How to: Change non-Brembo rear discs & pads

[steve3000]

Non-brembo rear discs & pads change in pictures.

 

Rusty old discs and worn pads – definitely time to change! Since I have the JDM non-brembo brakes, I did consider upgrading to the full UK brembo setup (read this, below). However after doing a lot of reading around this I wasn’t convinced about the benefit of going to brembos just for road use, so I decided instead keep the JDM setup but upgrade the discs and pads.

 

So here I’ll be replacing the rusty old stock JDM discs & worn pads with new EBC grooved/dimpled discs and Endless VN pads.

 

Changing the rears

 

1) Chock the front wheels, loosen the rear wheel nuts and release the handbrake.

 

2) Using a trolley jack and block of wood, lift the rear of car up from under the diff (UK models have a cover below the diff which you’ll need to remove…but they also have brembos, so you’ll need a different ‘how to’ as well )

 

Lifting the Z – I used some hardboard under the jack and stands to spread the load over the very soft tarmac on the drive.

 

3) Place axel stands under the sills – again use a block of wood to protect the sills

 

Up in the air

 

4) Remove the wheels and inspect the old discs/pads

 

Worn discs and pads

 

5) Undo the top calliper guide bolt (14mm bolt, green in picture below)

 

Calliper guide bolt (green) and calliper mounting bracket bolt (red)

 

6) Swing the calliper open to reveal the pads

 

Calliper opened and the old pads

 

Note: The back of the calliper rests perfectly on the suspension arm behind

 

7) Remove the old pads (and shims, if fitted)

 

Comparing the old pads with new Endless VN pads

 

8) If you’re just replacing the pads, skip to step 31 below…

 

9) Now loosen the calliper bracket bolts (22 mm bolts) – I found these f***ing difficult to remove, mainly because access around them is very restricted and the bolts had really seized into position. Soaking in WD40 or similar is a good idea, but didn’t help much for me. On each side I managed to undo one bolt using a 45cm breaker bar, which just about fits in the space ok. The remaining bolt I eventually removed using a 60cm breaker bar, but had to jack up the car up almost to the top of the axel stands to get that in. (This was definitely the most difficult step – the fronts were 100 times easier!)

 

Calliper mounting bracket bolts

 

10) If you’ve managed to loosen the calliper bolts, have a break & a cup of tea, everything else will be easier from now on.

 

11) Use a piece of string to support the weight of the calliper & bracket (tie around the upper suspension or break line mounting points), then remove the bolts completely and move calliper and bracket to one side.

 

Calliper and bracket removed

 

12) Now use some pliers to remove the handbrake adjuster cover

 

Removing the handbrake adjuster cover

 

13) Ensure the handbrake is released, then turn the disc by hand, until the adjuster hole is either: just before the 12 o’clock position for the left-hand (passenger) wheel; or just after the 12 o’clock position for the right-hand (driver) wheel.

 

14) Use a torch to spot the handbrake adjuster wheel

 

Handbrake adjuster wheel through the adjuster hole

 

15) Use a large flat screwdriver to push/rotate the wheel upwards 4-5 turns (see below for clear picture of the wheel with disc removed). By rotating the wheel upwards, you loosen the handbrake shoes, and make removal of the discs possible.

 

16) Now lift the disc away from the hub.

 

Rear disc removed – see the handbrake adjuster wheel & brake shoes

 

17) Check the handbrake shoes are in good condition, give them a wipe with some spray-on brake cleaner fluid.

 

18) Also give the hub a quick clean.

 

19) Before mounting your new disc, follow any cleaning instructions to remove oil/grease from the surfaces (give them a good wipe with white spirit). Don’t forget to do the same on the inner surface where the handbrake shoes will contact.

 

20) Place a thin smear of copper grease on the hub to stop the disc seizing onto the hub in future, then align the new disc with the handbrake adjuster and fit.

 

New disc in position

 

21) Place a couple of wheel nuts on and loosely tighten by hand, this will keep the disc from falling or moving and rubbing against the calliper when refitting.

 

22) Remove the string and refit the calliper/mounting bracket to the hub. Tighten the 22mm calliper mounting bracket bolts to 87 Nm.

 

Bracket refitted around new disc.

 

23) You now need to set the correct handbrake adjustment for the new discs. Do this with both sides of the car at the same time to avoid problems.

