Changing your own brake pads & discs

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R.Y.K. LEE

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I recently had my car serviced and Kwik Fit told me I needed to have 2 new front discs and pads, and 2 new pads on the back.

I was looking on their prices on the board in reception and worked it out to be around £160. The guy later tells me those are guide prices only and he quoted me about £350.

Now I checked online and I can get 2 front discs and pads, and 2 back pads for around £70.

My question is, how difficult is it to change your own brake pads and discs? Especially for a first timer like me. Will I need specialist equipment or can I get away with bare minimum (bog standard tool box tools).
 
How old is the car??
You may need to wind the rear calipers back. Can be done with a screwdriver though.
if its not too old then the fronts should just push back in with a bit of a push.

Discs. If the retaining screw comes loose nice and easy then piece of P*ss. If not then you may need a shock driver.

However I wouldn't be paying kwik fit at all. Try a local indy first.
 
Yeah Kwik fit will always overcharge. To do it on your own you will also need to make sure you have big enough nut which doesn't tend to come in a "standard" tool kit. Although halfords would sell it. You would probably need some copper grease aswell. Check YouTube should be loads of videos for guidance. But check local mechanics too
 
As suggested take it to a local mechanic. I would not like to mess around with the brakes on my car.

What car is it?
 
if you feel confident do it yourself - buy a manual or download you tube vids - its not as hard as you may think, and it'll save you a packet (if you do it yourself buy a caliper rewind tool about 15.00)
 
I've done it myself, the discs and pads not rear brake shoes
its not hard to do but I'm used to doing my own work on motorbikes
to be honest though if you're not used to doing that sort of thing I would get a local independent garage to do it
as already said sometimes the bolts can be hard to undo and you need good quality sockets and spanners if you round off any boltheads you'll be stuffed
and nowadays I'd probably get the garage to do it anyway
 
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It's basic stuff but bear in mind that all those nuts and bolts have been done up for a while and can be a pain to undo.
And it's yer brakes - so pay an independent local. That'll save money and give you peace of mind.

just my 2c

cheers, cw
 
Disks and pads aren't generally difficult to do if you have a reasonable toolkit. Depending on the calliper type, you may need a drift to get out the securing pins, although 2 pot and 4 pot callipers seem rare these days, it's all single pot slider thingies.

As a first DIY job for an inexperienced home mechanic it's not something I'd recommend though, get your confidence and ability up on less safety critical parts.
 
I would also be going to your local Indy and saying " could you have a look at my brakes, please" and wait to see what actually needs doing.....;)
 
I'd agree with going to a local independant recommended garage.

My car has developed a slight vibration through the steering wheel when I brake heavily,
at other times it's fine.
Dropped into my garage earlier in the week and was told the discs have warped slightly, but not to
worry as it's not that bad, and certainly not dangerous at the moment but will need changing at
some point before the MOT or if it gets worse.
But he is also quite happy to do it now if I am worried
 
Ask Kwik fit how much pad and disc material is left on the brakes and what proportion of its original life is left. They'll usually start umming and arrhing as telling you need both is often a money spinner. They did this to me. I asked that. They changed their mind!
 
IF you're 100% happy that changing the parts is within your capabilities, there's no real reason not to do it yourself but if you're in any doubt, cough up the necessary for a professional to do the work.
 
Always use OEM brake parts (or proper upgrades). Most garages (kf included) will offload the cheapest they have and that is barely adequate for a 5 min trip to local supermarket. Cheap brakes = dangerous. I once wasted almost £300 thanks to Bristol useless garages selling rubbish and failing to fit it and ended up buying genuine for the sake of safety. Go to the dealer to buy parts or do the whole job, or look at performance upgrades from a dedicated specialist.
 
daugirdas said:
Always use OEM brake parts (or proper upgrades). Most garages (kf included) will offload the cheapest they have and that is barely adequate for a 5 min trip to local supermarket. Cheap brakes = dangerous. I once wasted almost £300 thanks to Bristol useless garages selling rubbish and failing to fit it and ended up buying genuine for the sake of safety. Go to the dealer to buy parts or do the whole job, or look at performance upgrades from a dedicated specialist.
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Amen. Here is one of the pads removed from my FTO. The disc also had a crack in it!





