Compressing the ear caliper pistons

Did some searching and didn't find anything on this, so:
I needed to replace the rear brake pads on my '04. All the instructions say "Push on the left side of the caliper to press the pistons in so you have room for the new pads." Right. I couldn't get that to move them at all, it seemed. So got a set of channel-lock pliers and, opened to maximum, that let me grab the end of the left pad(at the outside of the locator pin hole) and the edge of the caliper and gently squeeze, and that did it, nice & easy.

Except for the rear piston(there are three). That one I inserted the old pad, stuck a short screwdriver into the pin hole and gently twisted, first up and then down; that pushed the rear piston in that last little bit.

This may make the real mechanics cringe, but it was all I could come up with. And it worked. If you know a better or 'proper' way, let us all know.

 

C-clamp or carpenters screw type clamp.

 

Are you saying clamp onto both sides of the caliper and squeeze?

 

use the C clamp with the old pad still in the caliper... gently crank it closed and the calipers open up.... it works like a charm...

 

Ok, with the old pads in, use the clamp to squeeze the whole thing. Damn, I've got a bar clamp that would've worked well for that.

Thanks, I'll remember it

 

Pressing the caliper towards the disc with the pads still installed always worked for me. This would be step 1, before you even take anything apart.

 

Possible I just didn't push hard enough. Though- hopefully- it'll be quite a while before I need to try again