changing front dics brakes

[HerCUNTness]

DO NOT LET HUBBY DO THIS!!!! I made that misstake. had to buy brake fluid and what a mess!

The store will tell you that you automatically need to but calibre's with your pads. They lie. get the pads and leave.

In Philadelphia (pa) they have an inspection on the pads. they measure the wear . Its a joke. They want you to fail for pads so that you pay for them to replace 'em. In NJ and Va they just drive and stop the car to see if they are good enough.

To replace the pads... take make and model of your car ( such as... ford mustang GT 98) tell the guy at the shop you want front disc pads ONLY. Your not interested in calibre's or rotors. get pads.. go home.

make sure hubby is asleep, out somewhere in another car, whatever. If he's home its a manly thing for them to come outside and fuck up your sanity. They do! (its like a dog who bites , runs away and comes back to bite again.) They wont let well enough alone.. and have to keep coming back to fuck with you .

Take tire off. Find wrench that fits and remove the calibre from the wheel. Once you have the calibre out remove the discs. The bottom dics will come out easy. the top one will be more dificult. take the bottom disc and place it pad on pad to the top stubborn one. hit it with a hammer to both get the pad out and push back the jets that come out. There should be 2 jets(bolts) that push on the top pad. These jets(bolts) need to be pushed back in to properly place new pads. If this dont work use a 3" clamp. get those jets(bolts) pushed back. Remove both old pads.

Put new pads in. Place calibre with new pads back on wheel. It sometimes needs some elbow greese..... brace yourself and make it happen.

put tire back on and remember to tighten lugs in a star pattern.

Tell hubby that your car passed inspection and never mention anything further.

[Josie]

Pictures. A must. And a better explanation, please. I was hoping to really learn something in this thread :(

[Negativecool]

Pictures. A must. And a better explanation, please. I was hoping to really learn something in this thread :(
Sentence structure and grammar tells me this is the best explanation you'll get out of Her.

[Scarlet]

Why bother?
I can buy a new car for under $50,000

[Cúchulainn]

Who are we kidding? Women belong in the kitchen, not the garage.

[TopGrey]

I'd have to say that you won't get my wife anywhere near changing the discs. Why? Because she married me, the "i'll do it to save money" guy. Anyway, it's calipers, not calibres. And to be honest I believe that what they want you to purchase is actually the disc to which the pads apply pressure. You can, usually, get away with replacing just the pads the first time, but the second time you should, at minimum, get the discs "turned". However, for the cost, you should just replace the discs and be done with it. Hell, you already have the caliper (with pads) off, why not change the discs while you are there.

In the end, I do find it frickin awesome that you will get your hands dirty and do it yourself. My eleven year old knows that we won't allow her to get her license until she A) knows how to drive properly {duh} and B) knows how to do both maintenance and emergency repair on any given vehicle. My 4 y.o. will also have to know these things.

[Josie]

Who are we kidding? Women belong in the kitchen, not the garage.

No joke.


I'd have to say that you won't get my wife anywhere near changing the discs. Why? Because she married me, the "i'll do it to save money" guy. Anyway, it's calipers, not calibres. And to be honest I believe that what they want you to purchase is actually the disc to which the pads apply pressure. You can, usually, get away with replacing just the pads the first time, but the second time you should, at minimum, get the discs "turned". However, for the cost, you should just replace the discs and be done with it. Hell, you already have the caliper (with pads) off, why not change the discs while you are there.

In the end, I do find it frickin awesome that you will get your hands dirty and do it yourself. My eleven year old knows that we won't allow her to get her license until she A) knows how to drive properly {duh} and B) knows how to do both maintenance and emergency repair on any given vehicle. My 4 y.o. will also have to know these things.

Good plan. This... is embarrassing, but I don't even know how to change a tire. I think I'll steal your license requirements for my own lil ones.

[CrAnIuM]

.

