Fast Car – July 2019

(^3) DISC REMOVAL
Next, it’s time to get the old disc off. Most often
the calliper carrier will be in the way, so again
you’ll need to get behind the hub to locate the
mounting bolts. Crack these off with a socet
and remove the whole carrier. On some cars
you’ll now be able to slide the disc off, but
(^4) NEW DISC
Fitting your new disc is a simple case of sliding it on.
Before you do that though, clean up the hub with a
wire brush and some brake cleaner. The idea of this is
to make sure the surfaces are flat to safeguard against
any runout – you don’t want your discs wobbling about,
do you? No, you don’t. The discs need to fit flush and
it’s also best practice to apply a little copper grease to
the mating surfaces to prevent seizing.
Now take your new disc and give it a good going
over with some brake cleaner. Discs are often given
a special coating to stop them rusting in storage and
you’ll want to get this off.
Now you can pop the disc on the hub, making
sure it’s the right one as you go. Bear in mind that,
because of the grooves, many performance items are
directional. Once the disc is back on, you can clean up
and refit the carrier.
on others (like my Beetle here) it will also be
screwed to the hub. Be careful when removing
this screw, as rounding it off will seriously ruin
your day. If it’s on there tight, the best way is
to use an impact driver rather than a standard
screwdriver (or hex key).
always recommend wearing nitrile gloves when
handling these parts. Brake dust isn’t the best stuff
for your skin.
As for the main calliper body, you may have a
metal spring clip on the front, so pull that off first.
Then you’ll find it’s attached to the carrier with a
couple of retaining bolts at the back. Quite often
these have standard six-point bolt heads, so you
can use a socket or spanner, although on many
(this one, along with a load of other VAG cars and
Fords) you’ll need a large hex key or socket. On
some cars you’ll also need to use an open-ended
spanner to stop the bolt spinning.
Once the calliper is undone, pry it off with a large
screwdriver or pry bar, unplug any electronic pad
sensors and remove the old pads.
In our case the pads are housed in the main
calliper, but very often the pads will be left on
the carrier after the calliper is removed. It doesn’t
matter which way around yours is, but just make
a note of what pads go where for when you’re
refitting them.
After this you won’t need the calliper for a bit, but
you still don’t want to leave it dangling around on
the brake hose. Support it with an axle stand or tie
it up out of the way.
(^2) CALLIPER REMOVAL
These remove the screw by jolting rather
than through sheer twisting torque, so you
stand a much better chance of not causing
damage. If it’s all undone and the disc is still not
coming off, give it a whack on the back with a
hammer to free it up.
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