Replacing front brake discs/rotors and pads

norbie · Post by **norbie** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:51 am

I'm looking to upgrade my brakes a little.
This seems like quite a good option on a budget:
http://www.mintex.co.uk/index.html

They appear to be better than standard, and are around £50.
They are a straight swap as well.

How easy is it to replace discs and pads? I have seen the howto guides but find it quite hard without pictures.
Does anyone have any pictures of the process they could upload?

Thanks.

lanos2001 · Post by **lanos2001** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 3:23 am

its actually pretty easy. just print out the guide and when you look at everything you'll know what is what down there. have a breaker bar or some WD-40 though b/c those bolts can sometimes be a bitch to loosen. and you might as well buy a braker caliper compressor from like pepboys or something. only like $5usd not sure in Pounds. its just easier than using a C-clamp to me.

nick

MMamdouh · Post by **MMamdouh** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 11:11 pm

and by all means work on the brakes when the are COLD... i had to replace my left hand side pads after a hard test drive that showed that my pads are bad... the used pad was so hot that it litrally melted the tarmac when they fell on the ground after i pushed them with a big screw driver.

other than whats in the how to and what Nick said... itis very straight forward job... remeber to pump the brakes before you drive it after this job.

MMamdouh

norbie · Post by **norbie** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 11:51 pm

I don't know anything about "braker caliper compressor" or "pumping brakes" ?

daewoomofo · Post by **daewoomofo** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 12:43 am

you can use a C-clamp in place of the compressor. and pumping the brakes just mean you push on the peddel after you finish until they feel hard (normal [not extremly soft])

lanos2001 · Post by **lanos2001** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:55 am

when you take out the old brakes since they've been worn down your caliper is pushed out more. so the new pads that are a lot thicker than your previous ones and they won't fit over the disc since there's not enough room.
thus you push in the caliper (which is big circle looking thing that extends out) to make room.

nick

MMamdouh · Post by **MMamdouh** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:19 am

norbie wrote:I don't know anything about "braker caliper compressor" or "pumping brakes" ?

you can always remove the outer brake pad only and use a big @$$ screw driver as a liver to force the caliper to the outside of the car to compress the piston.

the screw driver will go through the vent hole of the caliper and into the gap created by removing the pad, tip of the screw driver will be on the rotor and then push to the outside... make sure the brake fluid reservoir's cap is off during the process.

MMamdouh

lanos2001 · Post by **lanos2001** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:30 pm

you can always remove the outer brake pad only and use a big @$$ screw driver as a liver to force the caliper to the outside of the car to compress the piston.

the screw driver will go through the vent hole of the caliper and into the gap created by removing the pad, tip of the screw driver will be on the rotor and then push to the outside... make sure the brake fluid reservoir's cap is off during the process.

MMamdouh

damn that way would be a bitch. but yeah if you don't have the other tools that is an option.

nick

norbie · Post by **norbie** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 4:16 pm

It sounds too hard for me to do, I would need to see someone else doing it really.

lanos2001 · Post by **lanos2001** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 4:45 pm

it really isn't that hard. if you can change a tire you should be able to do this. if you're not mechanically inclined at all though i would suggest to get a friend that can do this type of thing to help you out. that way you'll learn and do it yourself later on. something like this is not hard enough to pay someone else to do it for you. unless its just too damn cold outside to do it.

nick

MMamdouh · Post by **MMamdouh** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:44 am

lanos2001 wrote:
you can always remove the outer brake pad only and use a big @$$ screw driver as a liver to force the caliper to the outside of the car to compress the piston.

the screw driver will go through the vent hole of the caliper and into the gap created by removing the pad, tip of the screw driver will be on the rotor and then push to the outside... make sure the brake fluid reservoir's cap is off during the process.

MMamdouh

damn that way would be a bitch. but yeah if you don't have the other tools that is an option.

nick

its a peice of cake man... done it a thousand times, how hard is it to tilt caliper, remove one pad, insert screw driver and pull?

MMamdouh

MMamdouh · Post by **MMamdouh** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:56 am

assume the red line is your screw driver and the outer pad is missing... this is how it should be done:

MMamdouh

Turtle_Wax · Post by **Turtle_Wax** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 12:19 pm

It's not necessary but I find it easier to push the piston back by opening the bleed valve and push it back as the old fluid is forced out the valve. Thumb pressure is usually enough and it also replaces the fluid at the bottom end of the caliper that does the most work. The front are easy to change, it's the rear brake shoes that are a PITA.

MMamdouh · Post by **MMamdouh** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 2:08 pm

good idea for brakes fluid flush

MMamdouh

wc15 · Post by **wc15** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 2:31 pm

so guy u know how many pot is e stock aveo brake caliper usin?