So I'm picking up my car from Charlotte in a few weeks. My dad took it in this weekend for some minor stuff (new tires, suspension alignment) and his shop said that my brakes were shot. As in new rotors front/rear, new pads f/r, and new calipers f/r. They quoted that work at $1200. Now, I've already done all that work many times before, with the exception of calipers. But it seems to me that shouldn't be too difficult either. I'm gonna look in my factory shop manual in a bit, but in everyone's opinion this is easy right? And not very time consuming?

[Edited on May 13, 2007 at 11:21 AM. Reason : I know i spelled it wrong in the title. dammit]

5/13/2007 11:20:54 AM

they are pretty simple. Only issue might be if the bearings are pressed into the rotor. You can purchase the calipers loaded (with pads). Might be difficult to break the bolts loose but that's what they make BFH's for anyway. Calipers may need to be bench bled and if so you don't want the piston to extend all the way out so put a board between the calipers.

5/13/2007 11:33:40 AM

there is nothing to changing the caliper. they have to take it off when they want to turn the rotors..

the only "hard" thing would be to bleed the brakes.

the seals were probably dry and split and thas why they changed them.. or they were close to it. your car has a lot of miles. i have to change my civic caliper because i took the pad tooooo low and the seal split.

5/13/2007 11:36:48 AM

^^I've changed my rotors before, they don't have pressed in bearings.

^No, they haven't done any brake work to my car yet. And I know how to unbolt the calipers, i've changed my rotors several times. Why is bleeding the brakes difficult? And I feel like I've bled them before, before I took my car to the track.

5/13/2007 11:39:36 AM

well its not difficult, but out of the whole process, i find bleeding is the most difficult cuz its not easy doing it by yourself. pumping brakes, getting out of car to check, pumping brakes, getting out of car to check......

5/13/2007 12:24:26 PM

wtf do you need new calipers? unless the piston is rusted to shit and the cylinder is shot, a $10 rebuild kit outta do em just fine. sounds like theyre trying to make a few bucks to me

5/13/2007 12:27:00 PM

Okay, well I'm not with my car right now. This is what I was told. Neither rear caliper is working, i.e. when you push the brake pedal the pistons don't even budge. They said the rear pistons are rusted up. As far as the fronts, the pads are wearing very unevenly and they said bad pistons are the cause. My front calipers are original, but the rears were replaced 4 years ago.

Thoughts?

[Edited on May 13, 2007 at 12:34 PM. Reason : k]

5/13/2007 12:34:09 PM

calipers shouldnt go out in 4 years, especially the rears, the ones that hardly do any work.

ive only changed the fronts when i noticed fluid from ripped piston. but i just got a caliper from my work junkyard for free.

ive never worked with a rebuild kit. so i cant comment on them. but many have

5/13/2007 12:46:46 PM

alot of the time, rebuild kits aren't worth the time/effort when loaded calipers come so cheap for most things these days.

5/13/2007 4:22:04 PM

^absolutely right. And the deals keep getting better. Most loaded calipers come complete with EVERYTHING ready to bolt on...even pads.

5/13/2007 5:25:00 PM

the chance of a car needing all four calipers is slim to none.

[Edited on May 13, 2007 at 10:10 PM. Reason : e]

5/13/2007 10:10:32 PM

I'm probably gonna get a 2nd opinion, but I feel bad making my dad do all this legwork.

5/13/2007 11:48:59 PM

lemme know if you want the name/number of a reputable guy down there. or, if you ever talk to meredith anymore she's probably got it. it's friend of one of my friends that i found to do some work on her junk when she was living down there.

5/14/2007 1:25:06 AM

^^^^^

yeh i guess thats true. i got a caliper once for my bro's jeep and it was like $35 at autozone. I'm used to my fancey bimmers. new M3 caliper = $200. rebuild kit=$14

5/14/2007 12:48:06 PM

Quote :

"I'm used to my fancey exspensive bimmers."

5/14/2007 12:52:27 PM

^^so I can find a reman'd caliper for like $35? That'd be sweet.

Thanks Ivan, but I'm gonna do the work myself when I come down for a few days.

Quote :

"the chance of a car needing all four calipers is slim to none."

Well, the car's been sitting for 4-5 months. The battery went dead so my dad didn't drive it around.

5/14/2007 1:05:01 PM

And while we're on this topic, how difficult is it to replace brake lines, b/c mine are original, and after replacing all this stuff they'll be the only original parts left in the brake system. Plus it could be a good time to install some SS lines maybe.

5/14/2007 1:47:03 PM

nothing to it. just get a good line wrench and they unscrew like anything else. be careful, they might be a little siezed after so many miles and the metal is soft. definitely not a bad idea to change them since you'll be bleeding the system anyway for the calipers.

imo, unless you get a great deal, stainless lines aren't worth the cost for a daily driver/light duty racer.

just a note on your bleeding since you'll be doing the whole system: start at the wheel furtherst away from the master cylinder then work your way around to the closest last.

5/14/2007 2:07:55 PM

^thanks, I have a diaghram in the factory manual that tells me the correct bleeding order.

5/14/2007 6:53:14 PM

the line wrench is probably the most important step in this process... specially with old brake lines like yours.

5/14/2007 6:58:09 PM

So I got some prices quoted from Autozone. Tell me what ya think (I think these are good prices).

front caliper: $29.99 ea
front pads: $29.99 set (ceramic)
rear caliper: $72.99 ea
rear pads: $18.99 set (nonmetallic organic OEM)
rear rotors: $21.99 ea

I actually already have a set of new front rotors so I didn't get a quote there. The total of those parts is $316.

5/18/2007 1:55:18 PM

do you have the money to get some slotted rotors? (for the fronts that is) I know they are much more expensive but i think the benefits are way better, especially if using ceramic pads.

Or are not going to be autocrossing anytime soon?

[Edited on May 18, 2007 at 2:38 PM. Reason : ]

5/18/2007 2:36:19 PM

slotted/drilled rotors are a waste of money.

those sounds like reasonable prices. and im sure they come with some sort of warrantee. if it was anything else id say try to find it used from a junkyard.. but something from that year car i would def. go brand new.

5/18/2007 5:37:33 PM

I don't think ceramic pads are worth getting on older cars which didn't originally come with them. Reason? They're hard, and don't produce as much friction as a feramic or an organic pad do. Take a look at all the new cars. They've got huge rotors in comparison to their older counterparts. They're designed for ceramic pads.

5/18/2007 5:37:36 PM

^ speaking of rotors/ pads, can i get that GC setup from u friday or saturday

and yea its cake besides bleeding, and that only takes time.

[Edited on May 18, 2007 at 10:11 PM. Reason : ^]

5/18/2007 10:11:29 PM

Alright, I had my dad pick up all the parts I need. I'm flying to charlotte tonight and come tomorrow morning I should be laying in my parents driveway with brake parts all over the place.

5/30/2007 1:32:35 PM