C
capthook
Guest
..from link: http://www.expeditionexchange.com/disco2brakes/
Land Rover vehicles are heavy and are ******* their brakes. The problem is exacerbated on the Discovery Series II's, which are equipped with Electronic Traction Control (ETC). ETC uses the brakes to transfer torque to different wheels in low-traction situations. If you have been offroading your Disco II as often as you should, you will need to replace your brake pads more frequently than other Land Rover owners. If you let your pads wear out completely, you will destroy your rotors and necessitate a costly repair. Even worse, you could cause a terrible accident.
Replacing worn pads is a very simple job that the average Disco II owner can perform using rudimentary tools, so there's really no reason to pay the dealer or a garage to do it. Working on one's own vehicle will also make the owner more familiar with how his vehicle operates and better enable him to perform emergency repairs in the field.
Han's Discovery II had been driven and offroaded enough that the brake pads required replacement. What follows is what I did to replace the pads.
Before beginning work, engage your parking brake. You will be jacking your vehicle off the ground and want the vehicle to remain as stationary as possible. If you have wheel chocks, chock the wheel opposite the wheel you are working on.
Check your brake fluid level before you begin work. Replacing your worn pads with new ones and retracting the pistons will cause the brake fluid level to rise and possibly overflow. If your service center previously topped off your brake fluid reservoir, you will have to remove some of the brake fluid.
Some prefer to surround the reservoir's opening with rags and let the rags soak up any overflow, but I prefer to use an old turkey baster to remove some of the brake fluid and store the brake fluid in a clean container in case I remove too much and have to top off later. Brake fluid is purportedly a slow but effective paint stripper, so if you spill any, wash it off thoroughly.
In the above photo, the fluid level on Han's Disco is close to the "minimum" level on the reservoir, so I decided not to remove any brake fluid before I started. Instead, I chose to check the fluid level after replacing the pads on each wheel to prevent an accidental overflow of brake fluid.
Let's start with the front brakes. With your wheel on the ground, loosen the lug nuts securing the wheel. Raise the same wheel using your bottle jack. Unthread the lug nuts completely and remove the wheel.
Here is a view of the front brake caliper assembly. The pads are housed within the caliper housing. Pistons within the housing squeeze the pads together and against the rotor. The u-shaped caliper carrier prevents the rotors from spinning with the rotors.
Using some channel lock pliers, squeeze the housing against the carrier to retract the pistons slightly and permit disassembly of the caliper assembly. Be sure to squeeze on both sides of the carrier. Unthread the two bolts securing the housing to the carrier.
Pull the housing away from the carrier. Use the channel lock pliers to retract the pistons. The front brakes are a dual-piston design, and one piston will want to to peer outward as the other is retracted. However, it is possible to squeeze both pistons with the pliers and retract both simultaneously. If you like, you can simplify the task greatly by placing the old pad in the caliper and squeeze against it to retract both pistons simultaneously. When squeezing with the pliers, be careful not to score the faces of the calipers or damage the rubber boots encircling the pistons. Using the old pad to retract both pistons will also help to prevent damaging the pistons. Retracting the front pistons is probably the most difficult part of the entire pad replacement process.
Retracting the pistons will raise the fluid level in the brake fluid reservoir. This is why you must remove some of the fluid before you begin if your fluid level was already at maximum or close to maximum before you began.
With both pistons retracted, remove the old pads by pulling them to the sides of the carrier.
While many different types and brands of aftermarket pads are available, we both use and recommend only Genuine Land Rover Brake Pads because we believe they give the best results for our types of vehicles. The part numbers for the Disco II pads are SFP000210 (front) and SFP100470 (rear).
With the pistons fully retracted into the housing and the pads correctly installed, reinstall the housing on top of the pads. If you have trouble sliding the housing over the pads, the pistons are not retracted sufficiently.
Align the housing with the carrier and rethread the two bolts securing the housing to the carrier. The Genuine Land Rover pads come complete with new bolts, so be sure to use the new bolts when you reassemble everything.
Place the front wheel on the hub and tighten the lug nuts until they are hand tight.
Lower the floor jack. Once the wheel is back on the ground, fully tighten the lug nuts.
Start your engine and pump your brake pedal several times. The first one or two pumps should have a squishy feel while the pistons reseat. Turn off your engine and check the fluid level in the brake fluid reservoir. The fluid level should go down after the pumping action, but if you are close to the top, remove some more brake fluid before beginning work on the other front wheel.
