Technical 4x4 Rear brake discs

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Technical 4x4 Rear brake discs

julzgeraghty

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Hi, has anybody changed the rear brake discs on a 2013 4x4 please? I tried to get the disc off today but couldn't find how to remove the caliper hanger. It looks like I have to remove 4 Torx bolts in order to get to it but that seems a bit complicated. Have I missed something obvious?
Thanks
 
I believe it's a bit of a mare, you need to remove the hubs, and invariably replace those too.
The bolt heads holding the carrier are inside a box section according to the guy I used, ended up not doing the rears as there was plenty of life left in the pads and discs, just have to source the hubs for next time.
 
Well it will be booked into my local garage to have the job done. I haven't got a big enough Torx socket to get to the calliper bolts and I can't source replacement hub nuts. Frustrating as I know that I can usually do this job. Must remember to check if it's due a service soon.
 
Well it will be booked into my local garage to have the job done. I haven't got a big enough Torx socket to get to the calliper bolts and I can't source replacement hub nuts. Frustrating as I know that I can usually do this job. Must remember to check if it's due a service soon.

Sometimes, it IS worth buying the tools to do the job. Maybe this is one such case as it allows you to work on the brakes in the future. Of course, you need to be able to source tools at a sensible price (not always a given) and have my attitude to collecting tools, but...

It's now I should mention the 'special' tools in my cycling tool box that were used for one bike and never since :rolleyes:
 
It's actually getting the replacement hub nut without buying bearings that's tipped the balance
 
Although I've not looked at my 2014 4x4 specifically, I am 99% certain that the 4 Torx/Hex bolts will be of the same format as the previous car. Yes, you do need the appropriate tool (typically something like a long 8mm hex or similar Torx, but they are not 'special' in the true sense of the word and can be bought online for not a lot of money. And they are a very worthwhile addition to anyone's garage kit I reckon. I can't believe that you need to pull the hub to change the brake discs.
 
My garage guy said that to replace the discs you need to pull the hubs, and invariably,
"he says " the bearings will split.. So as far as he is concerned you need the hubs to hand if they do, and since they are off anyway and were only talking £100 or so, might as well put the new ones on " that's me "
My guy is a very good mechanic used him for over 20 years, well equipped workshop and £50 an hour.
Certainly it fits in with the stealer price for a complete change front and back new discs and pads of £850-£900.
 
Certainly it fits in with the stealer price for a complete change front and back new discs and pads of £850-£900.

Holy Cow - that's almost up there with Porsche prices.... You could do the whole lot on the previous model for about £150! I am genuinely shocked and have a mind to pull a back wheel off to see if this is really the case. :mad:
 
Let's face it, people, it's ludicrous that you can't change the rear discs without pulling the hubs. Simply ludicrous.

Which undoubtedly means you can change the discs in the traditional way. I'll be doing my own at some point in the future, so will report back in due course with my own experience......
 
Which undoubtedly means you can change the discs in the traditional way. I'll be doing my own at some point in the future, so will report back in due course with my own experience......

Best of luck Ringa, the bolts holding the carrier in place are accessible from inside a box section but how you gain access is anybody's guess...
Look forward to your next post on the subject.
 
Prompted by this discussion, I've been to have a look.

On the previous 4x4, you could remove the rear callipers by unscrewing two hex bolts with a big Allen key (item 5 in this digram https://www.fiatdalys.lt/en/catalog...917M051870/ZFA31200003210975/0/0/0/brake-pads ) that secured the calliper brackets to the rear suspension arm.

But, as has been said here, those two bolts cannot be accessed on the post 2012 car as they are obstructed by the casting/box section of the new 4x4's rear arm design (my finger is pointing at one of them in the second photo below). It does indeed seem that you need to remove the 'inverted Torx' bolts (see first photo - the lower of the two 'hidden' hex bolts is behind the Torx bolt you can see) and pull the whole hub carrier away in order to reach those two hex socket-headed bolts securing the callipers! (This new design does, on the other hand, mean you can remove the rear diff unit without removing rear arms. I am sure they've designed the hubs to come away 'easily' though, once you've managed to undo those Torx bolts and the hub nut - it should slide clear of the splines of the driveshaft. The bearing shouldn't split as it's retained within the casting by the circlip, and the whole hub/bearing /calliper unit should come off in one piece (item number 1 in this diagram is the main carrier part https://www.fiatdalys.lt/diagrams/B4/B49C013895D6806719BC14527D2319CA.png - by the way, the '1' actually points to the hole I believe the brake calliper bolt passes through)

My pads are 'half worn' but the discs still pretty sound, so I hope that I can replace the pads once without needing to replace the discs as well (they shouldn't really need replacing every time the pads are)
 

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Thanks for that HH, my garage guy is a cautious man and is convinced the bearings will split, I might have another go with him, I am however off to the U.S. In a few days for quite a while so cannot report back on the hub removal till I get back in late July.
 
Mind if I ask what sort of mileage you are doing? Don't think I have ever replaced front certainly not back discs or drums on any car up to 120k or more. Run most up to 80k or so. Are these parts high wear, do you do a lot of hill driving involving heavy braking?
Should add most driving has been cruising and tend to coast into junctions. .
 
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Hi Andy, bought ours a Nov 2013 reg at Christmas, T/A 4x4. Didn't look closely it was dark and in a hurry, but it only had 12k on the clock, genuine dealer car, couple of months later had a good look round and discovered the front discs were completely shagged, rears didn't look to clever either, my trusty local guy confirmed the discs were gone, pitted and scored very badly, possibly due to infrequent use, rears though ugly would clean up and 8mm on the pads, I decided to replace all round with Pagid discs and pads... Until the problem with the rears, so next time for those.
 
Mind if I ask what sort of mileage you are doing? Don't think I have ever replaced front certainly not back discs or drums on any car up to 120k or more. Run most up to 80k or so. Are these parts high wear, do you do a lot of hill driving involving heavy braking?
Should add most driving has been cruising and tend to coast into junctions. .
I think the issue here is related to the 4x4 system. I too have never really seen much wear on rear discs or pads on other cars. But the rear discs/pads of my Panda 4x4 seem to wear just as quickly as the fronts do. My previous 2005 model I replaced rear pads twice and discs once and it looks like the newer one (now at 30k miles) is going to be the same. I can't explain why this is though... normally brake limiting valves, rear load sensors etc mean the rear bakes do little work and so don't wear out that fast. But the 4x4 seems to use front and rear brakes in roughly equal amounts.
 
Thanks Herts Hillhopper for posting the pics, you've saved me from having to dodge the showers and get under the car. I was going to have another scrabble about to see if a I had missed a hidden cover or hole to access the calliper bolts.
 
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