These were Delphi pads. Needless to say it actually stops now with EBC reds and fresh discs.

Changing discs and pads is usually very easy, pads especially so.
 
daugirdas said:
Always use OEM brake parts (or proper upgrades). Most garages (kf included) will offload the cheapest they have and that is barely adequate for a 5 min trip to local supermarket. Cheap brakes = dangerous. I once wasted almost £300 thanks to Bristol useless garages selling rubbish and failing to fit it and ended up buying genuine for the sake of safety. Go to the dealer to buy parts or do the whole job, or look at performance upgrades from a dedicated specialist.
Click to expand...

the above statement is extremely misguided.

as my job title is "senior parts advisor" in a local motorfactors, i know what i am on about.


now all brakes sold in the uk (and europe) have to at least conform to the 'R90' standard, so the cheapest pads and discs will conform to this, http://ebcbrakes.com/ece-r90/

now, i will say that these pads arent quite as good as the OEM ones, because the way they make them so cheap is to not put anti squeel backings, and yes the compounds can in some cases be softer than oem but equally can be harder than oem (generally the latter)

then you have your big brands such as DELPHI (AP lockheed), FERODO, MINTEX, PAGID, TRW etc, these are identical to the OEM brake, they spend lots of money on research and development to atleast get exact matching qaulity (generally they perform better than oem) , and these manufactures also produce the original parts for the oem, for example, delphi make the brakes for the new ford focus, brembo make them for the transit etc etc.

and IF a main dealer turns round and says the same thing about after market parts and the car was fitted one of the above brands, this is illegal, and is slander and the supplier has every right to sue the dealer, each big brand oem supplier can also provide a certificate upon request.

i am afraid its people like you that are slowly bringing the business i work in to its knee's.

whilst on this subject do people know about the block exemption rule???
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Amen. Here is one of the pads removed from my FTO. The disc also had a crack in it!





These were Delphi pads. Needless to say it actually stops now with EBC reds and fresh discs.

Changing discs and pads is usually very easy, pads especially so.
Click to expand...

those brakes were dropped before being fitted, that is why the top corner of the material is missing, and would also explain why there is a crack in the lining.

another cause for the crack (not the corner being broken off) is over heating, being a sports car, and the fact you have replaced with ebc redstuff suggests that this would likely be the case.
 
sx_turbo said:
the above statement is extremely misguided.

as my job title is "senior parts advisor" in a local motorfactors, i know what i am on about.


now all brakes sold in the uk (and europe) have to at least conform to the 'R90' standard, so the cheapest pads and discs will conform to this, http://ebcbrakes.com/ece-r90/

now, i will say that these pads arent quite as good as the OEM ones, because the way they make them so cheap is to not put anti squeel backings, and yes the compounds can in some cases be softer than oem but equally can be harder than oem (generally the latter)

then you have your big brands such as DELPHI (AP lockheed), FERODO, MINTEX, PAGID, TRW etc, these are identical to the OEM brake, they spend lots of money on research and development to atleast get exact matching qaulity (generally they perform better than oem) , and these manufactures also produce the original parts for the oem, for example, delphi make the brakes for the new ford focus, brembo make them for the transit etc etc.

and IF a main dealer turns round and says the same thing about after market parts and the car was fitted one of the above brands, this is illegal, and is slander and the supplier has every right to sue the dealer, each big brand oem supplier can also provide a certificate upon request.

i am afraid its people like you that are slowly bringing the business i work in to its knee's.

whilst on this subject do people know about the block exemption rule???
Click to expand...

