DIY brake job advice required

Jim79

I have a Vectra C and i am going to replace brake pads &discs front and back and front and back.

Q1. Is brand important; if so which do you advise?

Q2. Should the brake discs and pads be from the same manufacturer?

Q3. I am buying copper grease and brake cleaner is there any other purchases i need?

Q4. Do i need to do a brake flush?

Atlantic Dawn

Q1. Is brand important; if so which do you advise?
Yes I would try to go for a brand like Mintex, Ferodo, Apec, EBC.

Q2. Should the brake discs and pads be from the same manufacturer?
No won't matter, just have both decent brands.

Q3. I am buying copper grease and brake cleaner is there any other purchases i need?
You may need a caliper rewind tool to reset the brake piston back to accommodate the fresh brake pads, on some cars you will get away with using a G clamp or large plyers, others you need the specific tool.
When your replacing the discs and your car has retaining bolts holding them on you might want to replace these too, some cars have them some don't, good idea to replace, there's also the chance of breaking the existing taking them off, an impact socket is good for releasing them, can be hell to take them off with a screwdriver. Here's an example of a disc with the retaining bolts...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDcxisoTMWg

Q4. Do i need to do a brake flush?
You can if you want, if it was me and this is your first time doing the brakes I would leave this alone until you have the pads and discs changed and are happy with your job. Fluid can be changed at a later date. Make sure when your changing the pads that you have the cap of the brake fluid reservouir open so the fluid can flow back in to it when your pressing back the piston.


If this is your first time doing brakes I'd advise looking at a few tutorials on Youtube to get an idea of what you are doing. Bungee cord or wire is handy to have to hold the brake calipers upwards, helps you to not kink the brake line. Give yourself plenty of time to do the job, pick a day with no chance of rain and little or no wind, start early in the day.

jhud

Also when fitting pads make sure that they have good room to move in and out as they will get stuck over time if not most pads might need some grinding on the wings to allow for the movement. I got a right and left hand rewind tool kit it think 20 piece set on eBay with delivery with parcel motel for 20 euro.

Another thing would check with main dealer on parts also you can be surprised on price I have recently on my 07 Corolla

landmarkjohn

A common mistake is to use copper grease on the slider pins.... high temperature silicone grease is the correct application I believe.