After replacing my rear pads, I decided to do the front pads, which I thought would be a piece of cake. NO WAY. The pads, which I checked again with the store, are about 1/8" wider than the caliper.
Any ideas as to what is going on or better yet a remedy?
Thanks.
(I knew it was going too smooth)

Did you force the piston all the way into the caliper? If not, the new pads won't fit. One way to do this is with a large "C" clamp. While you're squeezing the piston into the caliper, the brake fluid level will rise in the master cylinder reservoir, so you'll have to monitor that level.

Or, attach a hose to the caliper's bleeder valve, route to a suitable container and just barely 'crack' the bleeder to allow excess brake fluid to escape. You'll also find it takes less force to fully compress the piston back into the caliper.

Something else to keep in mind while working on these: it's very common for the caliper sliding pins to sieze up. If the caliper doesn't move freely back-and-forth on these pins, you'll have erratic braking action and the pads will wear unevenly.

If I recall, NAPA stocks the rubber boots and other hardware for these.

If you find your calipers are really Hammered, a set of rebuilt calipers is the best way to go. You can get them "loaded" with pads or "unloaded". Just slap 'em on and go!

HTH and G'luck.........ed

Thanks for the info.
It's like the calipers is out of alignment. I smacked the pivot pin, thinking that was the problem, though it didn't budge. There is plenty of room after I used the C clamp. Is the pivot bolt adjustable?
I may have to put the old pads back in and take it to the dealer!
ANY OTHER IDEA?

Whatever you do, don't take it to the dealer for brakes unless you're spending someone else's money. There are plenty of places to get brakes done for much less than any Isuzu dealer.

My non-Isuzu front brake pads were slightly large for my calipers. The actual metal part of the pad--the pad 'frame' for lack of a better term--was too large for my caliper. I used a bench grinder to remove half a millimeter or so of material and the pads were still snug in the caliper. If you don't have a bench grinder, a coarse file would probably work. Obviously, you don't want to remove too much material. Too small could be dangerous.

OTOH, you could always take the pads back to the parts store with the caliper in hand and exchange them for some that fit better.

When you say itÆs out of alignment it kind of sounds like your pins are frozen up and the caliper canÆt slide over. Sometimes you can pry the caliper off the pin if they arenÆt to frozen, then wire brush the pins if there not bent, then use allot of anti seize on the pins to keep them from locking up again. If it wont come off that way unbolt the piece that holds the caliper pins, 2 21mm bolts I think, then you can try to get them free with a vice and hammer.

I've run out of time. I put the old pads back on and will take it to the local shop to see what they find out. At least I got the rear pads on. Guess a monthly mechanic can only do so much.
Thanks for the help. I'll let you know what happens.
I hope its not too big of a $hit.