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barrys
Well-Known Member
Just bored so I figured I'd blather on...
Qualifying note:
I'm a weekend warrior so I really don't know crap and you should not listen to me.
First of all, there's an amazing youtube vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxhW6K7eI4c
That dude's a stud. He does most of the job for one wheel in 7 minutes with no noticeable pulse elevation...
First there was getting parts. Someone recommended CarQuest. Their blue pads (perhaps Raybestos) are supposed to be good, but they're pricey. Their hardware was a good fit. Their rotor factory needs a QA department. The first one had a balancing channel ground in the part rotor edge. That might imply that their casting density is problematic. Swapped that one and it was not machined on the middle of the "cap" which was so lame. Saving money by skipping a machining step on "some" of the rotors? The third one was fine but I said f-it. Not interested in a factory that's so loose about what goes out the door. So, I returned them, went to an indy shop, and got Raybestos rotors. I'll be going there from now on when I don't order Motorcraft online.
Between the vid and my books, the job went OK. Got new bearings. But, I found that one of the cages was dented afer the car was in the air and one rotor was off. So... repack old bearing and pop em in. That vid guys seal removal trick worked. I used new seals anyway and put them in with a seal pressing tool I made on the lathe -- basically an aluminum disk the diam of the seal with handle sticking out of it that you whack on. You can get whole sets of these for 20.00 or tap it in like the vid dude. I used antisqueal on the backs of the pads even though our pads have clips. That "anti-rattle clip" was kind of a pain to install though.
Note: Another trick I saw in a vid for removing the seals was to put the nut back on after removing the thrust washer and outer bearing. Then you just give it a hard pull and the seal pops right off.
The brakes seem OK on day one. We'll have to see. I kept the old rotors which have plenty of meat on them and I'll get them turned for next time. I wanted to do the job on the weekend and my shop that would turn them for me is closed. So, I had to buy new ones.
Was it worth it?
I had a chirping squeak for ages. Lately I was getting shuddering pulse on fast stops and I've had a chirping squeal for ages. Also, on slow, complete stops, I was getting a pulse to the movement of the truck. I measured the pads crudely last weekend and they seemed like 1/8-3/16. Tollerances I've read are as low as 1/32nd and often 1/16. When I took them off they were all 3/16 to 1/4. The rotor was about .870 which is way above the .810 min. So, I didn't really have to do it. But, hopefully that shuddering will stop and it was a fun job.
Qualifying note:
I'm a weekend warrior so I really don't know crap and you should not listen to me.
First of all, there's an amazing youtube vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxhW6K7eI4c
That dude's a stud. He does most of the job for one wheel in 7 minutes with no noticeable pulse elevation...
First there was getting parts. Someone recommended CarQuest. Their blue pads (perhaps Raybestos) are supposed to be good, but they're pricey. Their hardware was a good fit. Their rotor factory needs a QA department. The first one had a balancing channel ground in the part rotor edge. That might imply that their casting density is problematic. Swapped that one and it was not machined on the middle of the "cap" which was so lame. Saving money by skipping a machining step on "some" of the rotors? The third one was fine but I said f-it. Not interested in a factory that's so loose about what goes out the door. So, I returned them, went to an indy shop, and got Raybestos rotors. I'll be going there from now on when I don't order Motorcraft online.
Between the vid and my books, the job went OK. Got new bearings. But, I found that one of the cages was dented afer the car was in the air and one rotor was off. So... repack old bearing and pop em in. That vid guys seal removal trick worked. I used new seals anyway and put them in with a seal pressing tool I made on the lathe -- basically an aluminum disk the diam of the seal with handle sticking out of it that you whack on. You can get whole sets of these for 20.00 or tap it in like the vid dude. I used antisqueal on the backs of the pads even though our pads have clips. That "anti-rattle clip" was kind of a pain to install though.
Note: Another trick I saw in a vid for removing the seals was to put the nut back on after removing the thrust washer and outer bearing. Then you just give it a hard pull and the seal pops right off.
The brakes seem OK on day one. We'll have to see. I kept the old rotors which have plenty of meat on them and I'll get them turned for next time. I wanted to do the job on the weekend and my shop that would turn them for me is closed. So, I had to buy new ones.
Was it worth it?
I had a chirping squeak for ages. Lately I was getting shuddering pulse on fast stops and I've had a chirping squeal for ages. Also, on slow, complete stops, I was getting a pulse to the movement of the truck. I measured the pads crudely last weekend and they seemed like 1/8-3/16. Tollerances I've read are as low as 1/32nd and often 1/16. When I took them off they were all 3/16 to 1/4. The rotor was about .870 which is way above the .810 min. So, I didn't really have to do it. But, hopefully that shuddering will stop and it was a fun job.