In the end, I do find it frickin awesome that you will get your hands dirty and do it yourself. My eleven year old knows that we won't allow her to get her license until she A) knows how to drive properly {duh} and B) knows how to do both maintenance and emergency repair on any given vehicle. My 4 y.o. will also have to know these things.

I have 3 vehicles. Having 3 allows me to take 1 out of rotation while I repair it at leisure, this is important as I like to take a day to do a 3 hour job and DAYS to do a day job.

I have extensive knowledge oh how to repair/replace ANY automotive component on a pre 2000 vehicle. ( and can figure out post 2000).

NO one gets my money except the guy selling me parts or the guy that has the 'special tools' needed for major jobs.

The average garage will charge you $100-200 PER HOUR in labor cost alone ... fuck ... that, homie don't play that.

[Titty]

I've performed dozens of brake jobs in my lifetime (unlike Prick who can only say the same for hand jobs). This tutorial leaves me scratching my heading as to whether it actually even deals with an automobile.

Having the gumption to tackle such a seemingly insurmountable task is admirable. Failing to take the appropriate steps to educate yourself in the proper procedures--not only to ensure your own personal safety, but to avoid unnecessary damage to the very item you're attempting to save money on-- is foolish.

As stated above, the pads aren't the only incidental components. If the rotor surface isn't true and within tolerances, you'll wear pads much quicker. You could also seriously compromise braking ability. Additionally, incorrectly forcing brake pistons back into the calipers can permanently damage an ABS system. Not an inexpensive system to repair.

As a lifelong wrench-head and do-it-yourselfer, I'll be the first to advocate attempting your own maintenance. Just get yourself some reference material in advance to make sure you get it done right. Repair manuals are plentiful. Some parts stores contain explicit instructions of the most common procedures on their websites. Perhaps ask a friend to relay instructions on his or her own experiences. Just don't go in blind. You'll likely regret it later.

[TopGrey]

No joke.



Good plan. This... is embarrassing, but I don't even know how to change a tire. I think I'll steal your license requirements for my own lil ones.

As far as tire changing, it's in your owners manual, usually. In all matters just remember: Google is your friend!!

See Titty's comments--he's dead on

[Mr. D]

Good on you for having a go, but when it comes to something as important as brakes you'd better get it right otherwise you could find yourself up shit creek without a paddle!

They would have tried to sell you brake fluid and brake discs (rotors for you Americans) for a very good reason - you probably need them. Here's why:

Brake discs/rotors - Use some vernier calipers to check the thickness of the brake disc. Most brake discs will have writing along the centre near where it joins onto the hub which tells you the minimum thickness of the disc. If you have a large lip along the outside of the disc, and are only replacing the pads - your new pads will not only wear faster, but more often than not will "knock" as you brake and turn to the right (or left in the case of the USA). You can opt to have these lips machined down, but that is pretty fucking dodgy because that still doesn't change the fact that the surface area that is meant to have the pads making contact with is too thin for the new pads to even reach it properly.

Brake fluid - You must completely replace this every 2 years minimum. It is essential. Why? Simple! It is hydroscopic. What does that mean? Water builds up in the brake fluid, changing its properties and hence changing the boiling point. If your brake fluid boils while you are attempting an emergency stop, you're fucked. A brake bleed is very simple to carry out and will cost you roughly about the price of 1L of brake fluid and 10-20minutes of your time if you do it properly. Just make sure you don't allow any air into the system otherwise you'll have to start again!

Oh yeah - with the brake fluid be sure not to spill any! Unless it's a DOT 5 grade (see your owner's manual - most are DOT 3 or DOT 4 (the only DOT 5's I've come across are Harley Davidson's), it will strip your paint!

Brake pads - My best time for changing these on a single piston floating caliper brake system is roughly 2 and a half minutes (excluding removing the wheels). They're a piece of piss to do. I recommend leaving the cap off the brake fluid reservoir off and draining a little brake fluid from it so as to prevent brake fluid leaking through your engine bay when you press the brake pistons back into the caliper.

Drum brakes are a different story altogether, but I'm not even going to bother with it!