1st brake job

[yobyderf]

I bought an '85 MR2 last week, and it really needs the rotors and pads replaced (feels like I'm driving on moguls when braking!). It also shakes a bit around 100km/h; any idea what that might be?

I haven't been able to find a service manual for my car yet, and I'm wondering if anyone has a detailed process for replacing front rotors and pads on this car? Is it just like 99% of the cars out there, or is there something different that I should pay attention to or watch out for? Thanks so much! I'll let you know how it goes.


P.S how long should it take to do this kind of brake service if you know what you're doing?

[Kloubek]

Probably a wheel balance issue. Could potentially be large-scale bearing failure, or a worn suspension component. Jack the car up, and try to move the wheel around. Up and down, and left and right. If it is perfectly solid, then I'd definitely say balance issue.

Brakes are easy to change. I changed the fronts on my Audi, and it would have taken me about an hour if it wasn't for the fact I had to grind down the calipers due to the thicker pads. (They were hitting the rims). That includes using a manual jack, screwing the lugs manually, and replacing the rotors at the same time.

[Ashkente]

Early Mk1's are noted to have rotor warping problems when the wheels are improperly torqued. There is nothing special about doing rotors on Mk1's. It's the same as any other Corolla or whatever.

Get the BGB from http://opc.mr2oc.com/ and enjoy. :werd:

[yobyderf]

Thanks for the insight guys. I don’t have a torque wrench, so I'll have to get one and make sure I've tightened the wheels properly :)
I started at about 7:30pm on Monday, and had an extremely frustrating time getting the caliper bolts off; they were rusted pretty bad. Thankfully, we broke a wrench (CDN tire = crap) instead of the bolts, and eventually got them off the car. Then I tried to put the new pads on, but I couldn't compress the brake piston because I didn't know I needed a C-clamp. So after trying to use other tools for a while, it was pitch black and freezing and I couldn't see anything, so I went to bed. Yesterday I got home from work and bought a C-clamp, and the rest is history. What took a couple hours on the first side, took about 25 minutes on the other side once I knew what I was doing and had the tools.

In the end it cost about $115 for fluid, parts and a couple tools, and the brakes feel great! I upgraded the pads, and bought new OE rotors, and now the car stops like its on clouds; no bumping. Replacing the rotors and pads also fixed that high speed shaking that I was feeling through the steering wheel: Bonus!

The lesson I've learned is to never compromise on tools. I could have gotten the whole thing done the first night with much less frustration if I had the proper tools to begin with. My next job is to replace the front bumper, if I can ever find one. If anyone is selling a MK1 front bumper, please PM me. Cheers, and thanks again for the tips.