seankrider

(5) Closer view of lower bolt (back of the calipers visible in the middle background):

seankrider

(6) The two massive bolts holding the calipers. At something like 200 foot-lbs torque, this was a real challenge to loosen... so I positioned a long breaker-bar/socket arm at a roughly 7:00 position on the bolt and used the floor jack to apply all the force I needed:

seankrider

(7) Another view of caliper bolts, looking down:

seankrider

(8) Once off, use a wire hanger to carefully suspend the calipers back and out of the way, and rest on something sturdy:

dkarmol

As many here have reported, it was super easy, less than two hours. The only things that slowed me down were:
1: the wheels and everything else had so much black brake dust, that my hands kept getting too dirty to work.
2: had a little trouble pushing the sensors into the slots in the new pads. Not sure what the trick is, and actually broke the back of one slightly putting it in.

Based on other posts here, which were most helpful, I have the following suggestions to make it easier to remove the main bolt that holds the pads in place, and putting in the new pads.

Tips:
1-Once I loosened the short retainer bolt holding the main bolt in place, I tapped it to loosen. Then,removed that bolt, and I put a longer bolt with same thread into the end of the main bolt, and tapped the main bolt almost all the way out. Then grabbed it with vise grips and pulled it the rest of the way out. Once out, I used some emery cloth to remove the thick layer of brake dust on the bolt, and put a little WD-40 on to make it easier to push back in, with the new pads in place.
2- Used a spreader to push the old pads apart, as far as possible, then pulled them out and quickly dropped in the new pads, before the pistons had a chance to squeeze back together. Once in place, it is a simple matter to slide the main bolt through and re-attach retainer bolt.

FYI- I used Dash4 ceramic pads, and did not change the rotors, even though they did have a little ridge on them. No squeaks, no shuddering, the new pads seemed to seat fine, with excellent braking quality.
My Cayenne has just short of 40,000 miles, and the dealer had told me I needed brakes the last time I was in for an alignment. Quoted approximately $2,000 for all four wheels, pads and rotors. I spent less than $100 for the pads and the new sensors. As I already have the necessary tool for the rear brakes, will try them next weekend!
As someone said, don't pay someone to do the pad replacement on your Cayenne- it is easier than any car I have ever done. And I have had a lot of cars!
Great forum-- thanks for all the good posts!

red 92

Hi all, this is a great DIY.., Is there any info on changing the pads on an 08CTT

the caliper doesnt resemble anything in this thread

charlieXS

Well wanted to give an update and review of the Hawk HPS and OEM rotors.

After wearing out my first set of pads and rotors at 35k I replaced them again today at 76k.

At 35k I used OEM Porsche rotors and Hawk HPS pads. After using them til they were worn out, I wasn't impressed with the Hawk. The braking power always seemed a bit short of stock and they were a little noisey and really ate up the rotors.

So I went a different route this time... I went with R1 Concepts econo drill/slotted zinc plated rotors and plain-jane Raybestos Pro-Series pads.

The braking power is already superior to what it was before... and is very smooth and quiet.

And the shiny zinc plated drill/slot rotors look nice too.

mudman2

How about the dust Charlie ?

yeldogt

I forget if Porsche recommends that the bolts be replaced -- but I do remember someone mentioning that they can be hard to remove -- and get messed up. I have not had the problem -- but the bolts are only 2.00$ each and I think the hardware kit is $25.00 - so for less than $35.00 I just replace them.

cordsig79

always change up the hardware........

Charlie......I have not seen you in a while.........do you have new wheels still? What are the changes in wear stopping in relationships to the 20's you added........

I remember you as one of the other V6ers around here as well....

I have updated pics on my profile....

Van1

I too am not that impressed with the stopping power of Hawk HPS pads on my Touareg (same pads that the CTT use). They don't have the clamping force that the stock pads had and takes a hefty amount of pedal force to stop. My wife hates driving the Touareg as she is always afraid that she isn't going to be able to stop. Perhaps these aren't appropriate pads for a nearly 6000lb vehicle? The Hawk HPSs are a very clean pad though. I am waiting for them to wear out so I can replace them with something better, maybe with stock CTT pads, but I can't seem to wear them out. With over 25k mi they still have a ton of life left.