Maybe they're supposed to, but ebay is doing a roaring trade in knock off brake pads from CHina etc which are most definitely not safe for use on anything other than a child's peddle car.

Meeting some arbitrary minimum standards is also no indicator if being good, and simply because someone supplies a manufacturer with a part doesn't mean that some other part made by them isn't awful. All these 3rd party manufacturers produce a range of compounds. The car manufacturer may well choose compound A from Manufacturer X for it's OEM, doesn't mean going down the motorfactors and buying compound C from manufacturer X is going to be a good idea just because they happen to make the original pad.

For example the EBC red pads I've chosen for my car, I've used before on other cars and they haven't been suitable, but they are very well matched for the FTO. Now I don't think any car come from the factory with EBC reds, but they are made for a whole host of cars which they aren't necessarily suited to. Much like the Delphi pads that were in it shouldn't ever have been fitted to it because they aren't suited to the task. (I didn't fit them, it came with them and somehow got through an MOT with them)
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Maybe they're supposed to, but ebay is doing a roaring trade in knock off brake pads from CHina etc which are most definitely not safe for use on anything other than a child's peddle car.

Meeting some arbitrary minimum standards is also no indicator if being good, and simply because someone supplies a manufacturer with a part doesn't mean that some other part made by them isn't awful. All these 3rd party manufacturers produce a range of compounds. The car manufacturer may well choose compound A from Manufacturer X for it's OEM, doesn't mean going down the motor factors and buying compound C from manufacturer X is going to be a good idea just because they happen to make the original pad.

For example the EBC red pads I've chosen for my car, I've used before on other cars and they haven't been suitable, but they are very well matched for the FTO. Now I don't think any car come from the factory with EBC reds, but they are made for a whole host of cars which they aren't necessarily suited to. Much like the Delphi pads that were in it shouldn't ever have been fitted to it because they aren't suited to the task. (I didn't fit them, it came with them and somehow got through an MOT with them)
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for the manufacture to be able to say they are exacting or exceeding oem standards, they have to do exactly that.

this is in part, what block exemption means.

in order for a manufacture to "SAY" there parts are the same, they need to prove they are the same (hence they have certificates to prove), likewise if they are found to not be of at least exacting standards they face extremely high fines or possible criminal charges.

and as we are talking about EBC, non of there brakes are made to oem exact quality, they are made to r90, r90 does not mean they are exact, but it does mean they are built to a minimum safe standard.

and yes to your point about just because they make the pads doesn't mean they use the same material for the ones they dont sell to the oem.

well actually it would cost them much more money to open a separate production line and develop a whole new compound etc, just to produce a pad for the aftermarket that they already have sitting on there shelf, why would they needlessly spend that money????

and why shouldnt the delphi's ever have been fitted to the car? they were on the car already when you bought it, just because you have now found there cracked does not mean they werent up to the task,

you dont know how the car was driven, and you dont know the monkey that fitted them. i have stated the reasons for them failing, and that is not down to being delphi's fault.

as another point, when pads overheat they are buggered, they will NEVER perform how they did before they overheated, as the excess heat destroys the compound.
 
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I always change brake pads and discs on my cars (and also friend's cars), and have yet to come across really complicated ones. I have never used parts from main dealers, because it is simply a rip off IMO.
Our present cars (Octavia and Mondeo) have Pagid discs and pads all around, and they are certainly more than up to the job - very smooth and progressive with bags of power. The only slight problem, is that Pagid pads have a bit of a reputation for squealing.
The last front disc and pad change on the Mondeo (previous discs were warped) cost around £60 plus my time.
I tend to get my parts from Eurocarparts, because they sell good stuff and have regular sales with 50% off.
 
