Access to the rear brakes.......
Discussion
No real need. Just remove the handbrake callipers and the rear brake callipers will come off and go through the chassis. Dropping the rear axle is an alternative but in my experience by the time the axle is dropped, the rear brakes can be removed anyway. However it is easier to do them with the axle dropped because access is go much better.
I removed and rebuilt my callipers a few weeks ago and it transformed the braking of the car. No more weaving under hard braking! I think the method should be similar for your car, although as you have trailing arm rear suspension, I’m not sure if you will need to remove your rear exhaust to gain access. I’m sure that won’t take long though if you need to.
First up, loosen the rear wheel nuts, jack the car up and support it so that the axle stands don’t get in your way. I put mine just forward of the rear wheels. Next, remove the rear wheels to give yourself some room. At this stage, I undid the handbrake cable from the callipers to get this out of the way. I used a pair of mole grips to hold the cable casing and a 13mm spanner to remove the end nut. It then just pulls out. Next, I took the split pins out of the hand brake adjusters, which can be seen from looking at the side of the car. They are located on the smaller handbrake callipers which are bolted to the tops of the main callipers.
Loosen the hard brake adjusters a few turns, then using a 13mm socket, remove the 2 bolts holding the smaller callipers on. You may bend back a couple of tabs to get the socket on the nut. The hand brake callipers can then be removed quite easily.
Next, I undid the copper brake pipes from the main callipers. There’s a single copper pipe which goes into the top of the right hand side calliper, and this can be undone with a 11mm spanner. Oil will obviously drip from the pipe, so make sure you have plenty in the reservoir and also cap the copper pipe when you’ve removed it to stop it all draining out. Connecting the 2 callipers is another small copper pipe, and this needs removing too in the same way.
Next take a large, long screwdriver or chisel, and chop the lock wire which goes through the heads of the main calliper bolts. Whilst you’re under there, see if you can remove the brake pads. On my car, they were seized in, but if you can remove them at this stage it will give you more space to wiggle the callipers out when you come to it. Each calliper has 2 main bolts, and they are located very near to the diff. The lower 2 can be removed quite easily with a 5/8” ring spanner and a good hammer! Don’t remove them all the way though, just loosen them.
The top 2 bolts are much more awkward, and I found the most difficult thing was getting enough pressure on them to loosen them. So, I took a spare 5/8” ring spanner, and chopped the other end off it. I then found a strong piece of tubing, about 18” long, to put over the end of the spanner as a leverage bar. Put the modified ring spanner on the bolt head, thread the bar through the chassis rails and onto the end of the spanner. With some messing around, you should be able to turn the bolt a little bit. You will need to keep swapping the spanner over as you only get a few cm of movement before you hit a chassis tube with the bar. Once it is lose though, just use a “normal” spanner to remove the bolt all the way. You may not be able to get the bolt out of the calliper as it may hit the diff, so loosen the bottom bolt and the calliper will be free. Thread it through the chassis rails and go patch up all the cuts on your knuckles!!! :-D
I rebuilt my callipers myself using parts from Dave Manners, who supply Jag parts. ( www.jagspares.co.uk/Manners/company.asp ). They sell new pistons, seal kits, pads and pad fitting kits really cheaply. Make sure you dunk the callipers in some brake cleaner first, and give them a good wire brush. Remove the old dust seals, and lever the old pistons out using a screwdriver, being careful not to damage the calliper castings. If they are seized like mine were, then grip the pistons tightly with mole grips, and tap the grips with a hammer until they come out. Some WD40 may also help. After a lot of twisting and tapping, they will come free. Remove the old internal seals and clean everything with brake cleaner once again. I used some wire wool on the piston bores as mine were really rusty around the entry, but they soon came up like new. Use pipe cleaners in the oil ways too, and remove the bleed valve so that no grit gets trapped here. Just make sure everything is spotless before you even think of reassembling them.
When you’re ready, use a little red rubber grease on the new internal seals and pop them in. Take a new piston, give it a wipe and push this into each of the bores too. They should go in quite easily. To help, take a piece of inch square wood about 18” long, and pass this through the hole in the calliper. Lay the calliper down, put the wood onto the top of the new piston, push down on both sides of the piece of wood and this will force it in. Then its time to bolt the callipers back on again using similar techniques as you removed them! Put both bolts through the calliper holes first before you offer it up as you may not be able to get the top bolt past the diff otherwise. Tighten the bottom bolt first a few turns to take the weight of the calliper, then wiggle the top bolt until it finds its home. Don’t forget to lock wire the bolts together afterwards. Clean and refit the hand brake callipers too. Fit the new pads using some copper grease on the pins so ensure easy movement and removal again in the future. Connect up all the copper pipes, and bleed the rear brakes using the bleed nipple on the left hand side calliper. As both callipers are joined together, you only need to bleed it from this side.
