How to: Change pads and rotors.

[253@7k]

Thought I'd throw this up with some photos.

Tools needed:
Jack, breaker bar with 19mm socket, torque wrench, clamp.



1: Crack wheel nuts and jack up.


2: Remove wheel and undo two bolts holding caliper. (as shown in pic)



3: Slide caliper off disc, remove disc and remove old pads by sliding the caliper open. (see pic)



4: Use the old pad and a clamp to push the pistons back into the caliper to allow for thicker pads. (see pic)



5: Remove any rust or dirt from the flat of the hub that contacts with the disc to ensure the disc runs true.


6: Place on new disc and slide caliper over disc. (may help to put a wheel nut on to hold disc straight)



7: Replace caliper bolts and tighten to correct torque spes. (I went to 75nm) and replace wheel.


8: When the car is back on the ground pump the brakes a few times to reset the caliper pistons. To bed in new pads avoid hard braking for around 400-500 ks.



An easy job that can be done in half an hour, saving you around $150 that a mechanic would be charging you for fitting.

[Burt_vn]

Just to add, for those of you that are not replacing your rotors. Instead of removing the whole rotor all you need to do is unscrew one of the slide pins (shown in the picture) pull that slide pin out, you will then be able to lever the caliper up (pulling up from the side you undid the slide pin from) then you should be able to just push the caliper back, and the other pin will slide out by itself, then just follow the instructions as said above. And i have to correct you mate, to bed in the pads you dont avoid hard braking for 400-500kms...that would be avoiding bedding them in. To bed in new pads, or especially new rotors (note that bendix General CT pads do not need bedding in) find a nice straight road, drive your car up to around 80 km/h, than brake as hard as you can (avoid locking up the wheels) until you come to a complete stop. Repeat this process a few times, and yes, they will smoke a bit. You will notice your brakes to still be a little lacking in stopping power for possibly a week or two after, but once they are properly bedded in youll be pulling up in no time.
Hope that helps some of you.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Small correction.....do not come to a complete stop while bedding in as this tranfers too much heat into one spot on the disc where the pads contact it, could lead to hot spots in the disc resulting in a pulsating pedal. Better to brake hard until you get down to about 10kms then accelerate up again.

[Burt_vn]

You know through all the mechanics ive known, and all my tafe teachers, and all the people i worked with at goodyear back in the day, Ive never been told that before. thanks man, makes perfect logical sense to me, shall be doing that from now on, never even though about it. Aprreciate the knowledge

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

No problem. During my apprenticeship I was never taught the correct bedding in procedure for brakes at all. That was 17 years ago. It was an AMCAP rep that told me about 5 years after.

[commodore2004]

Just one question,if the car is fitted with ABS brakes shouldn't the bleeding be done when pushing the caliper back at the bleeding niple.
Other wise you might damage your ABS unit?

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

No, it won't affect it, all you are doing is transferring fluid, for the ABS unit to detect anything it would need a lot of pressure and the car to be on.

[galahs]

Another tip... for the rear discs you may have to remove the rear shock absorber to get clearance.

Take the wheel off

With another jack, raise the rear suspension arm up an inch or so.

I used two people to do this next step. One to turn the bolt on the top of the shock (in the boot), while another person grabs the shock body from below (in the wheel arch) to stop it from turning.

Remove the bolt that holds the shock to the suspension

Shock slides straight off.


Now you can access the two bolts that hold the caliper on.

[squinsquad]

Nice tutorial. Thanks man!

[radarak47]

Thanks mate,

Worked a treat today when I did the front brakes and rotors. Will be doing the rears next weekend.

[Hot-Rod]

Thanks for all the info it worked a treat except.

Those two 19mm bolts at the rear of the calipers. I couldn't believe how hard they were bolted on it was unbelievable. It took two males a good hour to work at the bolt breaking a ratchet, a 19mm socket and bending numerous spanners before we were able to loosen them. Unbeliveable. I know they had a plastic blue thing on the thread to stop it coming off, but in a 10 million KM's of driving those bolts still would be stuck to that damn caliper.

It made a 1 hr job 3 hrs!!! to replace the front rotors and brakes haha. At least we know for next time it won't be so hard if i ever have to replace the rotors again.


Thanks again 253@7k.........!!!!!!!!

