r15suk

I'm going to change the pads and discs on the front of my 1990 C4 and this is the first real work that i'm going to be doing to my car. Whilst i'm fairly good at mech stuff (do all my own work on my motorbikes), i need a bit of advice please.

Should i first remove the calipers (not going to disconnect brake lines) and then remove the pads or should I remove some clips/springs etc first to make things easier and then remove calipers, followed by the pads. I think you follow my drift :-)


Cheers
Simon

Rocket Rob

When I change my pads and rotors, I remove the pads, then remove the caliper to get to the rotor. Installation is the reverse.

Marc Shaw

Open spring clip, remove pads, remove caliper - makes it much easier.

Marc

Goughary

Question - what is the torque spec on the bolts for the calipers and the rotors?

crg53

If your brakes have the brake dampening plates (Spiders) in place you may have trouble pulling the pads. A sharp tool like a small putty knife down the back of the pad should free them up. Look for item #20 & #21 in the picture, they are clued to the back of the brake pad, helps prevent brake noise.

Makmov

You have to disconnect the line. It is a hard line from the rubber line at the strut to the caliper. So it's not like a normal car... once again. I guess if you are very very careful you could remove the clip that holds the line in the strut and flip the caliper up. Just don't want to twist the rubber too far or bend the line. Then just hang the caliper up out of the way.

And yes, you can remove the pads with calipers still on the car.

911Jetta

(rear brakes pictured)

Makmov

Since his is a C4 the rears will look like the fronts, and not like the above.

boxsey911

To confirm your guess...yes he only needs to remove the spring clip that secures the coupling of the hard and soft lines to the shock. The whole caliper can then be swung out of the way. I use a spare axle stand to rest the caliper on while I change the rotors.

911Jetta

...right.

The important thing is that it shows how to remove a mushroom, which is a strange thing if you've never seen it before.

Speaking of pictures, here's one showing how Laker used a zip tie to hold the caliper out of the way.
This method worked well for me also.

Laker

^^^ Have to remove the mud guards to hang with ZipTies (from A/C line bracket) so that adds another 15 minutes. I had them off anyway. just sayin'

jcs_911

You may want to push the caliper pistons back into the caliper while it's still bolted to the old rotor. Not a big deal, but speeds re-assembly some.

JasonAndreas

You might also want to pickup a METAL DENTAL PICK or two and clean out the (now hardened) brake dust from behind the spring plates.

r15suk

Thanks for all the replies, really useful :-)

Cheers
Simon

boxsey911

One more tip....use an M8 bolt and socket to press off the rotors using the two tapped holes. Much easier and kinder than hitting them from the back with a mallet: