Author Topic: Did my own brakes  (Read 6853 times)

dragoncar

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Did my own brakes
« on: February 17, 2014, 11:30:18 PM »
I'm sure it's not that badass for many of you here, but it was quite the accomplishment for me.  It only took two doctors and a lawyer four hours of work (seriously).  Of course, I'm sure it would be much faster next time, and it's fun learning new stuff and working with your hands.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2014, 08:01:22 AM »
That's awesome!  A few months ago I had the alignment tweaked on our van, and the shop recommended something like $850 worth of brake work.  The front rotors and pads needed replaced, and the cylinders on the back were leaking.

I said "to heck with that," spent $155 on parts at Autozone, and did the whole job myself that night in about 3 hours of work.  With nothing but hand tools, stuck bolts and all.  No lift (oh, how I would love to have one!), no air tools, just a lot of elbow grease and Liquid Wrench :)

I was stunned at how much the job was marked up by the shop (it was a Firestone).  Not only was their rate $105/hour, but they were using the standard rate book, which meant something like an hour and a half for each rear cylinder replacement.  An hour and a half!  It took me (again, I'd never worked on drum brakes before, and didn't have fancy tools) only half an hour for each!

Milspecstache

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2014, 08:32:16 AM »
I've seen the rate book quote several hours to change spark plugs due to removing the intake manifold and then witnessed a guy with long thin arms reach around the block and do it in 30 mins using a combination of extensions.  Which one do you think the dealership/shop uses to charge the job?

ketchup

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2014, 10:46:13 AM »
I've seen the rate book quote several hours to change spark plugs due to removing the intake manifold and then witnessed a guy with long thin arms reach around the block and do it in 30 mins using a combination of extensions.  Which one do you think the dealership/shop uses to charge the job?
Wow, I guess I'm lucky that I've never had to remove an intake manifold to do spark plugs.  Both of my cars have had them right on top.  My Volvo has an annoying spark plug cover with annoyingly easy to strip torx screws though.

Replaced my Volvo's MAF sensor just last night.  I don't want to know what the dealer would have charged for that ten minute job.

DIY car stuff by far one of the best bang-for-buck skills to pick up, at least in my experience.  Not only do you save money up front, but you can put high quality parts in instead of generic junk.  A friend of mine just got his timing belt and water pump changed and I think it set him back around $750.  I did that to my Volvo last summer for less than half in parts, and that was with high quality OEM parts.  His shop might have used the 2 for $30 deal at Autozone.  Also, knowing more about what's going on under the hood can help you react when something stupid happens in the middle of nowhere with a dead cell phone battery and a toddler during a heat wave with only a jar of peanut butter to eat and no water.

HawkeyeNFO

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2014, 11:13:28 AM »
Next time you do it, it will take much less time, as experience is a good teacher.  Also for next time, check out Amazon or Rock Auto for parts.  Usually much cheaper than Autozone. 

ritchie70

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2014, 11:36:12 AM »
I was stunned at how much the job was marked up by the shop (it was a Firestone).  Not only was their rate $105/hour, but they were using the standard rate book, which meant something like an hour and a half for each rear cylinder replacement.  An hour and a half!  It took me (again, I'd never worked on drum brakes before, and didn't have fancy tools) only half an hour for each!

Wow! I used to own muffler shops (roughly '92 to 2000) and would have fired anyone who took over an hour and a half to do that entire job unless many things broke along the way.

We mostly had fixed labor prices for things that we bumped if it were an unusual design that made it harder - for example $20 labor per wheel cylinder or caliper plus full list price of the part, $40 to install shoes or pads and so forth. Those labor prices assumed we were providing parts and making profit on the sale of parts as well. We pretty much refused to install customer provided parts unless it was, once again, something really unusual for which we couldn't get parts.

Exflyboy

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2014, 12:16:26 PM »
Great.. Next time it will be 20 minutes a side tops..:)

Frank

jjquantz

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2014, 12:12:56 PM »
Great.. Next time it will be 20 minutes a side tops..:)

Frank

If only.  I do a lot of my own auto and house work.  The problem is that the same job comes up so seldom that every time I do it is like starting over.  For example, I just changed the brake pads on my car after 12 years and 100,000 miles.  This old brain doesn't remember what I did last week, let alone a decade or more ago.

dragoncar

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2014, 12:40:39 PM »
Great.. Next time it will be 20 minutes a side tops..:)

Frank

If only.  I do a lot of my own auto and house work.  The problem is that the same job comes up so seldom that every time I do it is like starting over.  For example, I just changed the brake pads on my car after 12 years and 100,000 miles.  This old brain doesn't remember what I did last week, let alone a decade or more ago.