[greenacc]

All I can say to you Hot-Rod is BREAKER BAR. Get yourself a 1/2inch breaker bar about 450mm long from the local tool shop. They can handle heaps more force than a ratchet and are extremely valuable when doing this kind of work. as for the sockets, well i guess you'll just have to upgrade to some nice single hex sockets. KOKEN ftw.

[Dayvo]

All I can say to you Hot-Rod is BREAKER BAR. Get yourself a 1/2inch breaker bar about 450mm long from the local tool shop. They can handle heaps more force than a ratchet and are extremely valuable when doing this kind of work. as for the sockets, well i guess you'll just have to upgrade to some nice single hex sockets. KOKEN ftw.

Or if you have limited space and can't get enough leverage on the breaker bar you can use a trolley jack under the socket wrench

[azzaVT]

Your jack handle // wheel brace is just the tool you need, if you don't have a dedicated breaker bar, at least this is the case for the VT... I discovered this while doing an emergency brake change on the side of the road, having just broken the only cheap and nasty ratchet I had with me.

[Flat_White]

is this the same for VY Bruzza?

[sah]

I am thinking of changing the rotors soon, as i get shuddering on the Steering and also pulsating on the brake pedal when i slow down from high speed.

I have been quoted $110 for machining the front discs. The new discs are also $110 for a pair of the normal RDA ones and around $240 /pair for the slotted BDA ones. I think it is better to change to the new ones as the cost is same for the normal ones.

Also i changed the front pads couple of months back. Hpefully i can use them. Any comments.

[Tom_1569]

I am thinking of changing the rotors soon, as i get shuddering on the Steering and also pulsating on the brake pedal when i slow down from high speed.

I have been quoted $110 for machining the front discs. The new discs are also $110 for a pair of the normal RDA ones and around $240 /pair for the slotted BDA ones. I think it is better to change to the new ones as the cost is same for the normal ones.

Also i changed the front pads couple of months back. Hpefully i can use them. Any comments.

DONT MACHINE ROTORS!!!
Cant say it enough, if they are warped, there warper, skimming the service will do nothing, they will be smooth to the next time you put any heat in the brakes. Mum got hers done, it last about 200k's and the shudder was back. Complete waste of money, and rotors are cheap and easy to replace.
I paid 111 each for DBA Slotter, been on the car near 20,000 K's and still not a sinlge problem and pulls up very nice.
Your pads maybe ok, personelly I wouldnt use them caus they havent been braking even so wouldnt have worn the best, but people have said you canrub them on the concret and buff them up or something.

[azzaVT]

Don't use secondhand pads on new rotors... the pads will be glazed and shaped to the old ruts and grooves, and your new rotors wont be so new for long if you jam those old pads up against them... not to mention, the combination of the two wont stop you anywhere near as quickly as you might hope//need to.

If your budget allows, get slotted and new pads... otherwise standards and new pads, if you can do the job yourself (not advised if you don't know what you're doing), otherwise get someone who does know to do it... for about $110.

A "budding" mechanic can always play with the bits that make the car go, but he should leave the bits that make it stop to someone who does it for a living. (my 2c)

[nicko]

Nice write up. Just did the VT pads then. Was a little stuck until i saw you could use a G clamp to push the piston back. Cheers, Rep left +1

[Ozzie]

Just followed your writeup.

Thanks sooooo much, I didnt think it would be do easy.

Not to mention how many $$$ I just saved upgrading to slotted all round

[Ramsey82]

I have just replaced my front brake pads. The brakes were bled but now I'm not getting any pressure at the brake pedal. What am I doing wrong? A step by step tutorial would be handy if anyone has the time.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

There are a few step by step how to's for brake bleeding. Although you dn't need to bleed the brakes if you just replace the pads.

Here's one. Bleeding brakes after changing pads

[Ramsey82]

Yeah I originally didn't, but my master cylinder was stuck and wouldn't go back in. The useless mechanic I called said bleed the brakes ......so I did. Thanks for nothing Tyre Power.
Anyways, I'm not getting pressure when the car is on. What am I doing wrong. What did I miss.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

OK, you need to reset the brake switch. On the side of the master cylinder is a switch with 2 wires going to it, unscrew it until you hear a click, then do it back up. Your brakes should be fine after that.

[Ramsey82]

I'll give it a go, but I was worried that air may have snuck back in when I was bleeding the brakes. Could this be possible. I'm just frustrated with this crummidore. Could it be as simple as unscrewing this thing you said.......Fingers crossed.