How hard is it to change front discs and pads?

AtreuS

AtreuS

AtreuS

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Yes im a total car nub before anyone comments :D

I have a simple question. Ive just had the car ( focus 1.8 collection 2001 y-reg ) moted and taxed and ive had an advisory on the pads and discs, front only as its not ABS the back drums and shoes are fine.

Ive been quoted approx £200 for standard ford parts ( fitted ) and tested. They claimed to properly clean and fit the discs/pads takes 2.5 hours so a lot is labour costs.

Ive just priced up standard ford discs and pads and its £76 delivered, and thats just the first place i looked.

So how hard is it to do myself? i have no tools but i have a friend who is a motorbike nut and im quite sure hes got the kind of kit we need. Hes on holiday atm so i cant ask him if hes done this before, though i bet he has.

Is the garage scaring me with the old "if not done by a professional your wheels will come off and you will die" routine?

Of course i know that brakes and wheels arent things to take lightly in regards to safety but saving myself £120 by doing it myself seems daft not to consider.
 
InvaderGIR said:
It's a couple hour job if you don't know what you're doing. And clean them? wtf?!

They taking you for a ride.
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He said something about making sure no rust sets in, by properly greasing or somesuch crap.

The garage is usually very trustworthy and i always get an idea of parts costs and so on when using them. He did my pads last year for £45 all in, which makes me wonder why the sudden price increase. Of course i know that getting the discs off could be a bit of a pain due to rusting on and so on, so im in uncharted waters.

To give me an idea what sort of tools would i need. A jack of some kind of course, and a wheel wrench to get the nuts off.. is it just a case of whacking the old discs off the mounts, cleaning up a bit and slapping them on then doing the fiddly shoes and adjusting?
 
Last edited:
Basically.

Jack
Socket for wheel bolts
Allen key for disc retaining screw

May also need
Tub of high heat grease, for the back of the pads, and the pad sliders.
Flat bladed screwdriver for removing pad retaining pin/clip


I recently did them on my BMW in this thread, pictures of doing bits...
here
here

I did do all of the brakes, including the rear discs, pads and shoes, but didn't take photos of the rears being done as I was doing it in a garage and was more interested in getting it finally done. :p

Your friend should easily be able to help you, especially if he has space. Only reason mine was an issue is because I was working in gravel carparks and had a couple of silly mishaps. :p
 
It's easy, but obviously you may come across snags which delay things.

Personally, having done it before, i'd rather pay a cheap indepedant back street garage. It's not worth my time.
 
Adam said:
It's easy, but obviously you may come across snags which delay things.

Personally, having done it before, i'd rather pay a cheap indepedant back street garage. It's not worth my time.
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I'm of the other view, now that I've done it, I'll do it on all my cars in the future, takes next to no time at all once you know what you're doing.

Howard said:
I hate my driveway :mad:
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Me too, but it isn't as bad as mine, which is a slope. :(
 
Where abouts are you based mate? anywhere near Bedfordshire? I'd do it for you for few beer tokens ;)
 
Hmm I have always wondered how easy it is to change discs and pads.

I think I may invest in some for my car, and change them (always worried they would fall off) lol. :p

InvaderGIR makes it look so easy.
 
James said:
Where abouts are you based mate? anywhere near Bedfordshire? I'd do it for you for few beer tokens ;)
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Thanks for the offer but im in manchest-ahhh! :p

From what you are saying im pretty sure my mate will have the tools and know-how.

I was just after a bit of an idea as like i say im a "put petrol in it until it breaks then panic" kind of motorist :(
 
You should clean the discs before installation. They usually have a coating of some oil which can cause problems if you apply the pads to them before cleaning :)
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
You should clean the discs before installation. They usually have a coating of some oil which can cause problems if you apply the pads to them before cleaning :)
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Yeah, mine had powder coating on, which you just need to use a fine sandpaper to sand off down to metal...but it won't be a couple of hours and a few hundred £.
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
You should clean the discs before installation. They usually have a coating of some oil which can cause problems if you apply the pads to them before cleaning :)
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Quick wipe over with some solvent on a rag.

I did my front brakes on my drive one evening, took me 2 hours maybe, including waiting for my neighbour to come back as I needed to borrow his huge pliers to push the piston back in with.

All i used were some basic tools from Halfords and a couple of torque wrenches.

Leave yourself an afternoon if its something you havent done before and you should be able to do it easily. Print a FAQ or manual off from the owners club/see your haynes manual if you have one.
 
To be completely honest with you your mate shouldn't have any problems what so ever changing discs and pads on a focus they are so easy you can do them in about 20 mins a side if your fairly competant.

You should be able to find the discs and pads cheap, trade they cost around 40 for the both for crap ones!!! Personally I'd go for the oem parts from Ford or some Delphi ones.
You'll need a couple of spanners (Ratchet spanners if you have them), Big pair of grips, a screwdriver, some copper grease and a torque wrench for the wheels....

You should have a go at it yourself I'm sure theres plenty of guides on the internet that can help you along.....hey I used to be a petrolhead estate agent that went on to run a garage (national jobby won't mention them here). So if I can do it...Im sure you can ;)
 
Very easy to change pads, I'm sure discs won't be much harder with the right tools. It took me about and hour to change my pads the first time.
 
youll have fun changing them.. its a man thing :D

and youll laugh at how much they would have charged.

i think it will take you 2.5 hours, simply because youre new to it.

take it as an excuse to start a hench tool collection
 
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