That's why it's a good idea to buddy up.  Every time one of your friends needs brakes done, go help them do it.  They can return the favor and everyone keeps their skills up.

jjquantz

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #9 on: February 19, 2014, 01:09:17 PM »
Great.. Next time it will be 20 minutes a side tops..:)

Frank

If only.  I do a lot of my own auto and house work.  The problem is that the same job comes up so seldom that every time I do it is like starting over.  For example, I just changed the brake pads on my car after 12 years and 100,000 miles.  This old brain doesn't remember what I did last week, let alone a decade or more ago.

That's why it's a good idea to buddy up.  Every time one of your friends needs brakes done, go help them do it.  They can return the favor and everyone keeps their skills up.

Not to be whineypants, but when I mention to  friends/acquaintances that I replaced the brakes on my car they back away from me like I have some contagious disease.  Just gets worse when I mention the plumbing and drywall work that I do.  Apparently, these are not the type of things that a 50+ year old white collar professional is supposed to do.  I suppose I could start to look for new friends...

dragoncar

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #10 on: February 19, 2014, 01:10:22 PM »

Not to be whineypants, but when I mention to  friends/acquaintances that I replaced the brakes on my car they back away from me like I have some contagious disease.  Just gets worse when I mention the plumbing and drywall work that I do.  Apparently, these are not the type of things that a 50+ year old white collar professional is supposed to do.  I suppose I could start to look for new friends...

Who do you expect to hang out with in retirement?  New friends sounds like a good idea (you don't have to drop the old ones)

jjquantz

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #11 on: February 19, 2014, 01:32:14 PM »


Who do you expect to hang out with in retirement?  New friends sounds like a good idea (you don't have to drop the old ones)
[/quote]

Retirement is phasing in over the next year. I think that there will be a period of adjustment where I spend a lot of time alone recuperating from work. Actually, I am beginning to work on the new friends thing - looking for musicians and golfers.  I know where these people can be found - it's not at work.

Exflyboy

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #12 on: February 19, 2014, 02:23:27 PM »

[/quote]

Not to be whineypants, but when I mention to  friends/acquaintances that I replaced the brakes on my car they back away from me like I have some contagious disease.  Just gets worse when I mention the plumbing and drywall work that I do.  Apparently, these are not the type of things that a 50+ year old white collar professional is supposed to do.  I suppose I could start to look for new friends...
[/quote]

Ok this just pissed me off!

I'm a 52 year old Professional engineer (Ok until 6weeks ago I was a....., but then I retired). I am KNOWN as the guy that can fix ANYTHING (I let them believe that) but I have and still do...

Built two high performance full sized airplanes from scratch
Flown above in instrument conditions (clouds) into major airports and flown in aerobatic competitions
Taught aerobatics
Rebuilt numerous cars, including painting, electrics, engine/transmission rebuilds.
Doubled the size of our house and re-modelled the old part.. Did EVERYTHING except pour the concrete and build kitchen cabinets
Rebuilt a tractor


Did I mention I took the FE (EIT) and PE exams 25 years after I left school?

"Not the type of things" my ass!....:)

Frank

jjquantz

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #13 on: February 19, 2014, 03:51:53 PM »


Not to be whineypants, but when I mention to  friends/acquaintances that I replaced the brakes on my car they back away from me like I have some contagious disease.  Just gets worse when I mention the plumbing and drywall work that I do.  Apparently, these are not the type of things that a 50+ year old white collar professional is supposed to do.  I suppose I could start to look for new friends...
[/quote]

Ok this just pissed me off!

I'm a 52 year old Professional engineer (Ok until 6weeks ago I was a....., but then I retired). I am KNOWN as the guy that can fix ANYTHING (I let them believe that) but I have and still do...

Built two high performance full sized airplanes from scratch
Flown above in instrument conditions (clouds) into major airports and flown in aerobatic competitions
Taught aerobatics
Rebuilt numerous cars, including painting, electrics, engine/transmission rebuilds.
Doubled the size of our house and re-modelled the old part.. Did EVERYTHING except pour the concrete and build kitchen cabinets
Rebuilt a tractor


Did I mention I took the FE (EIT) and PE exams 25 years after I left school?

"Not the type of things" my ass!....:)

Frank
[/quote]

I love it!  I am also the guy who can fix anything, but apparently my coworkers think that fixing things is something that one "hires people" for.  I don't get it, never have.  But that may be my blue collar roots.  You never hired anyone to do a job until you had so thoroughly bungled it that you had no choice.  And you had also gone through all of the cousins living in the area who just MIGHT have that skill set.

dragoncar

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #14 on: February 19, 2014, 04:15:17 PM »
The brokenness of the quotes... Oh the humanity!