Personally, I would not mess with the brakes if I'm not sure what I'm doing. Have you got a mate who's done it before - maybe worth offering him a few quid to help? Or else go to a local mechanic and ask him to take look and show you where it's worn. Some places will take a look for free.
 
as a side note, pagid pads in the uk sold by a well known motor factors are not the same pagid as you get in the rest of the world.

the said well known motorfactors has the sole uk rights to use there brand name. they are good pads, but there not as good as they are elsewhere, (hence the squeeling)

it is also a very bad idea to use copper slip or any sort of grease on modern pads with the anti squeel shims / backings as the grease promotes squeeling. on pads that dont come with these then yes use a brake grease bothe mintex and ATE do a good brake grease. copper grease goes hard and gungy with the heat and promotes squeeling.

also its the movement of the pads in the calipers that make the squeeling NOT the compounds of the pads and discs, unless your using a full race pad and disc combo.


providing you follow the steps in the workshop manual, and are precise and careful in the way you work, you wont have a problem. as have been said though, chances are you will most likely need a brake rewind tool on the rear caliper, oh and remember to remove the cap on the brake master cylinder, it'll be costly if you dont
 
andy700 said:
I always change brake pads and discs on my cars (and also friend's cars), and have yet to come across really complicated ones. I have never used parts from main dealers, because it is simply a rip off IMO.
Our present cars (Octavia and Mondeo) have Pagid discs and pads all around, and they are certainly more than up to the job - very smooth and progressive with bags of power. The only slight problem, is that Pagid pads have a bit of a reputation for squealing.
The last front disc and pad change on the Mondeo (previous discs were warped) cost around £60 plus my time.
I tend to get my parts from Eurocarparts, because they sell good stuff and have regular sales with 50% off.
Click to expand...

only buy big brands from euro car parts.

there crossland filters you should steer clear of them, they are not OEM standard, sogeffi filtration (a big oem brand they own purflux, fram and cooper fiaam) sold crossland name to euro carparts, euro carparts put cheap chinese stuff in crossland boxes.

the same with the lucas branded stuff, lucas doesnt exist any more, trw own the rights to lucas brakes, elta lighting own the rights to lucas bulbs and car electronics, there LUK clutch kits are not sourced from luk uk, they come from luk europe and are in fact remanufactured (not that this is an issue as luk are still excellent) and are not covered under warranty in the uk, only direct with euro's, there valeo clucth kits are imported from valeo china and are not covered by valeo europe warranty.

basiclly the above means that trying to get a warranty with euro carparts its a lot more tricky if you are trying to claim labour for the cost of having to fit the part for a 2nd time.
 
sx_turbo said:
the above statement is extremely misguided.

as my job title is "senior parts advisor" in a local motorfactors, i know what i am on about.


now all brakes sold in the uk (and europe) have to at least conform to the 'R90' standard, so the cheapest pads and discs will conform to this, http://ebcbrakes.com/ece-r90/

now, i will say that these pads arent quite as good as the OEM ones, because the way they make them so cheap is to not put anti squeel backings, and yes the compounds can in some cases be softer than oem but equally can be harder than oem (generally the latter)

then you have your big brands such as DELPHI (AP lockheed), FERODO, MINTEX, PAGID, TRW etc, these are identical to the OEM brake, they spend lots of money on research and development to atleast get exact matching qaulity (generally they perform better than oem) , and these manufactures also produce the original parts for the oem, for example, delphi make the brakes for the new ford focus, brembo make them for the transit etc etc.

and IF a main dealer turns round and says the same thing about after market parts and the car was fitted one of the above brands, this is illegal, and is slander and the supplier has every right to sue the dealer, each big brand oem supplier can also provide a certificate upon request.

i am afraid its people like you that are slowly bringing the business i work in to its knee's.

whilst on this subject do people know about the block exemption rule???
Click to expand...

If only that was true! I would be £300 better of and still have a car that can stop safely and as quickly as with the OEM set. I can tell when my car becomes a deadly cart like renault scenic and it takes far longer to stop from 60mph. I don't know where the problem is exactly, but frankly me and many of mates had this sour experience with anything but OEM. Perhaps you could elaborate further.
 
