Changing disks, pads and caliper any tips?

Got my new calipers, disks and pads all I need now is the time and confidence to attempt changing them all. Is it easy enough to do??

Trying to think of any more parts I need. I've got:

Disks
Pads
Pad retainers
Calipers
Calliper bolts
New hub gaskets

Thanks

Lawson86 said:

Got my new calipers, disks and pads all I need now is the time and confidence to attempt changing them all. Is it easy enough to do??

Trying to think of any more parts I need. I've got:

Disks
Pads
Pad retainers
Calipers
Calliper bolts
New hub gaskets

Thanks

Click to expand...

Depending upon your hubs you may want new lock washers for the hub nuts, hub rear grease seal (if you are going to take the bearings out for a clean / re grease which you will probably need to). Also some brake cleaner and cloth or similar to get any preservative oil off the new disks, if you are doing all 4 then change the fluid while you have everything apart.

wheel bearing nut tab washer and a decent bihex 1/2 inch socket

Oh and a 52mm socket for hub nuts, try and get a proper socket like this (about £10) rather than a box spanner.

Yes I'm doing all 4, got the brake fluid, forgot to add that.
Just checked the spanner I brought for the hub nuts, wrong size, doh! Added the 52mm socket and lock nuts to the list. Any idea on a part number for the tab washer James?

As above.

Brake cleaner and lots of old rags makes the job much easier if cleaning and regreasing the bearings. New hub seals as already stated, OEM I've found seem to be the only way. The cheap ones don't last.

A wire brush Is handy to clean the mateing face of the disc

Don't make the mistake I did years ago, fitting the calipers the wrong way up (bleed nipple at bottom). The bleed nipples need to be at the top, but you probably already know this.

Some thread lock and a torque wrench won't go a miss if you haven't already got one. Borrow one if you can.
2 bihex sockets are required as James says, one for calipers and a 14mm for disc bolts if I remember correctly. But don't quote me on that.

Hope this helps

Lawson86 said:

Yes I'm doing all 4, got the brake fluid, forgot to add that.
Just checked the spanner I brought for the hub nuts, wrong size, doh! Added the 52mm socket and lock nuts to the list. Any idea on a part number for the tab washer James?

Click to expand...

This is where you need to do a bit of research, tab washers and grease seal part numbers are different depending upon the age of your axle / hubs. Also if someone has fitted TD5 running gear (assuming it isn't a TD5 to start with) you only have a single nut holding the hub on, not the double nut / lock washer arrangement.
What year is your landy, and do you know if it has the original axles, early ones had drums on the back and it's common to swap over to disks so that will be a quick way to tell if the rear has been changed.

Pressure brake bleeder or a mate to pump the pedal

flat said:

Pressure brake bleeder or a mate to pump the pedal

Click to expand...

Pressure bleeder every time. (says Billy no-mates, or more correctly Billy with no mates who want to get their hands dirty!)

Kwakerman said:

Pressure bleeder every time. (says Billy no-mates, or more correctly Billy with no mates who want to get their hands dirty!)

Click to expand...

I have found the whole it's best way to get a good pedal is pressure bleed AND two man at the same time.

I am not w million miles away if you ever need a second person for pedal stomping duties

Remove the hub bearings, degrease and regrease them while you're at it. Change the hub seals too of course.

The job is straight forward as long as you have all the bits and bobs as outlined by others. I have one suggestion for a little mod that makes things easier in future. To remove the calipers off you have to disturb the upper swivel bearing bolts to free the solid/flexible brake pipe bracket (Or separate the pipes) while you have the bracket off, cut a slot in it so the caliper can be lifted clear by just loosening the lock nut.
In this case you are replacing the calipers so will be removing the pipes anyway but it does make life easier in the future.

waldershelf said:

The job is straight forward as long as you have all the bits and bobs as outlined by others. I have one suggestion for a little mod that makes things easier in future. To remove the calipers off you have to disturb the upper swivel bearing bolts to free the solid/flexible brake pipe bracket (Or separate the pipes) while you have the bracket off, cut a slot in it so the caliper can be lifted clear by just loosening the lock nut.
In this case you are replacing the calipers so will be removing the pipes anyway but it does make life easier in the future.

Click to expand...

my 90 self modded itself by rusting this bracket in half lol

waldershelf said:

The job is straight forward as long as you have all the bits and bobs as outlined by others. I have one suggestion for a little mod that makes things easier in future. To remove the calipers off you have to disturb the upper swivel bearing bolts to free the solid/flexible brake pipe bracket (Or separate the pipes) while you have the bracket off, cut a slot in it so the caliper can be lifted clear by just loosening the lock nut.
In this case you are replacing the calipers so will be removing the pipes anyway but it does make life easier in the future.

Click to expand...

+1. I did this some time back, saved me bleeding so many times which I dread doing

Buy a really good quality bi-hex socket for the calipers, and a 24" (60cm) drive bar. It will make life much easier. A roll of paper towel and some cardboard to catch the mess too - this will get messy at some stage.

Thank you all for your advice it's very much appreciated.

It's a 1997 300tdi, as far as I know it's got the original axles, il have a look but I might just take it to the local 4x4 garage and ask them for all the parts I need. Saves me finding out half way through I've got the wrong parts. Il have a look at the sockets to see if if got some bi-hex, brother used to be a mechanic so I've got access to lots of top notch tools. He rarely has the time to help me out though, hence me asking advice here as I'm a complete novice, this job seems quite daunting to me as it's the biggest thing I'm going to try and do so far.
Il try and rope the other half in for pedal stomping duties, if she refuses I may take you up on that offer flat.

Lawson86 said:

Thank you all for your advice it's very much appreciated.

It's a 1997 300tdi, as far as I know it's got the original axles, il have a look but I might just take it to the local 4x4 garage and ask them for all the parts I need. Saves me finding out half way through I've got the wrong parts. Il have a look at the sockets to see if if got some bi-hex, brother used to be a mechanic so I've got access to lots of top notch tools. He rarely has the time to help me out though, hence me asking advice here as I'm a complete novice, this job seems quite daunting to me as it's the biggest thing I'm going to try and do so far.
Il try and rope the other half in for pedal stomping duties, if she refuses I may take you up on that offer flat.

Click to expand...

Have a look at land rover toolbox videos. Everything your doing is covered by land rover tool box. (Calipers, discs and wheel bearings are all covered).
https://m.youtube.com/user/trailerfitter2

With regards to bleeding the brakes:-
For many years (i.e. more than 20) I was an advocate of the Eezibleed as it made bleeding any brake system a simple 1-person, 10-minute operation and I almost never failed to get a good pedal at the first attempt (both Series & coil LR's and my wife's Freelander). If there were downsides they were very minor (you rely on using a tyre to provide the pressure, the air-line isn't overly long and the reservoir is a tad small if you want to do a really good flush through). That said it is cheap, fool-proof and REALLY effective.
About 3-years ago I treated myself to a Sealey VS820 pump kit. It is more expensive but being self contained and having a larger bottle it does away with the (slight) niggles of the Eezibleed.

Can thoroughly recommend either and if you are the sort of person who tends to let your fluid stay in the system longer than you should, they will encourage you to get out there and change it more often.

A tube of Copper slip grease for the rear of the pads and if you do buy wheel bearings, do not buy cheapo ones - Timkins or similar are what you need and usually you get new tab washers and 52mm nuts in the kit at about £20.00 per side.

Just get down and do it, you'll be fine if you take it easy. It was always something (along with steering) that I thought it was safer to have a "professional" do for me but after a cock up by a garage 20 odd years ago I feel safer doing it myself properly.