Okay I'm not much of a mechanic.

I have however had the wheels off my exciting new 2005 model Panda 4x4 and looks to me like it could do with new discs and pads and maybe a clean-up of the callipers. Quite like to have ago at this myself.

The disc I think are held on with 4 wide bolts at back, is that right or is that the hubs? I can't see anything else back there.

Callipers seem to be held on with two big allen bolts and then do they just fall apart or do I need to unscrew the sliders?

Read elsewhere I may need special tool to push piston back in?

If too involved I will have to get help or go to garage as I am newbie to anything mechanical, I'd like to try and learn though.

Cheers anyone who can advise!

Hollister,

I changed both my front & backs a month ago, its an easy job if you take your time and are reasonable with a set of spanners - if in any doubt get a mechanic to do it after all its your brakes.

In a nut shell:-

jack car safley
remove wheel
crack two bolts holding brake caliper (think they are 14 spanner size)
remove caliper and hang out of way do not let it dangle on brake pipe flexi
remove brake caliper mounting ( think 2 x 17mm spanner size)
crack 2 x 12mm wheel locating studs and remove
disc will then slide/esae of the hub (you may need to tap gently with a rubber /copper mallet)
remove brake pads
remove top from brake master cylinder
compress brake caliper piston - slowly
you may want to clamp of the flexi and crack the bleed nipple when you do this as some reports say it may flip the seals on the servo unit but i have found if you do things slowly it has no detremental effect
replace pads
replace disc ( make sure you clean the disc first with meths to remove ang grease
apply copperslip to the rear of the hub
assemble the brakes
test carefully before you use them

Rears are basically the same but the caliper housing is held with a 17 hex drive cap bolt, this can be a %&8 to get at but take your time and it will crack

this is a simplistic overview, if you are in any doubt geta mechanic to assist or send to a garage - brakes are life savers.

Hope this helps

TTR said:

Hollister,

remove brake caliper mounting ( think 2 x 17mm spanner size)
crack 2 x 12mm wheel locating studs and remove
disc will then slide/ease of the hub (you may need to tap gently with a rubber /copper mallet)

Click to expand...

Thanks very much for that, the thing which has confused me when looking at the hub, is it the 12mm wheel locating studs that go through and hold the disc in place?

You see, I'd expected to find some bolts ont he back of the hub holding the disc on?

Cheers

hollister said:

Thanks very much for that, the thing which has confused me when looking at the hub, is it the 12mm wheel locating studs that go through and hold the disc in place?

You see, I'd expected to find some bolts ont he back of the hub holding the disc on?

Cheers

Click to expand...

Once everything is assembled, the disc is held in place by the wheel bolts. The wheel locating studs are there to help you line everything up when refitting the disc/wheel - you could actually leave them off entirely & the car would be perfectly safe.

I do mine up to be 'just finger tight plus a bit', so that the disc can move slightly if it needs to centre itself when the wheel bolts are torqued up. No harm will be done if the locating studs come loose in service as the wheel will stop them from falling out.

Thanks Guys, that's something of a revelation – just had not sussed that the discs don't have their own special little bolts holding them on! All have a laugh, I don't mind!

Seriously, thanks for all that – really useful – and I think will definitely have a go at doing them myself.

hollister said:

Thanks Guys, that's something of a revelation – just had not sussed that the discs don't have their own special little bolts holding them on! All have a laugh, I don't mind!

Seriously, thanks for all that – really useful – and I think will definitely have a go at doing them myself.

Click to expand...

Noone is laughing - we all had to start at the beginning & it's good to see someone having a go .

Just come back & ask if you hit a snag or there's anything you don't understand.

If you haven't found it already, this previous post might be useful.

Cheers for all that! I would like to clean the reaction frames and copper grease them if I can get them out/apart okay.

My only other question at the moment is about compressing the calliper piston and if I need to buy a special tool for this or whether it can be levered in using say a wide screwdriver & wedge of wood or something?

The front pistons will push back with a bar or block levered in there.
Make sure there's no muck around to drag into the seals (clean up with brake cleaner) and as TTR stated, push them back slowly to avoid flipping the seals in the master cylinder.
Remove the cap of the fluid ressie and make sure it doesn't over flow when the pistons push the fluid back into it, a syringe is useful to suck it out as the nears the top.
Brake fluid is very corrosive and will strip the paint of anything it touches.

No rear discs on mine, I have drums, but usually rear discs brakes' calipers ratchet the pistons out on the handbrake and require pushing/turning back in.
There are tools for this, but I've always used a large G clamp to apply pressure in the piston head and some grips to turn the caliper, it's a little bit of a faff having to retighten the clamp, but it works.
Or there is this cubes that works and it doesn't cost a fortune.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...-8-in-drive-tool/_/N-255s?itemIdentifier=2363

Methinks they wind back clockwise, but I expect to be corrected as I originally thought one would go one way and the other the opposite.

Clean up the calipers well, wirebrush the rust off them, if the bodies float on the mounting pins (usually under little rubber boots) pull them out, clean them up copperslip them before refitting, this will stop the caliper jamming at an angle.
Also clean up and lube the handbrake mechanism a well, try not to use oil or WD40, on brakes use brake grease or Copperslip as normal oil/grease will burn with the brake heat.

Thanks all, I'm beginning to feel more confident to tackle this.

Update: thanks to all amazing advice, I took everything apart and cleaned and put back together and will road test tomorrow. The discs and pads weren't in half as bad shape as they first looked (I was seeing all the rust round the edges and thinking they were finished). So I cleaned off all the rust around the front ones, they may still need changing, I'll see how it drives!

Resurrecting this thread, I'm about to change my rear disks and thought it might make sense to change the wheel bearings at the same time - does anyone know where I can get the rear 4x4 hubs and bearings as a single unit, or do I have to press the bearings out and replace?

I always take the chance to put some anti seize on the bleed nipple threads. Pop it out, clean, apply a smear of paste all over the threads an pop it back. Do it before you start and any air bubbles will get pushed out when you push the piston back.


When you push the caliper pistons back it's best to open the bleed nipple and fit a soft rubber tube to catch the fluid. This makes the piston(s) move more easily, gets rid of old fluid and avoids any hassle with the master cylinder seals. It also avoids the reservoir getting flooded with old fluid.

Afterwards, don't forget to check the master cylinder level.

FrankFisher said:

Resurrecting this thread, I'm about to change my rear disks and thought it might make sense to change the wheel bearings at the same time - does anyone know where I can get the rear 4x4 hubs and bearings as a single unit, or do I have to press the bearings out and replace?

Click to expand...

Ive only done the 100HP which has rear discs but the same bearings as the drum braked cars. I think the 4x4 is more likely to need a new bearing as used on the fronts. You will need a special bearing press tool.