Man, after spending the day doing brakes, I just spent another 2 hours typing like a madman . Check it out -

http://www.clubrx.org/default.asp?id...ntent=66&mnu=5

That's about the whole 9 yards on doing an FD brake job. Whew! Let me know if I missed anything or if anything's not clear.

Enjoy!
Dale

 

thanks again!!

 

Nice. Loved the anti-chug trick with the foil top on the brake fluid container.

 

very nice walk through

 

Great write-up Dale. I need to do my brakes but have been hesitating because I have never done a brake job before. Thanks!

 

Great writeup, thanks. One thing that caught my eye----I thought in order to get the rear hardware kit you had to purchase rear pads? Maybe mazda recently decided to offer them seperately, which is great news. Thanks again Dale, you're a real asset to the community

 

Thanks for all the good words, guys!

Rich - I saw on Mazdatrix's site they had a listing for a rear hardware kit. I translated the part number for Ray, and the part number that's in the writeup is a good one, straight off the invoice from Ray. He actually didn't know that kit existed, either! The kit is just the anti-squeal shims and the little metal pad clips that go on the caliper bracket. I think the spring only comes with the pads (same thing for the front, I believe).

BTW, Mazdatrix has a part number for the front caliper pad pins, but they only list it for FC's. Not sure if it would work on FD's.

Also, http://www.partsamerica.com lists hardware kits. For example -
http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...pe=354&ptset=A

That should be the front hardware kit - has the springs, pins, and pin retaining clip. Dunno if it's 100% good fit or what have you, though. My springs were fine, so the Mazda kits I got did the trick for me.

Dale

 

What gives with ClubRX? How the **** do you join?

 

good stuff again by dale

 

I like the trick opening the brake fluid can.

I'll give that a try. It's one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" things.

 

great writeup thanks for taking the time for this I know that I will use it and I am sure that several others will as well. Good timing too b/c I am gonna need this here in about a month...

 

*** yeah!!!

 

ClubRX doesn't have a forum or anything. That login prompt on the side is actually for me to log in and update the site .

Dale

 

Now THAT is an exclusive club. Not many out there like Dale.

Thanks for the writeup.

Dale, you might want to add that it's very wise to thread one lugnut on before loosening the rotor. Cheap insurance against broken toes.

Dave

 

Great write-up Dale! Thanks again!

 

I just did this last weekend and managed to get the screws out by hand (It wasnt easy). The link to the part for the rear rotors at sears didnt work for me, it may be mozilla but just thought I would let you know!

 

Yeah, the Sears link was broken - should be fixed now, thanks!

Dale

 

Dale....you're a true asset to the RX community. Thanks for taking the time to do this. You're awesome!!!

 

Dale,
Great write up ! ! ! I know I'm gonna catch some flack for pointing this out but your reference to the "micrometer" is in reality a set of calipers (commonly called "dial caliper" even though most are now digital. No big deal just for reference and I love it when you work on your car....we all bennifit ! ! ! Jack

 

Just something that I do... when you push the front rotors off with the tapped hole, you say to grab any 10-12mm bolt. I just use the screws that hold the rotor on. Just be careful and use the correct size bit/screwdriver. Great write up though.

 

Roger that. Thanks for passing along a great write up. I'll be using this very soon.

 

Damn. I bought a set of OEM rears just to get those shims over a year ago. You learn something new everyday. I prefer just to take a cobalt bit to the screws on the rotors. Cuts through them like butter.

 

Dale,

Awesome write-up. Just a few notes.

Having performed several brake jobs on a daily basis for a few years i learned a thing or two about getting a top notch brake job done.

comment one - the digital caliper is great for determining if the rotor is of servicable thickness. it CANNOT however determine if a rotor is within tolerance fore lateral runout (that pulsing feeling you get when you apply the brakes). You must have an ACCURATE micrometer for this task. If you want to know more about this just PM me.

comment two - I NEVER trust bench lathes to cut rotors anymore. There is so much that goes into properly cutting a rotor on a bench lathe that almost non of today's tire and brake shops follow all of the procedures. usually they take the rotor, slap it on the lathe, runa quick test cut and then fire away - WAY WRONG THING TO DO! if you want o know more... you know the drill :-) PM is just a short click away.

Dale - we found that often times we were getting misleading results buy using that style of caliper on rotors. if the rotor has a lip at the outter edge the flat caliper will actually read that lip and rarely give you an accurate number.

comment 3 - back to turning the rotors. my recomendation is to find a shop that has an on-the-car brake lathe and have them turn your rotors. these machines are GREAT. they automatically adjust themselves to compensate for the play that exists in your wheel bearings and keeps the rotor true in relation to the hub.

comment 4 - the anti-sieze is a good idea but belongs nowhere NEAR brake parts. Moly Lube and Silicone caliper grease - only way to go.

Anti Sieze doesn't tolerate the heat as well as moly lube. it can also contaminate the rubber parts of the brake system moreso than moly lube.

silcone caliper grease goes to any contact points that also contact rubber - no excuses.

if you need more info - PM :-)

Ray

 

^^^^^^ The on the car brake lathes are awesome. I had that done to one of my cars and I could not believe the difference. The ride was an order of magnitude smoother. Just awesome.

 

What about getting rotors blanchard ground ?

BTW: I'm glad you did the write-up with the pics.

I think I have my front springs reversed (big/long-legged one on TOP, instead of bottom).

:-) neil