---
title: 'How to Install Windshield Wiper Brakes'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=eMapKS5ax3o'
video_id: 'eMapKS5ax3o'
date: 2026-08-05
duration_sec: 607
---

# How to Install Windshield Wiper Brakes

> Source: [How to Install Windshield Wiper Brakes](https://youtube.com/watch?v=eMapKS5ax3o)

## Summary

This video provides a comprehensive guide to replacing windshield wiper brakes, using a Mustang as an example but noting the process is similar across most vehicles. It covers common symptoms of worn wiper brakes, the tools and parts needed, and a step-by-step installation procedure, concluding with a successful test and a humorous April Fools' twist.

### Key Points

- **Introduction and Scope** [00:00] — The video demonstrates how to replace windshield wiper brakes using a Mustang, but the process is similar for most makes and models.
- **Location of Wiper Brakes** [00:28] — Wiper brakes are located at the base of the windshield wiper stalk, often hidden under dust boots that need to be removed for access.
- **Symptom 1: Incorrect Resting Position** [00:40] — A common symptom of bad wiper brakes is the wipers not resting in the correct position, as the brakes fail to stop them at the right spot.
- **Symptom 2: Wipers Travel Too Far** [01:10] — Another symptom is wipers overshooting and hitting the A-pillar, which can damage paint. This happens because the brakes aren't slowing them down.
- **Symptom 3: Squeaking or Screeching** [01:28] — Squeaking or screeching wipers are often misattributed to bad blades, but it's actually the wiper brake pads' wear indicators making noise. Not all cars have these indicators.
- **Debunking Mechanic Scams** [02:10] — The host emphasizes that replacing wiper brakes is not difficult and that mechanics claiming otherwise are trying to scam customers.
- **Choosing Quality Brake Pads** [02:24] — It's important to buy high-end wiper brake pad sets, which restore the wiper rest location, eliminate squeaking, and have a 30% longer life.
- **Kit Contents** [03:18] — Each kit includes a brake caliper, two brake pads, springs, screws, nuts, and bolts. One kit is needed per wiper blade.
- **Step 1: Remove Wiper Blades** [03:45] — Fold the wiper blade up, press the button at the base, lift and wiggle to remove. Repeat for the other side.
- **Step 2: Remove Wiper Shroud** [04:14] — Carefully remove the wiper shroud (cowl) to access the wiper brake assemblies, being cautious not to crack it.
- **Step 3: Clean Area** [04:44] — Clean out dirt and debris from the wiper area using a brush and vacuum to prevent contamination that could cause squeaking.
- **Step 4: Remove Wiper Sprocket** [05:10] — Use locking pliers to clamp and pry off the wiper sprocket, which is splined to the shaft.
- **Step 5: Remove Caliper Bolts** [05:24] — Use a 3mm Allen wrench to remove the two bolts holding the caliper. Place a towel underneath to catch any small parts.
- **Step 6: Remove Old Pads and Rotor** [05:54] — Remove the caliper top, brake pad, and rotor. Note the worn pad material and black marks indicating overheating.
- **Step 7: Install New Pads** [06:21] — Install locator pins, slide the first pad with material facing up, add springs, rotor, and second pad with material facing down.
- **Step 8: Torque Bolts** [07:08] — Torque the caliper bolts to 8 foot-pounds (96 inch-pounds) to ensure secure installation.
- **Repeat on Passenger Side** [07:24] — Repeat the same process on the passenger side, including using a towel to catch parts.
- **Reassemble and Test** [08:22] — Reinstall the wiper cowl and blades, ensuring they are clocked correctly. Test the wipers to confirm proper operation and clearance.
- **April Fools' Twist** [09:31] — The video ends with a cameo from 'Chris' needing wiper brake replacement, and the host reveals it's an April Fools' joke.

### Conclusion

Replacing windshield wiper brakes is a straightforward DIY task that can save money and prevent damage. By recognizing the symptoms and following the step-by-step process, anyone can restore proper wiper function.

