XKR Brake Job Report
#1
12-12-2011, 08:12 AM
XKR Brake Job Report
Just finished replacing the rotors and pads on a Brembo brake system. The pads and rotors actually were only about 1/2 worn but the rotors were grooving badly and the pads were dusty and not stopping as well as I thought they should be, there was also an annoying vibration at 70 that tire balance could not get rid of.
The records show the rotors and pads had been changed by the Dealer right before I bought the car three years ago. I realized the rotors were after market but the dealer charged for OEM pads and rotors!
I sourced the cross drilled rotors from SNG Barrett and Hawk Performance Ceramic Pads from Amazon.
I started by pulling the wheels which was the usual annoying process of kicking the wheel with my foot to break it loose (only car I've ever had that needed this activity). I then saw that the RF brake line was stretched to the breaking point with the wheel turned full left to access the caliper parts. The ham-fisted dealer tech had rotated the angled fitting for clearance and left it in a bind every time the wheel was full left. I moved the fitting back to the correct position! Hose seeemd okay but it was a good thing I decided to do this.
I then removed the retaining clips, pins and pad pressure clip and pulled the pads which was simple and smooth. They were OEM Brembo pads, dusty, evidence of melting at one of the edges and not performing very well, no more Brembos for me!
Then the excruciating process of removing the caliper bolts, they were not loctited, just some age and corrossion. They took Aerokroil and a 3 foot torque wrench pulling at 150-190 ft lbs with every click to get them off. As I work in the driveway, the room to move the wrench is limited and it took quite some time to get the bolts out 2 clicks at a time. I never use an air wrench on fine threads like this, too easy to cross thread them, especially when they are this tight in the hole.. When the bolts were out, there was evidence of some very minor thread damage in the hole. I cleaned them up with a tap.
Then another Aerokroil job on the rotor to hub joint. After an hour of soaking, it took a small sledgehamer and another 20 minutes to break the rotor loose from the hub. (getting blisters even with gloves on now).
Prepped the rotors as usual by using laquer thinner to dissolve all the oils on the rotor pad contact surfaces and then sanding them down in a circular motion to create the friction to bed the new pads quickly.
Installation involved high temp grease on the joints, very minimal but enough to keep it from seizing up again. Both brakes were pretty much identical in pain level.
I them bled the brakes to clear the lines after moving the brake pipe fitting. I do not generally open the bleeder when pushing the pads back (too messy for me and I still have to bleed them anyway), I just bleed the brakes after to save time.
I take it for a test ride and go in for Ibuprofen. I think I'll pay someone the next time. The problem is that the guys out there doing brakes do stuff like the misplaced pipe fitting and you have to check them afterwards. Annoying but typical.
The records show the rotors and pads had been changed by the Dealer right before I bought the car three years ago. I realized the rotors were after market but the dealer charged for OEM pads and rotors!
I sourced the cross drilled rotors from SNG Barrett and Hawk Performance Ceramic Pads from Amazon.
I started by pulling the wheels which was the usual annoying process of kicking the wheel with my foot to break it loose (only car I've ever had that needed this activity). I then saw that the RF brake line was stretched to the breaking point with the wheel turned full left to access the caliper parts. The ham-fisted dealer tech had rotated the angled fitting for clearance and left it in a bind every time the wheel was full left. I moved the fitting back to the correct position! Hose seeemd okay but it was a good thing I decided to do this.
I then removed the retaining clips, pins and pad pressure clip and pulled the pads which was simple and smooth. They were OEM Brembo pads, dusty, evidence of melting at one of the edges and not performing very well, no more Brembos for me!
Then the excruciating process of removing the caliper bolts, they were not loctited, just some age and corrossion. They took Aerokroil and a 3 foot torque wrench pulling at 150-190 ft lbs with every click to get them off. As I work in the driveway, the room to move the wrench is limited and it took quite some time to get the bolts out 2 clicks at a time. I never use an air wrench on fine threads like this, too easy to cross thread them, especially when they are this tight in the hole.. When the bolts were out, there was evidence of some very minor thread damage in the hole. I cleaned them up with a tap.
Then another Aerokroil job on the rotor to hub joint. After an hour of soaking, it took a small sledgehamer and another 20 minutes to break the rotor loose from the hub. (getting blisters even with gloves on now).
