claco

It's that time for my 03 Maxima: new pads and rotors. All in all, this is a straight forward job, although the last time I did this myself, it was disc/drum on an 01 Dodge Ram.

My question is: how tighly are the pads supposed to fit inside of the caliper bracket/pad clips?
The stock pads didn't come out without a small fight and the new pads fit snugly as well. Is this normal for this type of caliper?

mf05ser

They should fit just right. did you wire brush the bracket. also after wire brushing, a little never seize vever hurts. if they fit tight they will stick and wear faster than normal.

claco

Well, there was no rust on the retaining clips/sleeves the pads slide into in that groove. The telling tale is that the stock OEM pads didn't just slide/fall out either. Nothing a little grind on the pad ear ends won't cure. I just wasn't sure what the normal level if play is between the ears on the pads and the groove/sleeve is, and most instructions don't mention whether they should slide in with some, no, or much need for pressure.