lupo7791

Just found out that I'm going to need rear brakes pretty soon, my mechanic is recommending me to change the rotors, I got no problems with the brakea i.e. vibration, squeaking and was wondering if its neccesary to replace the rotors. The other thing the puzzled me is that I went to AutoHauz.com to look for the rotors they do have them but they ask they you check the size of the current rotors before you buy. Has anybody here change their brakes recently, if so where did you guys got the parts from, just want to make it easy on myself. Any feedback appreciated. Thanks E.

deuxslow

I picked up all my parts at the dealer. It came to $280 for rotors, pads, sensors and brake grease. I'm 22 years old and thought that changing the brakes in my 00' 430 was so easy. I can't believe how many people pay damn near a grand for a shop to take all day doing it. Sorry I'm a little off topic. Anyway see how much the rotor will cost from the dealer, it should be cheaper than you think. Plus theres no waiting on the shipping.

lupo7791

I was told that the rear brakes don't have sensors, are the 2001 clks different from the 2000?

deuxslow

Sorry I typed all that yesterday just before I left work. Yeah the rears don't have senors even if they did. It would take you longer to tie your shoes than it would it to change them. But yeah the rear brakes are so easy, it takes more work and time to lift the car with the jack and remove wheel than changing the brakes. The dealers must be laughing all the way to the bank when people go in for a brake change. Sorry for sounding over confident.

klttan

There are 2 different kinds of rear pads ... 2 pin and one pin type pads, I actually have a pair of PBR low dust pads for th rear, that you can have for next to nothing. I can check which type they are but i know they were the wrong type for my car.

You should probably DIY if you can do your own oil change ... save yourself some $$$

kEVIN

bbearden

It is true that the rear calipers do have either a one or two pin design and I am not familiar with which years have which setup. It is easy to look at your rear calipers with the wheels on to determine which ones you need.

NFSCLK

I just did my back brakes on my 99 CLK 430. The rotors where fine and I had them turned down for $8 a side. Pads cost $35 bucks for both wheels.

Dealer/STS wants $400 an axle for pads and rotors.

If you have the bucks and want to upgrade your rotors I would look online for some Brembos etc. I don't know about measuring the existing rotors, when you buy new ones you have to tell the store what type of car and options like ABS.

They should be able to match up the correct OEM size. But don't quote me on that.

I found out the hard way the orginal rotors don't want to come off without some serious persuasion, they where frozen on the hub.

Maybe that's why the dealershops always want to sell new rotors.

deuxslow

Yeah I totally agree. 9 times out of 10 those suckers will be "welded" to the hub. One rotor took me 3 hours to remove. But I figured out a technique. I sprayed some rust remover stuff around the hub and disc, you know what I mean. Then I took a small hammer and beat that ***** out of the rotor on the center edge where the little metal cap pops out through the hub. (The part where the wheel bolts screw in to.) I spun the rotor around a couple times while knocking it on the center lip part and it came off in minutes and not hours. Try that I almost promise it'll work.

lupo7791

Is that right, that the rotors can be turned on our cars? My mechanic not the dealer told me that it's better te replace both and I trust the guy. At only $37dollars per rotor I thought I was better off puting new rotors as well.

deuxslow

I'm not sure if they can be turned or not. I'd say depending on how old or how many miles are on those rotors...I'd just replace them. Consider the fact that you wont have to really worry about the rear brakes for at least 40k-60k miles as opposed to 30k-40k miles (possibly fewer depending on how you drive) if they get resurfaced and turned.

newguy2008

Guys,

How hard was it to get the caliper piston to move back to accommodate the new pads? Is there a special too required?

I have changed the front pads 2 times now, but was told that the rears are harder as the caliper may have a different design whereby you need a tool to turn the caliper piston back as opposed to pusing the piston back as I did for the fronts.

Also, I have yet to pick up the rear pads? What's this about different pads for the rear? Do I need to check the type of caliper (stock) that I have before I get them? Whta do you look for on the caliper?

Thanks.

newguy2008

Anyone?

klttan

I'm not sure how hard it is to turn the piston backsince i have not done mine yet. But ... Typically you could do it with a c-clamp/old pad if it is a push in type or a pair of needle nose pliers if it is a screw in.

Regarding the rear caliper ... pull off the wheel and look at the top peep hole in the caliper. You should be able to see either ONE pin going through the top of the pad OR TWO pins. That determines whether you need a one hole pad or two hole pad. I think the PBX low dust pair that I have is a ONE hole and like i said you can have em for $20 shipped if you want (basically free-covers shipping and time to ship it!)