how hard to change brake discs and pads

wijcc

wijcc

wijcc

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How hard is it to change the front brake pads and discs?. My car is a mitsubishi carisma. I can get the pads and discs for £70. I took the car to 2 garages kwikfit and another, they quoted me £190 and £140 to get the parts fitted.
I am quite technically minded managed to service it oil filters, spark plugs etc and even managed to change the clutch slave cyclinder myself. Note there isn't a haynes manual available for my car but i can probably get a workshop manual for it??
Thanks in advance guys :)
 
Not hard at all

Loosen the wheel nuts, then jack the car up at one side on the right point.

Remove the wheel, remove the calipers. Its usually 2 bolts at the back of the caliper. Whip out the old pads, put in fresh ones after covering the back with a little copper slip grease. You might need to push the pistons back a little as the new pads will be thicker (loosen the cap on the brake cylinder first but remember to tighten it back up afterwards)

Next take off the disc, you might need to tap it off with a hammer as the side on the hub often rusts making them sticky. Then smooth off the hub with a wire brush, add a little slip grease again and then stick new disc on. Fit caliper on top, do up, put wheel on.

Repeat on the other side, then put the car back on its wheels and tighten the wheel bolts.

Take it easy at first. The brake discs have grease on them to stop them rusting which makes their braking power very reduced to start with. Take the car for a drive and brake *lightly* at first to wear them in.

Job done
 
i can get them fitted for £130, so do you guys reckon it is worth that, or if i should change them myself??
 
For what is essentially a simple job, I'd say save the money and do it yourself. There are probably plenty of guides floating around, and you get to learn yourself as well as saving yourself the money.

Set aside a day, get a friend to help and get stuck in :D Always helps to have a spare set of hands around I find.
 
Stonedofmoo said:
Not hard at all

Loosen the wheel nuts, then jack the car up at one side on the right point.

Remove the wheel, remove the calipers. Its usually 2 bolts at the back of the caliper. Whip out the old pads, put in fresh ones after covering the back with a little copper slip grease. You might need to push the pistons back a little as the new pads will be thicker (loosen the cap on the brake cylinder first but remember to tighten it back up afterwards)

Next take off the disc, you might need to tap it off with a hammer as the side on the hub often rusts making them sticky. Then smooth off the hub with a wire brush, add a little slip grease again and then stick new disc on. Fit caliper on top, do up, put wheel on.

Repeat on the other side, then put the car back on its wheels and tighten the wheel bolts.

Take it easy at first. The brake discs have grease on them to stop them rusting which makes their braking power very reduced to start with. Take the car for a drive and brake *lightly* at first to wear them in.

Job done
Click to expand...

Use brake cleaner on them to get that coating off! :eek:

If you regard £60 as a good chunk of cash then have a bash yourself.
 
I fitted mine on my mk3 golf in a couple hours, to be fair most of that time was spent getting on of the discs off as it had seized on to the hub, then realised a hammer would do the job and the second disc only took 30mins :D

Just remember to grease up the hub when you put them back on unless you want to enjoy doing it all over again next time they need replacing :D

£40 on discs
£20 on pads


All you really need is a haynes manual :D
 
well i brought the brake pads and discs for £71. What else do i need to buy? What kind of grease do i need?
No haynes manual for my car available unforunately :(
 
You need copper grease. You can get a big tub in Halfords (all you'll ever need) for about £7.

What is your car? The procedure is very similar, if not exactly the same on most normal cars. Do you have access to any axle stands? I'm really paranoid about using the standard 'scissor' car jack to prop up the corner of the car when I'm pulling on it, let alone a trolley jack.

Here's a link with pics. Seems pretty concise to me :):

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=56738&pid=668902&st=0&#entry668902
 
Last edited:
danza said:
You need copper grease. You can get a big tub in Halfords (all you'll ever need) for about £7.

What is your car? The procedure is very similar, if not exactly the same on most normal cars.
Click to expand...

my car is an mitsubishi carisma
 
Should be fine then. I'm a car n00b, but I can change pads and probably discs easily (not had to change discs yet, but my fronts are getting low).
 
thanks guys, managed to change the pads and discs wasn't too hard to do :)
A quick question though, only one of the brake pads had worn completely, the other 3 were only part worn. The pad on the outside on the passenger side was completely worn out and that was what caused the disc n the passenger side to become worn, does anyone know why only that pad had become so worn?
Thanks again guys :)
 
bit too late for this thread, but i think best practice nowadays is to open the bleed nipple when pushing back the pistons. this is because the brakefluid in the calipers is normally a bit grotty, and when you push the pistons back you push this brake fluid back up the system and into the abs pump. which is a bad thing.
 
I found the only problem with pads and discs was actually doing the really easy steps.

Good old haynes would say: 'Unscrew the 2 bolts' and two hours later i'd still be trying. Loads of WD40 and good toolset required.

The really LOL was when you "simply slide the disc off the bolts".
Except you can't, it's siezed on. An aweful lot of hammering later and job's done!
 
wijcc said:
thanks guys, managed to change the pads and discs wasn't too hard to do :)
A quick question though, only one of the brake pads had worn completely, the other 3 were only part worn. The pad on the outside on the passenger side was completely worn out and that was what caused the disc n the passenger side to become worn, does anyone know why only that pad had become so worn?
Thanks again guys :)
Click to expand...

This usualy happens when you have single pistons calipers and the pins on which the calipers slide have become seized.
 
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