Welcome to the TDR! Sometimes you can see the pads with the usual alloy wheels we have, but if you have a model with the steel wheels, or to correctly check both sides and inner and outer pads, the wheels should come off. I don't know your level of mechanical ability, but since most pads are bonded, and rivets are usually not a concern, I would pull them at the thickness of a nickel. In any case before metal meets metal.