Prepped the rotors as usual by using laquer thinner to dissolve all the oils on the rotor pad contact surfaces and then sanding them down in a circular motion to create the friction to bed the new pads quickly.
Installation involved high temp grease on the joints, very minimal but enough to keep it from seizing up again. Both brakes were pretty much identical in pain level.
I them bled the brakes to clear the lines after moving the brake pipe fitting. I do not generally open the bleeder when pushing the pads back (too messy for me and I still have to bleed them anyway), I just bleed the brakes after to save time.
I take it for a test ride and go in for Ibuprofen. I think I'll pay someone the next time. The problem is that the guys out there doing brakes do stuff like the misplaced pipe fitting and you have to check them afterwards. Annoying but typical.
#2
12-12-2011, 08:26 AM
Senior Member
Great Job!
Assume you meant that you changed the Brembo Pads and Rotors not the Calipers when you said "no more Brembos for me."
Otherwise you have certainly convinced me to never try replacing mine myself.
Too bad you are going to pay for the next one cause you could have done mine next.
Nothing to add other than an old sports trick I learned years ago....take the Ibuprofen before you start the game/activity....works like a charm even for bad knees and skiing...no pain, no swelling, no recovery.
cheers,
jj
Assume you meant that you changed the Brembo Pads and Rotors not the Calipers when you said "no more Brembos for me."
Otherwise you have certainly convinced me to never try replacing mine myself.
Too bad you are going to pay for the next one cause you could have done mine next.
Nothing to add other than an old sports trick I learned years ago....take the Ibuprofen before you start the game/activity....works like a charm even for bad knees and skiing...no pain, no swelling, no recovery.
cheers,
jj
#3
12-12-2011, 08:29 AM
I always forget something....the new rotors solved the vibration problem at 70. Also, I reinstalled the caliper bolts without loctite,they went back in smoothly and I torqued them to 130 ft lbs. I've always done it this way and have never had one come loose, I'll just keep an eye on it for awhile to be sure. If I detect any looseness, I'll wire them (now that I think about it, I should have done that but I was so tired from the work, I didn't feel like setting up the drill press). I seem to remember that I heard someone mention alloy parts in this system, the caliper bolts and uprights are not alloy, just fine thread with some corrosion added. I should have replaced the bolts as the heads were damaged slightly but I did not want loctite back in there in case I wanted to get them off again some day.
#4
12-12-2011, 08:43 AM
Great Job!
Assume you meant that you changed the Brembo Pads and Rotors not the Calipers when you said "no more Brembos for me."
Otherwise you have certainly convinced me to never try replacing mine myself.
Too bad you are going to pay for the next one cause you could have done mine next.
Nothing to add other than an old sports trick I learned years ago....take the Ibuprofen before you start the game/activity....works like a charm even for bad knees and skiing...no pain, no swelling, no recovery.
cheers,
jj
Assume you meant that you changed the Brembo Pads and Rotors not the Calipers when you said "no more Brembos for me."
Otherwise you have certainly convinced me to never try replacing mine myself.
Too bad you are going to pay for the next one cause you could have done mine next.
Nothing to add other than an old sports trick I learned years ago....take the Ibuprofen before you start the game/activity....works like a charm even for bad knees and skiing...no pain, no swelling, no recovery.
cheers,
jj
It did help the pain that the job cost about $400 instead of the $1800+ on the ticket in the car, and the annoying vibration I've been putting up with for three years is gone.
#5
12-12-2011, 09:30 AM
Senior Member
Oldly;
Good job on the vibration....I hope the small vibration in the front on mine is a wheel balance issue and not brakes or bushings.
Strains and sprains are always worse 36 hours after after the cause and start diminishing after the third day. Use Ice the first 48 hours and don't start Heat until after 48 hours. Keep up the Ibuprofun.
cheers,
jj
Good job on the vibration....I hope the small vibration in the front on mine is a wheel balance issue and not brakes or bushings.
Strains and sprains are always worse 36 hours after after the cause and start diminishing after the third day. Use Ice the first 48 hours and don't start Heat until after 48 hours. Keep up the Ibuprofun.
cheers,
jj
