Brake pad replacement, a question...

[J4CKO]

[quote=Who me ?]And before tackling job, have a look to see if Mazda is on the list of makers which suffer from the dreaded "calliper retaining thread rot". My little Auto place told me that certain makes/models are more prone to the threads on the body getting damaged than others. One of mind needed doing,and I'm certain that the pads had been changed at one of the fast fit places to remove a pre sales MOT ADVISORY on pad wear.
[/quote]


As part of doing it yourself, it is good practice to put some copper grease on the threads of the calliper bolts and anything else you want to be able to get off next time, proper clean with a wire brush and some brake cleaner, I am guessing that despite the impression that there is nothing finer than the main dealer doing the job, I am guessing they just put the parts in and only clean anything if it means they cant get the pad in, might be doing them a disservice but to be honest, I don't think they lavish much time on them due to the pressure to move work through.

[Sheepshanks]

paintman said:

If your father doesn't trust anyone other than a main dealer I'd suggest you let him stay with them. He will only worry that something will fall off at any moment if you force him to go elsewhere/argue the toss with him & at his age he really doesn't need the stress.

I agree with that, and most people of the age of the OPs father have so much money they don't know what to do with it.

As for using an indie, I tried a couple of local ones for my Merc and they were the same price as the dealer. It can be a nightmare just getting the alloys off on my car and if you're not regularly doing stuff like this then working on someone else's brakes probably isn't the ideal place to start.

[Krikkit]

J4CKO said:

...I am guessing that despite the impression that there is nothing finer than the main dealer doing the job, I am guessing they just put the parts in and only clean anything if it means they cant get the pad in, might be doing them a disservice but to be honest, I don't think they lavish much time on them due to the pressure to move work through.

Chances are the book time for the job will mean minimal extra attention that an indie might spend doing it 100% spot on. Can't be helped if you're pressed for time.

[battered]

The main dealer is overcharging for a simple job.
The same dealer looks after your dad, aircon refill (£40) for free, floor mats, etc.
What goes round comes round.
Your dad likes them and doesn't trust the indy.
Your dad can afford it, and it's not like he's going to have the machine in there every week.
If he wants to pay the extra for what he thinks is a "better" job, then sit back and let him get on with it.

[littleredrooster]

J4CKO said:

As part of doing it yourself, it is good practice to put some copper grease on the threads of the calliper bolts...

Not good practice, unfortunately. Most caliper bolts are specified/designed to be torqued up on dry threads and greasing them can potentially mean a)they are in too much tension and could go beyond their elastic limit, or b)they could come loose due to the lubrication.

If you want to seal threads against ingress of moisture or air (and hence corrosion), use threadlock of some kind especially on the exposed end of the thread.

[battered]

Yes, save the coppergrease for the bits of the caliper the pads slide on and maybe the back of the pads if there isn't another form of antisqueal mechanism.