I finally gave in on my CV boot job and had the shop do it. Not terrible, price-wise, considering the hell I was going through.

However, I've got another question.

When I originally took off the passenger front caliper carrier, it was stuck pretty tight to the rotor. The rotor wouldn't move much inside the caliper. Not wanting to screw with it, I set it aside and eventually just reinstalled in once I realized I couldn't do the CV boot job.

After reattaching the carrier, it was clear that the caliper was locked down pretty tight on the rotor - very hard to move the rotor. After mounting the wheel, I couldn't move the wheel by hand.

I took the car down and noticed the pad was rubbing slightly on the rotor, and especially in a turn to the left.

I've got pads/rotors ready to install, and I've heard that sometimes the caliper piston can extend too far when the pads get low. How can I retract the caliper enough to pull it off the rotor? If I remove the caliper first (not the carrier, just the clips), will that do the job?

Thanks.