Very good advice above, to summarise:
Don't deal with Quickfit
Take it to a local garage to get it done safely, better and cheaper
Don't do it yourself unless you really know what you're doing and have the right tools, and can do it safely
 
daugirdas said:
If only that was true! I would be £300 better of and still have a car that can stop safely and as quickly as with the OEM set. I can tell when my car becomes a deadly cart like renault scenic and it takes far longer to stop from 60mph. I don't know where the problem is exactly, but frankly me and many of mates had this sour experience with anything but OEM. Perhaps you could elaborate further.
Click to expand...

to be fair i dont think i can ellaborate any further than i have done in subsequent posts.

but i will add that where i work we also deal with main dealers who order a substantial amount of parts from us,( not just for cars that they dont manufacture i.e when someone takes there ford to get serviced at a renault dealer) but also for there own brand products, a couple of weeks ago i was supplying brake pads to vauxhall for a vxr monaro, same goes for a lot of dealers up and down the country.

so basicly to give a blanket "all aftermarket brakes are rubbish" is complete codswallop.

providing reputable manufactures are used there will be absolutely no issue, millions of cars up and down the country cant be wrong, and if there was lots of bad accidents because inferior brakes were used i dont think these company's would still be in business.

that and the government wouldn't enforce the block exemption rule.

at the end of the day people can fit what ever they wish to there vehicles, but oem isnt the only way.

to the OP i am kwik fits main supplier, and have the contract to supply them everything, our main stay of business though is supplying them there brakes.

we supply them with Delphi and Drivetec, the drivetec are only built to r90 standards, we are told to supply them the drivetecs where possible, if not then supply the delphi.

drivetec ared allied nippon brake pads reboxed, http://www.alliednippon.com/products.html

dont pay kwik fit that sort of money to fit them, that is far to much.

if you dont feel confident enough to fit them yourself, find a good reputable local garage, this link should help you http://www.goodgaragescheme.com/, ask them what brand of brakes they fit, then do your research. but to be honest providing its one of the brands i mentioned earlier you'll be fine.
 
recently needed 2 new tyres for my 1.3 diesel punto, I knew what I wanted so shopped around and "F1 autocentre" was by far the cheapest...

they also decided to do a xx point summer safety check and the list of things that needed doing was shockingly laughable... about £800 or so...

I obviously declined as was going for a service and MOT the next week... with local independant and an MOT guy who is firm but fair.. i.e. bulb out (he will replace it and pass it, as opposed to refuse it)

I showed them both the list before service and MOT.

Total cost £80 service, and £45 MOT. (give or take some pence)


I am v skeptical of places that offer cheap this x and y...
 
I always do my own disks/pads, always have done. Im no super mechanic, but its only nuts and bolts. I must have changed 20+ sets over the years on various cars and never had any problems.

One time, I had a Rover 200. I'd spent the morning replacing both sides front pads and disks as it had MOT the next day. When I'd finished and was putting the wheels back on, I noticed the drivers tyre was getting bald on the inside. I had no choice but to go to Kwikft to get a new tyre, Id usually avoid them like the plague.
Anyway, I get there, ask for the tyre and sit in the waiting room.
About half an hour later, the guy comes up and says it its finished, however they found a problem.

He says to me with a completely straight face that they checked the front brakes for me and the pads were below the legal limit and the disks were nearing the end of their life. Before I even had a chance to digest what he said, he immediately said they could replace both sides of pads and discs there and then for £350.
I can't remember exactly what I said, but Im pretty sure it had some swear words and I made it known what a bunch of crooks they were. I demanded to speak to manager and when I asked him on how it was possible one of their supposedly fully trained mechanics can mistake a brand new disc and two brand new pads for being "below the legal limit". All I got was some BS about it being an apprentice and a genuine mistake..

Needless to say Ive never stepped foot in a kwikfit again.
 