Repeat the above directions for the other side of the front axle.
Land Rover vehicles are heavy and are ******* their brakes. The problem is exacerbated on the Discovery Series II's, which are equipped with Electronic Traction Control (ETC). ETC uses the brakes to transfer torque to different wheels in low-traction situations. If you have been offroading your Disco II as often as you should, you will need to replace your brake pads more frequently than other Land Rover owners. If you let your pads wear out completely, you will destroy your rotors and necessitate a costly repair. Even worse, you could cause a terrible accident.
Replacing worn pads is a very simple job that the average Disco II owner can perform using rudimentary tools, so there's really no reason to pay the dealer or a garage to do it. Working on one's own vehicle will also make the owner more familiar with how his vehicle operates and better enable him to perform emergency repairs in the field.
Han's Discovery II had been driven and offroaded enough that the brake pads required replacement. What follows is what I did to replace the pads.
Before beginning work, engage your parking brake. You will be jacking your vehicle off the ground and want the vehicle to remain as stationary as possible. If you have wheel chocks, chock the wheel opposite the wheel you are working on.
Check your brake fluid level before you begin work. Replacing your worn pads with new ones and retracting the pistons will cause the brake fluid level to rise and possibly overflow. If your service center previously topped off your brake fluid reservoir, you will have to remove some of the brake fluid.
Some prefer to surround the reservoir's opening with rags and let the rags soak up any overflow, but I prefer to use an old turkey baster to remove some of the brake fluid and store the brake fluid in a clean container in case I remove too much and have to top off later. Brake fluid is purportedly a slow but effective paint stripper, so if you spill any, wash it off thoroughly.
In the above photo, the fluid level on Han's Disco is close to the "minimum" level on the reservoir, so I decided not to remove any brake fluid before I started. Instead, I chose to check the fluid level after replacing the pads on each wheel to prevent an accidental overflow of brake fluid.
Let's start with the front brakes. With your wheel on the ground, loosen the lug nuts securing the wheel. Raise the same wheel using your bottle jack. Unthread the lug nuts completely and remove the wheel.
Here is a view of the front brake caliper assembly. The pads are housed within the caliper housing. Pistons within the housing squeeze the pads together and against the rotor. The u-shaped caliper carrier prevents the rotors from spinning with the rotors.
Using some channel lock pliers, squeeze the housing against the carrier to retract the pistons slightly and permit disassembly of the caliper assembly. Be sure to squeeze on both sides of the carrier. Unthread the two bolts securing the housing to the carrier.
Pull the housing away from the carrier. Use the channel lock pliers to retract the pistons. The front brakes are a dual-piston design, and one piston will want to to peer outward as the other is retracted. However, it is possible to squeeze both pistons with the pliers and retract both simultaneously. If you like, you can simplify the task greatly by placing the old pad in the caliper and squeeze against it to retract both pistons simultaneously. When squeezing with the pliers, be careful not to score the faces of the calipers or damage the rubber boots encircling the pistons. Using the old pad to retract both pistons will also help to prevent damaging the pistons. Retracting the front pistons is probably the most difficult part of the entire pad replacement process.
Retracting the pistons will raise the fluid level in the brake fluid reservoir. This is why you must remove some of the fluid before you begin if your fluid level was already at maximum or close to maximum before you began.
With both pistons retracted, remove the old pads by pulling them to the sides of the carrier.
While many different types and brands of aftermarket pads are available, we both use and recommend only Genuine Land Rover Brake Pads because we believe they give the best results for our types of vehicles. The part numbers for the Disco II pads are SFP000210 (front) and SFP100470 (rear).
With the pistons fully retracted into the housing and the pads correctly installed, reinstall the housing on top of the pads. If you have trouble sliding the housing over the pads, the pistons are not retracted sufficiently.
Align the housing with the carrier and rethread the two bolts securing the housing to the carrier. The Genuine Land Rover pads come complete with new bolts, so be sure to use the new bolts when you reassemble everything.
Place the front wheel on the hub and tighten the lug nuts until they are hand tight.
Lower the floor jack. Once the wheel is back on the ground, fully tighten the lug nuts.
Start your engine and pump your brake pedal several times. The first one or two pumps should have a squishy feel while the pistons reseat. Turn off your engine and check the fluid level in the brake fluid reservoir. The fluid level should go down after the pumping action, but if you are close to the top, remove some more brake fluid before beginning work on the other front wheel.
Repeat the above directions for the other side of the front axle.
