DIY Brake Servicing?

[JAFO]

How difficult is it to service the brake rotors and pads yourself? I am on a tight budget right now and the dealership wants $300 for the front only. A local shade tree machanic wants $250 again just for the front.

I have done the brakes before on my 1980 RX-7 and they were a peice of cake. But I heard that the front rotors on the VX are hard to remove. Any thoughts?

[driver3]

You have to repack the wheel bearings to do the front brakes, you can do a search on that, there will be the instructions for that job on this site. The rears are easy.

http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles.htm/56

[VehiGAZ]

Not to argue, driver3, but I don't think that's true...

My Isuzu dealer resurfaced my front rotors and replaced the pads without repacking the bearings (although they were repacked in a service visit about a month prior), and I am 110% that they would not pass up on the opportunity to charge me for the work! :-)

I haven't brake work on the VX myself, so I can't say anything with 100% certainty, but like I said, my Isuzu dealer didn't do it that way.

[Chopper]

Brake service does not require repacking of the wheel bearings.

[creeg]

I dont think you need to repack the bearings everytime, but if youve got the brakes off, and the bearings are right there (which I beleive they are- as is the case for most cars), it doesnt hurt to repack them. Plus, you can do a visual inspection to make sure they are still good.

Just some good preventative measures...

[driver3]

my error.. You may be able to take the rotor off the hub... I broke one othe bolts holding it on and had to take the whole hub off to fix it... I replace rotors, no resurfacing.. they are pretty cheap.. and I can do it.. I don't have the lathe to do the resurfacing

[creeg]

Cant you just take the rotors to a shop and have them resurface them for you? I though resurfacing was kinda nesessary, so that the pads last longer.

Besides, they can also tell you if the rotors are too thin and need to be replaced.

[transio]

Does anyone have any links to a decently-priced front rotor upgrade (drilled, slotted)?

[VehiGAZ]

Resurfacing is mostly just a cheap alternative to replacing warped rotors. If the rotors are not warped and you do not feel any pulsating in the brake pedal, then you don't need to resurface or replace the rotors, and doing so will not have any significant effect on the life of the pads.

My dealer resurfaced my rotors due to substantial warping, but this quick fix only lasted a couple of months before they warped again (when you resurface a rotor, you make it thinner, which makes it more prone to warping). So now I will have to replace the rotors entirely. Not such a cheap solution, huh?

[transio]

drilled / slotted rotors don't warp as easily under heavy use, because they cool off faster. they tend to crack though

[creeg]

Didnt realize that- thanks for the info!

[rowhard]

Well, I haven't done the front rotors on my VX yet. But you know, if you have the things off, repacking the front bearings is the easiest part of it. You just put a glob of wheel bear grease in one palm, and you press the bearing into it until you get a squeeze out at the top, then you rotate the bearing just a little bit and do it again. And you know what, since your dealing with clean grease to began with, it will wash right off. of course you can use gloves if you must. Maybe I am just old school

[climbcovey]

Just did this job yesterday! I had a bad brake pad which chewed up the back of the rotor.
First remove wheel, brake assemblyand bearing cap. next is the small snap ring (looks like a washer with a space missing functions like a spring) spread the gap and this ring can be slid out of retaining groove, there is a shim (washer) behind it. remove this also. now for the hard part. next you will see the retaining ring it has holes all the way around it and 3 screws holding it inplace.
Screws in the retaing ring on the hub nut will strip out! the are made of a very weak material and seemed to be very tight. as someone else reported, I had to drill out the screws. use the smallest drill bit necessary. retaining ring should now slide off. The hub nut requires a very hard to find tool (a 2 prong hub wrench) which I was unable to locate. I cirumvented this by tapping lightly with a punch and hammer. place the punch at an angle inside one of two larger existing holes in the hub nut (the ones intended for the prongs of the specialty tool, non threaded) tap lightly on the puch to rotate the hub nut counter clockwise until loose enough to turn by hand (use the punch as a handle). Shouldn't take much the hub nut only has about 24 ft lbs of torque. remove rotor, outer bearings will slide out easily. you may want to loosen the 6 bolts holding the hub to the rotor befor removing the hub nut unless you have a secure vise. the lug bolts allow you to brace a wrench between them for countertraction to help loosen the 6 bolts. reinstallation is simply the reverse order until you get back to the retainer ring. which i'll explain in a moment. It is always a good idea to repack the bearings with fresh grease when you've had them out. Ok the retainer ring. If you used a small enough drill bit you might have been able to drill out the 3 screws in the ring without damaging the threads but this is unlikely. So what I did was use a m8 (6.9 mm) drill bit to enlarge these holes. Retapped them to the appropriate size to accommadate threaded inserts that exactly matched the original screws (purchased at a fastener shop $6) I ascertained the exact screw size/thread by taking my hub nut to the fastener shop and threading screws into the back side (non drilled side) of the nut. I purchased a box of better quality screws perfect size for flush fit at this shop also. (< $6) screwed in the inserts to the hub nut, put the hub nut on (reverse of removal) put retaining ring on placed new, improved screws into inserts and completed my reinstall You could just retap the hub nut holes and use a larger screw with no inserts But i didn't know that when i drilled out the screws. (i used to big a bit to start). Sorry I didn't incluce exact thread sized but i'm typing this at work. You can sent me a message and I can get the exact sizes/threads for all that i used. I will try to update this thread later. good luck, let me know if you have ?'s

[migil]

Thanks for the thorough explanation. I always wanted to do it myself, and with your post I feel a little more encouraged.

It would be great if you could post it in the How To's group with details on the tools and parts used/requiered.

I hope you had the time to take pictures of the process.

Anyway, thanks again for your post.

[Jonnie]

Repack bearings:

http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles.htm/56