Also wondering do the rears have that piston that needs to be compressed with a C-clamp to get them off? I know it had that for my Acura of the same year as this Pontiac.Do the brake lines need to be bled when changing brake pads?Any help/suggestions/tips to help me out would be great. I'm just looking for people to let me know if this job is not bad at all or if it's a pain in the ***.

[ou.grizzly]

http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=30457

[CaliManDan]

I saw that thread but it only shows the front brake job, not the rear. That's why I was asking about both of them. And even though that tutorial seems straight forward enough, sometimes when you actually sit down to do it, it's anything but. That's also why I asked people here personally if they found it to be easy or difficult.

[RIT]

Fronts are easy - never had to do the rear though. The rear are drum brakes on the base model - shouldn't be that hard.

[CaliManDan]

Can you tell just by looking with the tires still on which pads need to be changed? This is my girlfriend's car, so it's not in front of me at the moment. And I'm pretty sure only one set of brakes are squeaking (front or rears) but can you tell just by looking with the tires on or do you need to take the tires off and inspect to find out which pads are low?

[RIT]

Yes you can, but I'll put my money on the fronts.Here's how to tell. While driving on a stretch of road, with no cars in back of you, use the emergency brake to slow the car down. The e-brake operates on the rear brake. IF you hear the noise, then it it the rear brakes that are worn. If you don't hear it, then the noise was caused by the front brake pads - easy enough !