After I rebuilt mine, I found the brake pedal to be quite spongy, but after the rear pads had bedded in for about 50 miles this sorted itself out. I also found that I had to adjust the hand brake pads again after this time.
Hope this helps a little, but if I’ve missed something just ask!!!
All the best,
Dan.
First up, loosen the rear wheel nuts, jack the car up and support it so that the axle stands don’t get in your way. I put mine just forward of the rear wheels. Next, remove the rear wheels to give yourself some room. At this stage, I undid the handbrake cable from the callipers to get this out of the way. I used a pair of mole grips to hold the cable casing and a 13mm spanner to remove the end nut. It then just pulls out. Next, I took the split pins out of the hand brake adjusters, which can be seen from looking at the side of the car. They are located on the smaller handbrake callipers which are bolted to the tops of the main callipers.
Loosen the hard brake adjusters a few turns, then using a 13mm socket, remove the 2 bolts holding the smaller callipers on. You may bend back a couple of tabs to get the socket on the nut. The hand brake callipers can then be removed quite easily.
Next, I undid the copper brake pipes from the main callipers. There’s a single copper pipe which goes into the top of the right hand side calliper, and this can be undone with a 11mm spanner. Oil will obviously drip from the pipe, so make sure you have plenty in the reservoir and also cap the copper pipe when you’ve removed it to stop it all draining out. Connecting the 2 callipers is another small copper pipe, and this needs removing too in the same way.
Next take a large, long screwdriver or chisel, and chop the lock wire which goes through the heads of the main calliper bolts. Whilst you’re under there, see if you can remove the brake pads. On my car, they were seized in, but if you can remove them at this stage it will give you more space to wiggle the callipers out when you come to it. Each calliper has 2 main bolts, and they are located very near to the diff. The lower 2 can be removed quite easily with a 5/8” ring spanner and a good hammer! Don’t remove them all the way though, just loosen them.
The top 2 bolts are much more awkward, and I found the most difficult thing was getting enough pressure on them to loosen them. So, I took a spare 5/8” ring spanner, and chopped the other end off it. I then found a strong piece of tubing, about 18” long, to put over the end of the spanner as a leverage bar. Put the modified ring spanner on the bolt head, thread the bar through the chassis rails and onto the end of the spanner. With some messing around, you should be able to turn the bolt a little bit. You will need to keep swapping the spanner over as you only get a few cm of movement before you hit a chassis tube with the bar. Once it is lose though, just use a “normal” spanner to remove the bolt all the way. You may not be able to get the bolt out of the calliper as it may hit the diff, so loosen the bottom bolt and the calliper will be free. Thread it through the chassis rails and go patch up all the cuts on your knuckles!!! :-D
I rebuilt my callipers myself using parts from Dave Manners, who supply Jag parts. ( www.jagspares.co.uk/Manners/company.asp ). They sell new pistons, seal kits, pads and pad fitting kits really cheaply. Make sure you dunk the callipers in some brake cleaner first, and give them a good wire brush. Remove the old dust seals, and lever the old pistons out using a screwdriver, being careful not to damage the calliper castings. If they are seized like mine were, then grip the pistons tightly with mole grips, and tap the grips with a hammer until they come out. Some WD40 may also help. After a lot of twisting and tapping, they will come free. Remove the old internal seals and clean everything with brake cleaner once again. I used some wire wool on the piston bores as mine were really rusty around the entry, but they soon came up like new. Use pipe cleaners in the oil ways too, and remove the bleed valve so that no grit gets trapped here. Just make sure everything is spotless before you even think of reassembling them.
