Rear brakes

[J.B.R.]

Hi guys.

I am currently removing the rear calipers from my series 2 350i, as the braking is VERY poor and pulling to the nearside (fronts already reconditioned, new 5.1 fluid and braided lines fitted).

Can anyone recommend a place to get the rears reconditioned? How much does it cost?

I also note the brake line runs through the offside caliper, out the other side over to the nearside caliper. Would it be better to instal a tee-piece in the line so each caliper is fed seperately?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks
JBR

[FrenchTVR]

They are standard Jag parts, as such most motorfactors can supply reconditioned ones at a reasonable cost.IIRC mine were about £50 each, well worth it IMO.

[J.B.R.]

Thanks for reply French TVR.

At that money it sounds well worth getting them reconditioned.

[jmorgan]

Someone posted this in the past, not used them myself.
Linky

[GV]

Is removing the rear disks difficult?

[FrenchTVR]

Not ovrly. you need to let the drive shafts go, make sure you count the shims on each sie and put them back on the same side as this effects the camber of the rear wheels. The inner bolts should be replaced and can be a pig to undo.

[number 7]

GV said:

Is removing the rear disks difficult?

Removing the discs themselves is easy, it's the removing of the calipers, especially the main (not handbrake) calipers - they should be lockwired, as they're only secured with two bolts. Just getting the wire off can be fiddly, and access to the bolts is tight. Some people wait until they need to drop the diff, and then overhaul the brakes. Once the calipers are off, disconnect the tie bar from the hub carrier, slightly slacken the outer A frame bolts (those through the hub) and remove the diff flange nuts. The driveshaft can then be swung out, pivoting around the hub end. The discs then just pull off. Retain the shims (if any) behind the discs as they set the rear camber.

7.

[FrenchTVR]

forgot about the joy of removing the rear calipers. Having now cut the holes in the boot floor to get at the bolt I would always drop the rear subframe/diff.

[J.B.R.]

Yes the job is blooming difficult.
Been at it for several hours now, but the end is in sight, I hope!!

[dixiebabes]

FrenchTVR said:

forgot about the joy of removing the rear calipers. Having now cut the holes in the boot floor to get at the bolt I would always drop the rear subframe/diff.

Once onwn a E-Type jag then me thinks

[toltec]

Just a quick thought JBR. Is your offside front wheel bearing OK? I had a 350 pull to the right under braking as the nearside bearing was on its way out causing the pads to be pushed further away from the disc.

[350zwelgje]

toltec said:

Just a quick thought JBR. Is your offside front wheel bearing OK? I had a 350 pull to the right under braking as the nearside bearing was on its way out causing the pads to be pushed further away from the disc.

Not to mention very old brake fluid. This was the case when I bought mine. Bleeding helped first, replacement of brake fluid cured it.

Rob

[convert]

Mine pulled to the left before I changed the ARB bushes. Swapped them and now itpulls up true

[J.B.R.]

Thanks very much for the advice guys.
The fluid is new and no noise (that I can hear over the exhaust!) from the front bearing.
I'll check the ARB bushes as suggested.

However,tonight my brother has managed to release both rear calipers only to find one won't come out past the chassis tube!
Any thoughts, or do I need to start pulling off driveshafts etc.?

[number 7]

J.B.R. said:

Thanks very much for the advice guys.
The fluid is new and no noise (that I can hear over the exhaust!) from the front bearing.
I'll check the ARB bushes as suggested.

However,tonight my brother has managed to release both rear calipers only to find one won't come out past the chassis tube!
Any thoughts, or do I need to start pulling off driveshafts etc.?

You'll need to pull the driveshaft inner ends off the diff to get the discs off. The nearside caliper is tricky - it only comes out one way - persevere. I've managed it on a 350 and a 400, so unless your chassis is twisted, it should work.

7.

[wedg1e]

Watch out for camber adjustment shims between the driveshafts and the diff, too...

[J.B.R.]

Thanks Guys
I'll let you know how I get on!

JBR

[digga951]

I took my rear brake callipers off last weekend as they were well past their best. All the seals had broken down, so the pistons were mostly seized on one side, probably causing the car to squirm when braking hard.

Anyway, it is without doubt the most difficult job I've ever done. Putting a new nose cone on the car was easy in comparasion. Anyway, after a lot of fiddling and cutting a spanner to fit the top, offside bolt, they eventually came off.

I contacted Ward Engineering in Essex (someone posted a link earlier) and the chap gave me a price of £155 to recondition both calipers. I guess thats a fair price considering they will come back looking like new. They have fully rebuilt ones sitting on the shelf waiting to send out, so you wouldn't need to wait for yours to be rebult. The only problem I had with using them was that they wouldn't let me take the old ones there to exchange - I had to post them to the company and they would then post me reconditioned ones back. I don't 100% trust the postal services and also like to see what I'm getting before I pay my money, so I decided not to send mine off. Also meant another 30 quid or so in postage... I'm also taking the car abroad in 4 weeks and don't want to risk having to source alternative brakes in that time if they should get lost or if the new ones didn't fit.

Anyway, I gave Dave Manners Jaguar a call (www.jagspares.co.uk/Manners/company.asp). They supplied me with brand new genuine Jag pistons (4 at £6.95 each) and a rebuild kit (£11.93), so the whole lot was under 50 quid delivered. I've cleaned up my old callipers with a wire brush and some brake cleaner, and also cleaned out the piston bores with wire wool. Whilst the callipers aren't brand new shiney (which I'm not bothered about since you cant see them), they are totally dirt free now and the new pistons slide smoothly in and out of the bores. Took about 2 hours in total to clean everything. Just need to pop the new seals in with a bit of red grease, insert the pistons, put the water/dirt seals on and bolt them back on.

If you've not fitted rear callipers before, then make sure you remove the handbrake mechanism first as they won't fit through the chassis rails otherwise. Once bolted up, attach the handbrake mechs, adjust the handbrake clearances and then finally fit the handbrake cable. A quick bleed and hopefully they should be good for another 10 years or so.

Dan.

[GV]

This is one job I'm dreading when I get round to it....

[J.B.R.]

This is a great site.
Words of advice from many nice people - thanks to you all.
Due to a shutdown at work, I'm working long hours (the reason why I didn't make it to BBWF this year), so the brake removal is taking longer than planned!

I hope to try another assault next Sunday to get the callipers off, as there is nothing stopping them now except the chassis (and the handbrake mechanism).

Cheers
JBR