First Time Doing Rear Brakes

nwhitney · Post by **nwhitney** » 23 Apr 2011, 23:24

OK so I have a 2000 V70XC and I need to replace my rear brakes. How do I know if I can just replace the pads or if I need to also replace the calipers and/or rotors?

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 24 Apr 2011, 00:05

If you have no vibration under braking and the rotors otherwise look OK then just change the pads. If the pads come out way out of balance in terms of wear you may need to look at a new caliper or at least address the slide that the caliper rides on.

...Lee

VolvoTurbo850 · Post by **VolvoTurbo850** » 24 Apr 2011, 07:10

Why not take it to a mechanic who wont charge you for inspection and see what is reported back. If your going to dwell into a brake job why not see what is required since you will have it all taken apart anyway?

nwhitney · Post by **nwhitney** » 24 Apr 2011, 09:18

I took it to a shop yesterday and they said the calipers and most likely the rotors needed to be replaced. I'm not opposed to replacing everything I just want to know what I should be looking at to see if I indeed I need to.

gilhuly · Post by **gilhuly** » 24 Apr 2011, 18:17

How long have they been on there? If they've been on there 3 or 4 years I'd go ahead and just replace the rotors. There is a minimum thickness spec which the mechanic should be able to provide you from alldata and measure the rotor thickness. If money is an issue and the rotors aren't warped they'll probably hit them with a die grinder and clean them up some and just do pads if you ask nicely and explain that money's tight.

Post by **precopster** » 24 Apr 2011, 19:04

In a brake rotor diagnosis either the rotor thickness falls within specification or it doesn't. If there is vibration under brakes you may need new rotors as once the warped area has been flattened by machining the thickness may be under specification. The minimum thickness for most non-ventilated Volvo rear rotors is around 8mm.

The only reason to replace calipers is if the pad material is uneven in wear when comparing one pad to another and they have diagnosed that the caliper piston(s) is seized or the sliders are damaged beyond repair.

VolvoTurbo850 · Post by **VolvoTurbo850** » 24 Apr 2011, 19:50

Yup as precopster said above ... I would just replace everything at this point. If your calipers were bad then chances they were doing a number on your rotors. The rotors should be cheaper than the calipers so I would change everything.

While your in there check the brake flex hoses to make sure they are not cracked. If so replace them too.

Once you do all this, chances are you will be good for a long time.

Post by **Wagonizer** » 24 Apr 2011, 23:19

Hi,

I did my rear pads and rotors a while back and now regret not replacing my ebake parts (FCP has a kit) as the rear pads tend to bind on my 850 and drag if I use the emergency brake- have to get out of the car and wiggle the cables under the rear wheels a bit to get it free. You might want to replace those springs and things while you have the rotors off.

Post by **kcodyjr** » 25 Apr 2011, 00:14

+1. There's basically three degrees of replacement for rear brakes:

a) Just the pads
b) Pads,rotors,shoes,hardware
c) Pads,rotors,shoes,hardware,calipers

Note where calipers shows up. If you're replacing them, replace EVERYTHING while it's apart.

Deviation from that list is of course possible, but inevitably leads to wishing you hadn't been cheap about it.