## Transcript

how to replace your windshield  wiper brakes in your vehicle. Now in this case we're going to be using my  Mustang but don't worry the process is very   similar for most makes and models out there, if not almost identical so after you're done  
watching this video you'll know how to  replace the wiper brakes in your vehicle. the wiper brakes are located right at  the base of the windshield wiper stock, you can see actually the brake rotor right there  and the other wiper brake rotor is right there.
it helps give it a little bit  more airflow to cool them down. it probably has those dust boots  so you won't be able to see them. 
take off those dust boots, and  you'll be able to get to them. Well in this case there are three common symptoms:  the first one you can see clearly right here,
the resting position is incorrect.  So the wiper resting position is   and it's because the brakes aren't  stopping it in the right spot,   Now the second symptom of bad wiper  brakes is if the wipers go too far,  
so the brakes aren't slowing the wipers down, you can see right there it's hitting this a-pillar   which is going to damage the paint which isn't  good so if your wipers are going too far like that   And the third and final common symptom  of having bad wiper brakes is when you  
go to use your wipers and they go across  the glass, they screech or they squeak... Most people think this is a bad wiper blade but  it's actually incorrect it's the wiper brake pads. The little wear indicators on them make noise  to let you know they need to be replaced.
Not every car has wiper brake pads with wear  indicators so sometimes they won't squeak,   but it's just another common symptom to  let you guys know you need wiper brakes. So now you know all the common symptoms  let me show you how to replace the wiper  
Now as always we're using common hand tools that   way you guys could get this job done  at home, yourself, no problem at all. So if your mechanic is telling you "Hey,  wiper brake pads are really difficult to  
run, he is lying to you, he's trying to scam you  and that's exactly why I'm making this video. pads yourself you want to make sure you get  high-end windshield wiper brake pad sets.
They make high-end brake pad sets for vehicles  so their wiper brakes are amazing as well. And as you can see it says right there  it restores the wiper rest location
For this kit I went with all season wiper brakes, And this kit is also a universal kit, as I said,  almost all the wiper brake pads are the same for  
most makes and models the only difference is going  to be on high-end cars that go really quickly. They use bigger brakes because they need more   You can also see it says it eliminates squeaking  and it has a 30% longer life which is good.
Plus as you can see right above the barcode, bringing back manufacturing and jobs to the  United States one wiper brake pad set at a time.
So you can see why it's so important  to go with a a good brake pad set, and you need one kit for every wiper blade so we have our brake caliper,  we have our two brake pads,  
We have springs, screws, nuts  and bolts... stuff like that  And that's everything you're gonna need  so those are all the tools and products. I'll be sure to include everything in the  description so you can easily find it let's  
get our safety glasses on and let me show you how  to replace the wiper brakes on your vehicle and   the first thing we need to do is we need to get  under this cow so that we could get to the brakes   so let's remove our wiper blades and removing the  blades is pretty simple just fold this blade up  
like that and then at the base of the wiper blade  there is a button that you want to push outwards   like that and then you just grab the bottom of the  wiper blade you lift up and you give it a little   wiggle and it should come right off so same thing  with the other wiper lift it up pressing that  
little button and wiggle it out good now let's  remove the wiper shroud and you want to be careful   here to make sure you don't crack it well that was  damaged anyway so we'll just install a new one so   let's just pop this one out and check it out now  we have access to our wiper brake assemblies and  
our brake rotors look to be in pretty decent shape  a little warm but not bad the brake calipers look   great so we'll have to open this up and check the  brake pads and the same thing with the passenger   side you can see our brake rotor looks to be in  pretty good shape here our brake caliper is in  
great shape we're just gonna have to check those  brake pads but before we go and open anything up   you can see all this dirt and debris here let's  clean that out because that's something that could   get into the brakes and cause them to squeak so  we want to make sure that is nice and clean so I'm  
just using a brush to loosen up the dirt and then  sucking it up with a vacuum so with all the dirt   and debris removed and this all cleaned up now let  me show you how to replace the brake pads first   we need to get this wiper sprocket off so get  some locking pliers and clamp down and then pry  
this off carefully good and you can see there are  splines here that spline to the shaft so we need   to remove this in order to get the brake rotor off  so with that removed now we can remove these two   screws here that hold this caliper together so  we can get the pads and rotor off but before we  
