Replacing your Hyundai Elantra's brakes is a relatively quick and simple job, even for amateur home mechanics. If you have all of the proper tools at your disposal, you should be able to replace all four sets of brakes in about an hour. Since the Elantra model line launched in 1991, the Elantra has always used pad brakes and the brake design has largely gone unchanged. These instructions can be followed for any model year of the Elantra.
Park the car on a flat surface where you can comfortably work on all sides of the car. Put it in neutral and turn it off.
Put wheel chocks behind each of the rear wheels.
Loosen all the lug nuts on the front wheels slightly using the tire iron. Don't loosen them all the way or remove them.
Slide the floor jack under a solid part of the suspension on the front end of the car. Carefully jack the car up until it is high enough for you to be able to slide jack stands under the front axle.
Slide two jack stands under the front axle. Position each one about two feet in from each side of the car. When they're in place, slowly and carefully release the pressure on the jack and lower the car onto the stands.
Remove all of the front lug nuts using the tire iron. Pull both of the front tires off the wheel spindles.
Examine the front brake calipers, which are the large metal components connected to the brake calipers. They're made up of a large bottom part called the caliper mount, which holds the brake pads, and a smaller top part that acts as a cover over the mount and pads. These two halves are held together with bolts. Depending on the year of your Elantra and whether or not it has aftermarket brakes, the particular type of bolts may vary. Depending on the bolt style, remove all of these bolts using a screwdriver, hex wrench or pair of pliers.
Approach one of the calipers with a flat head screwdriver and a pair of replacement brake pads. Take the top part of the caliper off and set it on top of the rotor while you work. Make sure it doesn't dangle by the brake line. Try to pull the old brake pads out of the caliper mount by hand. If they're stuck to the rotor, which is fairly common, use the screwdriver to pry them off and then remove them.
Slide the new brake pads into the caliper mount in the same way the old ones were installed. When the new pads are in place, put the top half of the caliper back on the caliper mount and replace its bolts tightly.
Repeat steps eight and nine on the other front caliper.
Replace both front tires, then screw on and tighten all of their lug nuts.
Slide the jack back under the front of the car's suspension and jack it up so that it lifts off the jack stands an inch or two. Pull the jack stands out, then slowly lower the car back to the ground.
Move the wheel chocks to the front of the front tires, then repeat steps three through 12 on the rear wheels of the car.
