[Jehu]

My rear brakes and the rotors need to be replaced on my B5.5 Passat. I believe the dealer quoted me $800 something to get this done. I am not a person that enjoys working on a car by myself, so I need to take in for service somewhere. Is there any reason I shouldn't take it in to some shop that specializes in brake replacements, and would charge less, in fact much less?
Have any of you had problems getting brakes fixed outside the dealership?

 

[jetninja]

Re: Need to replace brakes. Where? (Jehu)

You can take it most anywhere, but it really is a very simple job. Pick up a Chilton or Haynes manual (forget whos got one) and have at it. I find it relaxing to work on simple stuff like brakes.
Basically you jack the car up, remove the rear wheels, , unbolt the two bolts in back of the caliper, then place the loose caliper on something to keep stress off the brake line. Now remove the caliper bracket (2 bolts) and now the Rotor should fall off, if not take a rubber mallet and bang real hard (its rusted on, mine were. When new they just float) and it falls off. Place the new rotor on (use the plastic locating pin in your tool kit to keep it in place), relocate the caliper bracket. Use the Autozone braketool set (free loan out) and press in while turning the pistons on each side. Mount the inside pad to it with lots of anti sqeal paste. Place the outside pad in place. (with more goop at all contact points) Mount Caliper. Replace Pin. Remount wheel. Your done.

For Rotors I recommend Axxis Deluxe...better then OEM performance with 1/4 the dust and less $$$
Brembo OEM rotors. Better quality, less cost.
http://www.ecstuning.com is a great place to buy from.
http://www.zeckhausen.com/technical.htm for bedding in tips, bleading tips, and more.
http://home.comcast.net/~hhong4/torque.htm Torque Settings and pictures
http://www.audiworld.com/tech/wheel2.shtml A much better how to guide then what I wrote above. (I keep it in my B5 Info Notebook)
It will take you a couple hours, the second side will go in 1/4 the time. You will save yourself a ton of money, and know you did it right!

 

[John_E]

Very nice response, Jet. My son and I plan to replace my rear brake pads this weekend. He almost got it last time, but did not know about turning the piston to retract it. Armed with the proper tool and knowlege, it looks to be an easy job. Since the car has 23K miles on it and the rotors look good, we are simply replacing the pads, a $55 item at Herman Cook VW.
$800 for rear pads, rotors, and labor is absurd!

 

[The Swami]

Re: Need to replace brakes. Where? (Jehu)

$800 for a rear brake change...

Listen, I had a very bad experience with using shops that didn't know VW/Audi's. Most Vortexers and ClubB5 members use a vendor located in Norton, OH for brake parts. ECSTuning has a set of rear rotors available for $60.00! A set of rear brakepads runs about $40.00. It only takes 1 hour of labor for a rear brakechange, so you can do the math.
Since your car is a 2002, your dealership might have included a brake-fluid flush which should be done every 2 years regardless of mileage. Only use a quality DOT4 spec. brake-fluid in your VW. Honestly, it might be worth a drive out to ECS Tuning and have them do your brakes. It's a little less than an hour drive from Columbus, and they do excellent work on VW's!!



Modified by The Swami at 2:01 PM 10-14-2004

 

[jengineer]

Jetninja & Swami:
Doh, so it has been an age since I had a new car, oh hey after 40 some odd years I finally own a new car. It should have dawned on me that something was up when the brakes felt a bit slushy out of the gates. I forgot about the notation of bedding them. So now the question is:
1. Should I bed them in now after the vehicle has had a run of pure 400 miles freeway, light to moderate braking and 100 miles of Los Angeles streeet/freeway? Damn I should have done this when I picked the car up in Galt!under some braking the car still feels a bit mushy
2. Just drive it son.
thanks
je

 

[John_E]

Re: Need to replace brakes. Where? (jengineer)

Today's brakes need less break-in or bedding than those of earlier generations. A few smooth, firm stops, and, for the rears, ample use of the parking brake, should do the trick.
My son and I just replaced the rear pads on my Passat, and the job went pretty smoothly, thanks to my Harbor Freight disc brake toolkit. If anyone on this forum lives in the San Diego area and ever wants to borrow my brake toolset, please pop me an email or private message.

 

[jetninja]

Re: Need to replace brakes. Where? (jengineer)

With the quality and thinness of many stock rotors, for best performance and long life it is best to "bed" in the brakes. Read the guide in my link above. While with stock pads/rotors you don't need to go to such extremes, some is a good idea. I bed in my fronts a few weeks ago, ran them really cool for a few miles till I could find a long downhill (night time..no traffic) and did a series of 60-10 hard brake applications...never stopping (or it can leave pad material) I did it about 4 times. The Brembo's changed from silver to a nice Gold color. I also flushed out the very old and very green stock fluid with some Valvoline Synpower Dot 4 fluid. Just did a 700+ mile roadtrip (SoCal to Laguna Seca for the ALMS finale!) this past weekend....did HOURS of Twistys! (Hwys 198 & 25) The brakes were awesome!!!
With the miles you've already done, without cleaning the rotor and sanding a small bit off the pads, I'm not sure what proper bedding would do. Read the guide, it should help.

 

[Jehu]

Re: Need to replace brakes. Where? (jetninja)

Thank you all for help, the pictures, and guides. I think I will attempt the replacement myself. Thanks again.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Re: Need to replace brakes. Where? (Jehu)

Just noticed mine starting to squeek this weekend.

Will have to see if the dealer covers it at 30,000 miles. If not, it's A8 upgrade time.

 

[jetninja]

Re: Need to replace brakes. Where? (StattlichPassat)

Just a note, them big brake kits are not always worth the hassle. You generally lose "feel"....and I'm always reading threads on squeaks and other noises from them. The OEM brakes with good pads can work great, specially for the street.
They do look cool though! Love the sight a Porsche Brake Kit!