6 Hours of Dirty Hands On Experience

Before I go rambling about my six hours of hands on experience (get your head out of the gutter), I’d like to introduce myself. My name is David (yes the most generic name you could give a child) and I mainly have two interests – cars and bicycles (specifically mountain but I still love the roadies).

This picture sums up my interests quite nicely.

In terms of mountain biking, I’m not the ballsy downhill “hucking” type, but I enjoy the slow grind with the benefits of smooth, flowy singletrack.

In terms of cars, I appreciate vehicles that move from Point A to Point B, and I also enjoy the vehicles that get to Point B a “hail” of a lot faster than others (off road and on).  I also appreciate the engineering that goes into any form of transportation (like bikes and cars!), and constantly try to understand the motives of designing a vehicle this way or that. I’m also a function over form guy, but if good form is from good function, why not. Lastly, I don’t mind getting my hands dirty, as long as I have some proper guidance and the right tools to do the job.

Alright, well about a month ago, the Evo (pictured above) got some Bridgestone Potenza RE-O1Rs (clearance sale) mounted on the stock Enkeis. After the install, I noticed a “metal-on-metal scraping” sound coming from the right rear of the car. The sound was rare, so I didn’t think much of it. In addition, about two months ago, the BRAKE light began flashing which usually indicates low brake fluid pressure, but there was plenty of brake fluid in the reservoirs. I did not think the Evo was smart enough to tell me when the brake pads were low, so I decided to not do anything.

Well one autocross and about 200 miles later, the scraping noise is in full force, and I’m pretty sure that it has to do with brake pad wear now.

Where's the beef?

Lo and behold, there is no more pad left. Odd, fronts are at 20%, and rears are at -5%. That sound I’ve been hearing is brake pad baseplates rubbing on rotor! My rotors got a free lathe job!

Well, new pads and rotors ensued.

Girodisc Blank Rotors and Girodisc Magic Pads

Come 9:30 AM of the day after I got my rotors and pads, I embark on my first disc brake rotor and pad installation journey. I decide to start off with the rear brakes (since there is no material left). I borrow a friends torque wrench, jack, jack stands, socket set, alan keys—essentially nothing of mine. I go through and untorque the lug nuts on the rear of the car, put it in gear, release the e-brake, and put the car on jack stands (only in the rear).

Removal of wheel: cake work.

I make my way toward the bolts on the calipers, and now the caliper has come off the rotors with old pads still in them (pulling the pads back with your hands will help you remove the caliper with pads inside if your rotor has a lip to them). So according to my forum “How-To” research, the rotor should come right off. Nope. The rotor is seized to the hub. Rubber mallet comes into play. Nope. E-brake adjustment comes into play. Nope not that either. After desperately searching for a way to remove the rotor, I realize there are two threaded holes (look at picture above) under two of the stud holes. I now see what these are for – to pull the rotor off of the hubs if they are seized.

Excellent. Now where do I find a bolt that will fit the threaded hole and remove the rotors that decided to make a rotor install difficult. Turns out, the baby seat bolt (yes the baby seat bolt) fits right into the hole. I tighten it down, and “pop” goes the rotor.

Now that the rotor is off, the next thing to do is remove the pins that hold my shims and brake pads in place on the calipers. Having no center punch (or anything off the sort), I resort to the classic “Alan” key and rubber hammer combination. I scratch my calipers. I proceed to using the “Philips” and rubber hammer combination. Great success (Borat voice). With the removal of the pins, I am quickly able to install the pads and new shims into the caliper, and proceed to pushing the pins back into place. The rotor is now on the hub which is nicely held in place by the lug nuts. Well, not enough spacing between the pads for the rotor to slide on. Great. Using my inner “chi” I am able to pull the pistons apart, only by clenching my teeth and making a strenuous face that only a mother could love.

Caliper and pads slide on. Tight fit. Nice. I proceed to tightening the caliper bolts (with a torque wrench of course) and put the wheel back on (with a torque wrench of course). 1 down, 4 to go, in addition to 2 hours having gone by.

I proceed to do the other rear rotor and pad of the car. It goes swiftly; another hour gone. Hahahaha.

Alright, well “front rotor and pad” time. Upon removing the wheel, I realize that I am no longer playing with the kids; I’ve moved up to the big boys. Not only are the pads bigger, but the caliper is probably twice the weight than the rear (duh, it’s four pistons and not two). Being the scrawny armed man I am, holding the caliper in the air while trying to pull off the rotor is no easy task, especially when the rotor is about fifteen pounds in weight (think moments). I now have a severe case of A.S.S. (Asian Squat Syndrome), and the added weight isn’t helping any. However, the front caliper pins are welcoming. They are much bigger than the rears, therefore missing with the “Philips” isn’t an issue. Everything I learned from the rear brake assembly is helping with the fronts, but wait installation is getting too easy. Turns out, my method of spreading the pistons on the rear caliper is nowhere as efficient on the fronts. After trying many methods of teeth clenching, and ugly face making which lead to no avail, I decide to try this:

Insert one pad into inner side of caliper.
Place rotor on studs; lock into place with lug nuts.
Place caliper on caliper bolts, with one pad and shim installed.
Pull on outside pistons without getting a hernia.
Voila! Pistons backed out and now all pads and shims fit. As I just start to put the wheel back onto the car, I realize that I have put the shims on the wrong sides. Repeat.

2 hours later, I’m down 3 of 4.

Last front rotor and pad go as planned. One hour later, I am packed all up, wheels torqued, and time to bed in the brakes.

Oh, there's the beef.

DO NOT GO FAST IMMEDIATELY! The first drive around the parking structure (yes I did the install in a parking structure) resulted in no brakes whatsoever. Probably the closest I’ve been to pooping my pants in a long time. After about two seconds of depressing the pedal, my brake pads start to grab my new rotors, and we are good to go.

At this point, I am covered in brake dust, high temp grease, and of course dirt. Apparently I wiped my nose, forehead, and cheek while I was working on the car because people did the “stare but don’t make eye contact” look as I walked past them. I look like an orphan from the Industrial Era (without the broken arm, and amputated leg of course).

Upon finishing, I decided to take the elevator back to my apartment. Well, somebody unfortunately had to mind my smell and my look as the elevator brought me back to my floor. The first question that comes out of their mouth (no lie) is “So, did you go hiking?” Right. Didn’t know there were charcoal mines around for me to go hiking through.
“No, just working on my car.”

“Oh cool.”

Notice how the top is silver. Scratched well into the baseplate of the pad.

I end the six hour laborious task with a Creamsicle, soy sauce rice, iceberg salad, string cheese, and Lawry’s seasoned chicken. Nice. Saved myself $250 bucks, and now know how to install pads and rotors.

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