do that when we unscrew this there's going to be  small brake pads screws Springs all things that we   could easily lose in the depth of our wiper area  so what I like to do is I like to get a towel and   spread it out that way if anything drops it drops  into our towel and not into the abyss now let's  
unscrew these two bolts using a three millimeter  Allen wrench now let's crack this bolt loose good   and loosen it up the rest of the way and make sure  we don't drop it and then we'll do the same exact   thing for the other bolt loosen it up the rest  of the way and there we go now the top of the  
caliper comes off and then next we have our brake  pad which could come off and check it out you can   see how worn down the brake pad is it barely  has any pad material left and those black marks   signify that this has been overheated so it's a  good thing we're replacing it next we could take  
our brake rotor off that just slides right off  like that and then we need to be very careful   here you can see there's a spring there and a  spring there that's very small on these pins we   need to make sure we don't lose those I'm going to  take the spring off take that other spray ring off  
then we can remove the pin and remove that other  pin and now our second brake pad could come out so   out with the old worn out wiper brakes and in  with the new ones and look at that difference   there now to install the new brake pads first we  have to put these locator pins in then we could  
slide our brake pad over those locator pins making  sure the pad material is facing up then we need to   very carefully get these springs on the locator  pins then we can add our brake rotor and finally   we could add our second brake pad making sure the  pad material is facing down get on those locator  
pins just like that you can see the spring pushes  these two brake pads apart that way it doesn't   have parasitic drag on these wiper arms and now  we'll get our caliper on beautiful then let's   tighten down these two bolts by hand don't over  tighten them and then we need to torque these down  
to eight foot pounds or 96 inch pounds which is  very important so these brake pads are secure and   one last thing to install is the wiper sprocket  so line up the splines and then lightly tap it   into place good so what with our entire windshield  wiper brake pad assembly completely done on this  
side let's move over to the passenger side and  do this one so first let's clamp onto the wiper   sprocket and pop this off then we could unscrew  the bolts holding the caliper in ah wait a second   almost forgot the towel and without the towel you  know for sure something would have dropped down  
there okay now we could remove this bolt then we  could loosen and remove the other bolt as well and   you can see the caliper hats coming off with it  next we could remove the brake pad then the brake   rotor and then the two Springs that are on the  locator pins and finally let's Slide the other  
worn brake pad off so out with the old and in with  the new then we can get the Springs back on the   pins good get that rotor back on and then we could  get the second pad on and finally let's get the   caliper hat on and hand tighten both bolts to hold  it in now we can torque down the bolts to spec  
good and the last thing to do is line up the wiper  sprocket and carefully tap it in so the splines   mesh good so now both the passenger side and the  driver's side wiper brake assemblies have brand  
new brake pads in there let's go get our wiper  cowl on there get our wiper blades installed and   try it out so out with the old and in with the  new and let's get this in place and carefully   snap it in on the driver's side like so and then  let's get the passenger side tucked in as well  
and finally let's install the wiper blade so  we could test these out and remember these   wiper blades need to be clocked in the correct  position we don't want them to be up like this   we want them to be down like that so let's get  this in place and try to line it up and beautiful  
now we could do the other one as well get this  lined up perfect all right so the moment you   guys have been waiting for do the wiper blades  work properly after replacing the wiper brakes  
perfect that is exactly what we want to see not  only are they going up they aren't touching the   a-pillar like they were in the past check this  out perfect clearance that is right on there   those bricks are spot on we're coming down to the  correct resting position here as well which is  
exactly what we want so that is a job well done as  always I hope this video was helpful oh well who's   that check it out what's going on dude I wasn't  expecting you here perfect timing how you doing  
Chris I've been out on the road in the US for  a while just finishing up the road trip but my   wiper blades aren't going down all right well this  is good timing because I just finished a video on   how to fix this common problem so I'll take care  of that for you but first let me end my video here  
so that's everything you need to know on how to  replace wiper brakes now I need to go fix smee's   car so we can finish up his American road trip  safely so I hope you guys enjoyed the video if it   know how to replace their wiper brakes that way  they could learn how and as always all the tools  
and products are linked down in the description  so you could easily find it oh yeah April Fools