[Closed] Car disc/pads- easy to DIY?

Based on the info supplier.....yes no maybe i dont know , what was the question ?

What car and what age...... Some new motors need gizmos

And in stw fashion .... Work on a safety critical item are you mad , youll run over a babys head when it fails 😉

2007 Subaru Forester- all standard.

Depends on the car. Older stuff I used to be able to do in twenty mins a corner. Last car I did was a Clio 172 and the bearings were in the rear disc so you need access to a press. Also fitted Goodridge stainless hoses at the same time. You can pick your own components eg Ferodo Ds2500 pads and better discs.

As above, depends on a few things, like how corroded on the front are, and if the bearings are part of the disc sub assembly (like on my 307). For some cars you'll need a caliper rewind tool (£10) to wind the pistons back in, some aren't threaded and can be pushed back with g clamp.

Get a Haynes manual, should give you an indications to if its an 'easy' job or not but be warned they seem to like changing suppliers, so it might not always match and getting the right spares at a motor factors isn't always plain sailing (there are 5 variants for my rear discs and you need them off to work out which is required apparently).

I'll check if the bearings are part of the disc. Changing the wheels over yesterday I noticed the discs looked like they could be original ones (the fins'?) Are heavily corroded so I might try loosening one first- if too hard.. Get a pro but DIY means I can buy better disc/pads as per downhilldave 🙂

Hora your welcome to lend everything you need from mine if you intend to DIY!!!

Not done a Forester before but -I think- a Legacy I helped a neighbour with was a piece of piss.

Chrisdiesel you could watch me but not intervene - its one of the things I want to do more. A man should get more involved mechanically on simpler stuff 😀

Jota180 what year/MK Legacy?

So no real reason to change them they are jst. Abit rusty on the non used part of the disk.

Step away.

Don't recall TBH, it was a couple or 3 years ago

Easy enough to the Legacy, a quick google suggests the forester is the same. The only thing to be mindful of would be siezed bolts. Might be worth your while hitting them with some penetrating spray before attempting the job, or have a blow torch handy. The carrier bolts on the legacy were quite small and have a very tight (and unusual) thread.

Hora... Stood in the rain/cold/wind watching your arse crack hang out of your pants whist you change your discs... I'm in!!! Where do I sign up sounds like great fun......

I've done discs and pads on cars previously, but, as others have said it's often not as easy as it use to be.

My local garage did mine (Vectra) a couple of weeks ago, named-parts and less than £275 all-in for all 4 discs/pads.

2 hours labour apparently - would've taken me all day, outside...

Looks easy enough. Getting the bolts that hold the caliper carrier to the hub is usually the hardest part. 😆

If you've never done it before I would suggest getting a hand from someone who is experienced and not a bodger.

Only problems I have are on cars that are not mine or new to me as previous owners/'mechanics' have not done things right or they have been neglected.

Common problems/mistakes:

Getting the large caliper/yoke bolts undone as they can be very tight and seized.

Disc bolts are often seized due to lack of copper slip and might have mangled heads or most likely have the heads snapped off so you cant install new ones. Not a huge problem as all they do is hold the discs in place when the wheel is off but you want to try to avoid spining the disc on the with the wheel off as it might not sit the same due to any run out or corrosion on the hub/disc so try to keep it in the same position when doing any work.

Caliper sliders are often sticky and gunked up - strip em down, clean em out with brake cleaner and relube with brake grease (not copper slip). Also check them for wear and play and replace if needed.

Pushing or winding in the piston can be tricky (make sure you know if it's a winder or a pusher to retract). May need special tools, but can often be done without in some way

Get a set of wire and plastic brushes and a file to clean up all the sliding surfaces and retaining pins (plastic brush near any seals/rubbers so you don't damage them). I am amazed by how many people just throw brakes back together without cleaning all the caked up dust and rust and relubing.

Make sure you have all the anti-rattle springs and retaining pins etc. It is not uncommon for them to be missing either due to being fitted wrong or lost and not replaced. They are normally quite cheap to replace and make sure you know exactly how they fit.

sometimes you have to replace the mounting bolts after a single use. They will often come with the pads if that is the case. Use threadlock on the retaining bolts (you will see the left over threadlock if used on the thread). Clean the old stuff off with a wire brush or it jams up the threads and makes refitting the bolt a lot harder.

Pick up a tube of brake grease (Mintex ceratec or the pagid version for example) when you get the new pads.

If the unused part of the disc is rusty, ignore it. They always go rusty except on the nice Pagid ones where they paint them. Only becomes an issue when it starts to work its way into the braking surface from the edge, which it will eventually.

It's a few years and more than a few cars back but I think my Impreza rears were wind in pistons. They usually have 4 cut-outs on the face of the piston which gives you a clue. You just need to make a simple tool to engage the slots to wind them back.

I find an old pad backing place to be perfect for winding in my rear pistons. Seems to be just the right thickness and nice and wide to get a good grip.

Wind in normal on rear discs due to handbrake mechanism. Miss the dual rear drum/disc set up of my old BMW, much better than disc only set ups.

Haynes is very useful for checking fine details and the grooves in the rear pistons is a perfect example as they sometimes have to be orientated a certain way - eg on some there might be a second smaller groove on one axis and this has to be horizontal (minor groove can be above or below the main one but must be horizontal.

If the disk doesn't separate from the hub, and you look inside and see some teeth, that look like they could be hit with a cold chisel to knock around and unscrew the disk, don't do it.

Turns out that was the ABS ring on my 300SEL and it was never right again.

Eventually separated the disc from the hub by whacking a bit of wood with a hammer.

easy peasy I drove to trail rats watched him do it whilst I generally got in the way.

LOL at ABS sensor - £££!

Hora - you don't 'have a go at loosening it'.

Discs can be stubborn buggers, mine needed beating with a sledgehammer before they came off the hubs. Very scary swinging a sledge that near your wheel arches - though I don't think you'd need that much welly for car brakes.

Halfway though I was committed to the task as the discs were looking a bit battered and I wouldn't have wanted to put it back together and drive it with all the dents and burrs in them 🙂

Which discs / pads can be recommended?

Looking on Eurocarparts the choices are quite varied e.g. Pagid / Eicher / Bosch.

Often there's a few quid to be paid for a slightly thicker disc, e.g. £3 for a pair of discs for 10% more, I assume its worth paying the extra?

Nowt fancy, just a Seat Leon.

Pagid discs for the Passat were coated with some kind of paint type thing, so as not to go rusty on the non braking parts. Should last loads longer. And didn't cost more. Gets my vote.