Hawk HPSs work great as a street pad on my 993.

hahnmgh63

I've mentioned it before but I am completely happy with EBC Yellows on a '06 CTTS. Dust slightly less than stock. quiet, and much cheaper, at least if you purchase them mail order.

David Moran

Thanks so much for this thread! After $1497 quote from the dealer to do just the front brakes and rotors plus $265 to replace the front wheel speed sensors I was able to make the repairs alone for under $500.

I'm not experienced with car repairs, but this was relatively straightforward. A few observations for anyone else attempting this:

-I got all sorts of weird fault codes on the computer afterwards (parking brake on, low brake fluid, etc.) despite having the brake fluid full and checked regularly after changing the brake pads and rotors... these went away after a short (500 ft.) amount of driving and a few times turning the car on and off... was scary in the meantime though. I ordered a Duratech tool but it hadn't arrived by the time I did the repair. Also, when I lowered the car the suspension dropped a lot up front. This fixed itself when I turned the car back on, but for a minute I scared myself that I somehow just killed the suspension.

-DEFINITELY get new hardware... the $30 kit was quite necessary--the cheap bolts that were on the brakes both snapped off when I was trying to remove them--good thing I had the hardware sets otherwise the wife would not have been too happy to find the car still up on the stands Monday morning.

-Getting off the old rotors required a quick hit with a sledgehammer (after removing the T-50 bolt). This may be obvious to those of you who've done it before, but it was a bit of a surprise to me.

-The two 21mm bolts on the back of each caliper are not available in most autoparts stores-Advance Auto Parts basically laughed in my face. If you plan on putting the ones you have back when you're done, no worries, but if not, probably not the worst idea to order a few because minor thread damage on one bolt almost did me in today. Napa Auto, oddly enough, stocked the exact part, but it took a lot of rummaging in the back stock to find it. Also it requires 200 ft lb of torque, so I needed to upgrade my torque wrench for the job. And if you have a deep 21mm socket, it's a little hard to fit it to take the top bolt off (possible, but a bit tough to get it on)--you may want to also have a shallow socket handy... was easier.

All in all a fun project and definitely will be faster next time. Think (realistically) 3 hours for the job if you're a weekend warrior, assuming you have all the parts, etc. and don't need 3 trips to the store like me, including setup, cleanup, etc. My case was probably more like 6 all in, but I was doing it alone and for the first time.

JW3

Glad to hear you are happy. With regards to the suspension, if your vehicle has 'self leveling' suspension, you should turn it off prior to jacking up the vehicle (safety concern). Once you've done the work then re-engage the self leveling suspension. Getting new parts requires a bit of work in that one must look at not only the price of the parts but the shipping costs (these days quite crucial). All things considered, my local Porsche dealer was the best buy on the heavy stuff (disc & pads). The other parts I ordered from Pelican Parts - friendly, professional and quick service. The back brakes are not quite as easy as the front unless you have access to a shop type floor lift (so you can raise the vehicle completely off the ground and walk under it). Those rear caliper bolts are a chore to get to unless you can go through the suspension arms (then sort of easy). One last comment, I would use a hard rubber mallet instead of a sledgehammer.

Cannoli

The overall procedure to replace the pads and sensors are the same. You probably have different fastener sizes to deal with. The calipers you have are Porsche/ATE (I believe - someone chim in if I'm mistaken) where as the 955 Cayennes have the Porsche/Brembo calipers.

I recommend staying with OE pads. My experience with aftermarket pads (Hawk HPS) were not suitable for everyday driving (IMHO) - you need to put heat in them to be effective, so if you doing a lot of highway driving, the braking distance is not acceptable when the pads are cold. They (HPS) appear to have a higher hardness than the OE pads. Less dust, but longer braking distance when cold.