Milspecstache

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #15 on: February 19, 2014, 05:10:36 PM »
As another PE and white collar worker, I am forced to do deskwork and supervision on my day job but love doing manual labor in my offtime, things like welding, plumbing, concrete work, engine swaps, roofing, etc.  Helps me focus better at my day job as I would go nuts not having something  hands-on to do each day.

Brake jobs are easy.  Have probably done 6 sets by now (heavy towing is rough on rotors!).  One thing I have learned is to do a real good break-in.  What I do is 4 or 5 stops from 45mph to 10, then a couple from 60 to 10.  The key is to never stop the car completely with the brakes applied (which may warp them).  Then park the car and let the brakes cool down.  Whenever I have done this I never get squealing or poor brake performance later.

A google search yielded similar procedures:
http://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c55-amg-w203/242629-how-break-new-pads-rotors-correctly.html
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

I also flush my brake lines every 60k or so using synthetic brake fluid.  Amazing at the nastiness that always pours out.  To bleed them I take a plastic hose and run it over the tire into a jar.  By running it up and over the tire you create a low point at the bleeder valve which prevents air from running back into the valve when bleeding.

Exflyboy

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #16 on: February 19, 2014, 06:42:50 PM »
As another PE and white collar worker, I am forced to do deskwork and supervision on my day job but love doing manual labor in my offtime, things like welding, plumbing, concrete work, engine swaps, roofing, etc.  Helps me focus better at my day job as I would go nuts not having something  hands-on to do each day.

Brake jobs are easy.  Have probably done 6 sets by now (heavy towing is rough on rotors!).  One thing I have learned is to do a real good break-in.  What I do is 4 or 5 stops from 45mph to 10, then a couple from 60 to 10.  The key is to never stop the car completely with the brakes applied (which may warp them).  Then park the car and let the brakes cool down.  Whenever I have done this I never get squealing or poor brake performance later.

A google search yielded similar procedures:
http://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c55-amg-w203/242629-how-break-new-pads-rotors-correctly.html
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

I also flush my brake lines every 60k or so using synthetic brake fluid.  Amazing at the nastiness that always pours out.  To bleed them I take a plastic hose and run it over the tire into a jar.  By running it up and over the tire you create a low point at the bleeder valve which prevents air from running back into the valve when bleeding.

Oh yeah... Welding and plumbing too...:)

Frank

dragoncar

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #17 on: February 19, 2014, 06:46:44 PM »
We bled the brakes a bit, but the fluid looked new, so we didn't do a lot.

Milspecstache

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #18 on: February 19, 2014, 08:11:55 PM »
We bled the brakes a bit, but the fluid looked new, so we didn't do a lot.

Probably not required then.  When I've done it on older cars it looks nasty immediately.  In fact, on one truck with hydraulically assisted brakes I had to crank it up and apply hydraulic pressure to blow a clog out of the caliper.

greaper007

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #19 on: February 19, 2014, 10:53:09 PM »
I bought a motive power bleeder, brake fluid flushes are so much easier now.

greaper007

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Re: Did my own brakes
« Reply #20 on: February 19, 2014, 10:56:34 PM »


Not to be whineypants, but when I mention to  friends/acquaintances that I replaced the brakes on my car they back away from me like I have some contagious disease.  Just gets worse when I mention the plumbing and drywall work that I do.  Apparently, these are not the type of things that a 50+ year old white collar professional is supposed to do.  I suppose I could start to look for new friends...
[/quote]

Ok this just pissed me off!

I'm a 52 year old Professional engineer (Ok until 6weeks ago I was a....., but then I retired). I am KNOWN as the guy that can fix ANYTHING (I let them believe that) but I have and still do...

Built two high performance full sized airplanes from scratch
Flown above in instrument conditions (clouds) into major airports and flown in aerobatic competitions
Taught aerobatics
Rebuilt numerous cars, including painting, electrics, engine/transmission rebuilds.
Doubled the size of our house and re-modelled the old part.. Did EVERYTHING except pour the concrete and build kitchen cabinets
Rebuilt a tractor


Did I mention I took the FE (EIT) and PE exams 25 years after I left school?

"Not the type of things" my ass!....:)

Frank
[/quote]

I've known lots of engineers that do hands on stuff, that's sort of why people become an engineer usually.  But I don't know a lot of say accountants that build hotrods.   It depends on the white collar profession.    I was a pilot and most people I flew with were pretty handy.   My dad's a former F-14 pilot current 737 driver that stopped counting hours 20 years ago at 25,000.   He doesn't really know how to hang a picture frame so YMMV.