Rear brakes get the attention they need and deserve
Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:21 pm
One of my rear pads was wearing oddly, and because it was an OE style inside pad, the squealer/screecher was telling me that it wanted to be replaced. It wasn't completely convincing though, as the weather was still cool enough that I wasn't driving around constantly hearing it's complaints...
The rear rotors, however, needed to be turned, so I couldn't just find pads and put them on with decent results. I've not touched the rear brakes on the car since I purchased it, so I figured it was high time to pay attention to them.
I got lucky and found a set of rear rotors off a silver 04 GT for $15/ea with rust and some minor scoring on the back:
I tried getting some decent pads, but the best I could find were the semi-metallic Raybestos at Checker. Decent price, integrated backing plate and in stock:
I had the rotors resurfaced at a local shop for $15/ea and set to the task:
The old setup, with a lot of rust on rotor and pads:
Thankfully the caliper had been removed to check for pad wear before, so it wasn't hard to get off. The bracket resisted, but thanks to some well-placed access holes, I was able to get to the bolts and break them loose without much effort. Getting the rotor off, however, proved to be a stopping issue. I'd never used the threaded bolt technique to get a rotor off, but luckily found one that fit and used a 1/2" box wrench and socket to work both sides off:
The new vs. old:
New pads installed:
All back together:
Everything was identical on the other side. No more noise, better braking feel for sure. ~$100 and an hour or so of labor. No worries for another 110k miles!
The rear rotors, however, needed to be turned, so I couldn't just find pads and put them on with decent results. I've not touched the rear brakes on the car since I purchased it, so I figured it was high time to pay attention to them.
I got lucky and found a set of rear rotors off a silver 04 GT for $15/ea with rust and some minor scoring on the back:
I tried getting some decent pads, but the best I could find were the semi-metallic Raybestos at Checker. Decent price, integrated backing plate and in stock:
I had the rotors resurfaced at a local shop for $15/ea and set to the task:
The old setup, with a lot of rust on rotor and pads:
Thankfully the caliper had been removed to check for pad wear before, so it wasn't hard to get off. The bracket resisted, but thanks to some well-placed access holes, I was able to get to the bolts and break them loose without much effort. Getting the rotor off, however, proved to be a stopping issue. I'd never used the threaded bolt technique to get a rotor off, but luckily found one that fit and used a 1/2" box wrench and socket to work both sides off:
The new vs. old:
New pads installed:
All back together:
Everything was identical on the other side. No more noise, better braking feel for sure. ~$100 and an hour or so of labor. No worries for another 110k miles!