Only once changed my brakes and that was on my first car, a riley kestrel 1300. A day or two later was driving on the motorway into leeds meaning to exit at the hunslet turn, this junction is hidden behind a bend in the motorway and I was always forgetting and leaving slowing down till late. To make matters worse the run off is a severe bend which doubles back on itself. To cut a long story short I drove into the slip road at 70mph and when touching the brakes to slow down they failed. Fortunately severe pumping of the pedal and changing down gears meant we negotiated ok but it left a mental scar :( Seems I didn't bleed the brakes sufficiently. Never again will I change the brakes on my car
 
My one and only experience of kwik fit is this. My car display stated the front pads were worn and needed replacing, off to Kwik fit they said the price would be £32 fitted ( this was a few years ago now) so I agree to have the work done only to be told that I couldn't have the car back as an inspection on the rear brake discs found they were well below the minimum thickness <7mm when minimum is 8mm. I said I didn't have the money for the price quoted and after a lengthy argument kwik fit reluctantly handed my car back. I work in engineering and have the use of micrometers which are calibrated once a month, using one of these I couldn't find any point on my rear discs under 9.5mm. I wrote to head office asking for an explanation and never received a reply. I will never go to kwik fit again. If they cannot read a micrometer I can't trust them to do a proper job on my brakes.
 
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was it Abbey Lane Kwik Fit Ray? terrible place..

get a 2nd opinion, try Raj Motors also on Abbey Lane or (and people will bunch these with Kwik Fit) Halfords Auto Centre on Tigers Way, we got an MOT deal from O2 rewards so decided to give them a go and they were excellent and wife has taken car there a couple of times now for work and prices seemed more than acceptable.

if you do tackle it yourself and need a hand give me a shout, quite happy to stand over you with a cup of coffee Harry Enfield stylee :)

Harry-Enfield-You-Didnt-wanna2.jpg
 
sx_turbo said:
it is also a very bad idea to use copper slip or any sort of grease on modern pads with the anti squeel shims / backings as the grease promotes squeeling. on pads that dont come with these then yes use a brake grease bothe mintex and ATE do a good brake grease. copper grease goes hard and gungy with the heat and promotes squeeling.
Click to expand...
I used copper grease on my EBC pads which had anti squeal backings and never had any squeal in 3.5yrs and 45k miles they were on the car.
 
hot-ice said:
My one and only experience of kwik fit is this. My car display stated the front pads were worn and needed replacing, off to Kwik fit they said the price would be £32 fitted ( this was a few years ago now) so I agree to have the work done only to be told that I couldn't have the car back as an inspection on the rear brake discs found they were well below the minimum thickness <7mm when minimum is 8mm. I said I didn't have the money for the price quoted and after a lengthy argument kwik fit reluctantly handed my car back. I work in engineering and have the use of micrometers which are calibrated once a month, using one of these I couldn't find any point on my rear discs under 9.5mm. I wrote to head office asking for an explanation and never received a reply. I will never go to kwik fit again. If they cannot read a micrometer I can't trust them to do a proper job on my brakes.
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I'm surprised you'd need a mic to tell the difference between 7mm and 9.5mm.
 
nilagin said:
I'm surprised you'd need a mic to tell the difference between 7mm and 9.5mm.
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You are correct, I don't need a mic to tell the difference between <7mm and 9.5mm but I couldn't put in my letter to Kwik fit, the disc thickness feels like 9.5mm not the <7mm your people have told me it was.
 
hot-ice said:
You are correct, I don't need a mic to tell the difference between <7mm and 9.5mm but I couldn't put in my letter to Kwik fit, the disc thickness feels like 9.5mm not the <7mm your people have told me it was.
Click to expand...
why not?
 
don't mess with brakes, take it to a decent local dealer.
 
You don't need to go to a local stealer just a competent independent.

Most pads and disks are relatively straightforward however there are some exceptions as an example VW Audi group cars with electronic calipers these MUST be wound back with a scanner if someone does it manually the bills going to be expensive. It would be helpful to know which car it is.
 
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