I am glad this works for people but doesn’t this procedure reduce the tension on the spring? If you wanted the heatsink to clamp tighter on the chip then you would need to raise the center of the spring plate.

I just broke my pads so commenting here for anyone that is looking for actual instructions on the easiest and safest ways to remove these pads.

1. First off, I just want to note that these pads are not all rubber. They are a rubber cap that is set into a plastic cylinder. If you try to pry them off by going under the rubber cap you will most likely just separate the rubber cap from the cylinder and there is no way those pieces will fit back together nicely. DO NOT PRY THEM OFF if you want to reuse them.

2. The best method of removal was suggested by Mario Vega. The pads are hollow in the center so you can take anything that is about 2mm in diameter and plunge it through the center of the rubber cap (I used a 1.5 flat head screwdriver)

3. From the center you can pry the pads up and the whole thing should come out, exposing the security screws underneath.