When you’re ready, use a little red rubber grease on the new internal seals and pop them in. Take a new piston, give it a wipe and push this into each of the bores too. They should go in quite easily. To help, take a piece of inch square wood about 18” long, and pass this through the hole in the calliper. Lay the calliper down, put the wood onto the top of the new piston, push down on both sides of the piece of wood and this will force it in. Then its time to bolt the callipers back on again using similar techniques as you removed them! Put both bolts through the calliper holes first before you offer it up as you may not be able to get the top bolt past the diff otherwise. Tighten the bottom bolt first a few turns to take the weight of the calliper, then wiggle the top bolt until it finds its home. Don’t forget to lock wire the bolts together afterwards. Clean and refit the hand brake callipers too. Fit the new pads using some copper grease on the pins so ensure easy movement and removal again in the future. Connect up all the copper pipes, and bleed the rear brakes using the bleed nipple on the left hand side calliper. As both callipers are joined together, you only need to bleed it from this side.
After I rebuilt mine, I found the brake pedal to be quite spongy, but after the rear pads had bedded in for about 50 miles this sorted itself out. I also found that I had to adjust the hand brake pads again after this time.
Hope this helps a little, but if I’ve missed something just ask!!!
All the best,
Dan.
Edited by digga951 on Friday 1st September 20:41
Yeah, I agree actually. Took me all weekend to do what I thought would be a straight forward job. Its not like it was difficult, just that everything had some kind of problem, like the pads being stuck in cos the pins had rusted, or the top bolts being so tight that I couldn't get enough force on them.
A good bit of advice is to just buy new of everything. You try finding a pad fitting kit on a Sunday afternoon... Buy a new set of pads, a fitting kit for them, 4 new pistons, a main seal kit, a set of handbrake pads, 2 new split pins for the handbrake adjusters, a good wire brush, wire wool, pipe cleaners, a gallon of brake cleaner, some stainless steel locking wire and a box of plasters!
A good bit of advice is to just buy new of everything. You try finding a pad fitting kit on a Sunday afternoon... Buy a new set of pads, a fitting kit for them, 4 new pistons, a main seal kit, a set of handbrake pads, 2 new split pins for the handbrake adjusters, a good wire brush, wire wool, pipe cleaners, a gallon of brake cleaner, some stainless steel locking wire and a box of plasters!
Thanks a lot Dan........
You could make a living on writing "how to`s"! Excellent!
Will try this without removing the diff. Seems like it is a bit too little space though.....
Think the nuts to the main calipers will be the most difficult part.
But....never give up!( spent most part of a Saturday cutting the left side`s pin to the trailing arm. Spent another 10-15 minutes with the torch to free the remaining part from the arm!)
Cheers
Anders
You could make a living on writing "how to`s"! Excellent!
Will try this without removing the diff. Seems like it is a bit too little space though.....
Think the nuts to the main calipers will be the most difficult part.
But....never give up!( spent most part of a Saturday cutting the left side`s pin to the trailing arm. Spent another 10-15 minutes with the torch to free the remaining part from the arm!)
Cheers
Anders
This job has just been moved up the schedule due to a small pool of brake fluid under the rear calipers - looks like one of the piston seals has had it. We have a new set of disks to go on so decided to undo the nuts holding the disks on first - fortunately. It needed a two foot bar to undo the nuts and someone to press the brake pedal to stop the disk rotating. So if you are going to take the disks off undo the nuts before you start to take the calipers off!
Loosened the nuts on the left side and has soaked the nuts on the right side. Should do the trick?!
Find it a bit difficult to see what I´m doing when it comes to the bolts to the caliper.....
most of you think the easiest way is to leave the diff in place and wrestle with the calipers in situ.......
I´ll have a go but must order new discs and pads first. Anyone know if it is XJS discs? Or are they specific to TVR. (A bit easier to find parts to a Jag here in Sweden than a TVR......)
/Anders
Find it a bit difficult to see what I´m doing when it comes to the bolts to the caliper.....
most of you think the easiest way is to leave the diff in place and wrestle with the calipers in situ.......
I´ll have a go but must order new discs and pads first. Anyone know if it is XJS discs? Or are they specific to TVR. (A bit easier to find parts to a Jag here in Sweden than a TVR......)
/Anders
I have just received the seal kits and pistons from David Manners, it turns out that each seal kit will do a pair of calipers. I asked if I would need one or two kits and the answer was two so I now have a spare set. Anybody need a set?
The Lucas part numbers are
SP04095 for the seals
64321392 for the pistons
One caliper is off the other still needs the top bolt removing - called it a day when the ring spanner sheared...
The Lucas part numbers are
SP04095 for the seals
64321392 for the pistons
One caliper is off the other still needs the top bolt removing - called it a day when the ring spanner sheared...
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