 

24) Check the handbrake is released then rotate the new discs until you see the handbrake adjuster wheel through the hole.

 

25) Use a large flat screwdriver to turn the adjuster wheel downwards until you cannot turn the disc by hand. Do this for both sides of the car.

 

26) Once you cannot turn the disc, turn the adjuster upwards 3-4 notches, until the disc turns freely. Again, do this for both sides of the car.

 

27) Now gradually pull the handbrake, until you reach the fourth notch.

 

28) Check that you cannot turn the discs on both sides of the car. (tip: you can pop a wheel onto the studs to give you better leverage)

 

29) Release the handbrake and confirm the discs turn freely. Adjustment is complete!

 

30) Refit the handbrake adjuster cover.

 

31) Before fitting the new pads, take a look at the old pads – if they have shims and covers fitted, remove these and clean thoroughly. (Don’t worry if you don’t have shims/covers – copper grease is a perfect substitute.)

 

Clean shims (in black) and their metal covers. (Inner pad/shims on the left, outer pad/shims on the right)

 

31) Dab some copper grease over the shims’ surfaces and fit them to the new pads. If you don’t have shims or covers, dab a film of copper grease over the outside of the pad – around where the calliper/piston will contact.

 

32) In order to fit the new pads, you’ll need to push the calliper piston fully back into the calliper. Do this either by hand (if the piston isn’t too tight) or use a G-clamp and a block of wood (to protect the piston). Note: This will push a lot of brake fluid back into the reservoir under the bonnet, so keep an eye on this as you push the piston in – you will need to remove some fluid to avoid overflow!

 

33) Now fit the pads into the calliper bracket and close the calliper over them. Tighten the top calliper guide bolt to 27 Nm.

 

New pads fitted over the new discs!

 

34) Dab a small amount of copper grease on the inside of the wheels, where they will contact the discs – to make sure they doesn’t seize onto them in future. Then refit the wheels.

 

New rear discs and pads fitted!

 

35) Remove stands and lower car to the ground.

 

36) If you replaced the discs, recheck the handbrake adjustment is ok by applying handbrake and try to push the car (if you followed procedure above, it should be fine – but always best to check!).

 

37) Finally, if you’re going to replace the front discs/pads, do those now. Otherwise you just need to bed in the new pads by carrying out a few brake-tests from 70 to 30 mph – follow bigphil’s procedure here.

 

Once you’ve bedded the pads in, you’re done

Steve

 

P.S. After bedding in my Endless VNs on the EBD grooved discs, the JDM brakes feel much more responsive and definitely a great improvement over stock!

[steve3000]

Upgrade to Brembos??? - My thoughts...

 

Since I have non-brembos, I seriously looked into upgrading to brembos. I read through several reviews and comparisons between Z’s with non-brembo and brembos (check this out, if interested: http://www.zeckhausen.com/Testing_Brakes.htm). Overall the impression I got is that brembos are definitely the best option if you are regularly racing on the track – the larger discs giving better heat dissipation when repeated braking from very high speed which helps avoid brake fade. But at road speeds there’s very little in it – both stock brembos and non-brembos have very similar stopping distances.

 

Also remember that big improvements can still be had sticking with the non-brembo setup - improved non-brembo discs are available from DBA (4000 series ~£400 for a full set) or EBC (groved/dimpled GD ~£250 for a full set) and pads from Endless (SSS ~£250 all round set, VN ~£150 all round set) or EBC.

 

When I put all this alongside the cost of upgrading to Brembos (at least £6-700 for at set of second hand Brembo callipers and brake lines and another ~£500+ for brembo discs and pads), I decided that spending the money on improved discs and pads for the non-brembo setup would give me the improvement I wanted at the best cost!

 

So I went ahead and ordered an all round set of EBC GD groved discs and Endless VN pads.

 

Steve

[jim]

Steve, that's an excellent guide. Congratulations on the clarity of the instructions and common sense displayed at each stage.

[M13KYF]

excellent guide once again Steve

 

Really appreciate the time and effort you put into your guides

[H5]

excellent guide once again Steve

 

Really appreciate the time and effort you put into your guides

 

+1 Top job

[GIXXERUK]

[markyp]

Great Guide Thanks Steve