Folks,

I need to replace pads and rotors in the back, and I was wondering if there are any hidden things I should be prepared for when doing this job, or whether it's pretty easy. Do I need to deal with parking brake when I do pads/rotors in the back?

If someone has the electronic service manual on rear brake job, I would appreciate that. I'd like to know the tightening torques for the rear caliper bolts.

Do I need any tools like a pad spreader or something like that? I haven't done a brake job before...

Thanks

It is really not too dificult. The Haynes manual has a pretty good description, including checking and adjusting the parking brake. For an on-line FSM, try http://mb.braingears.com

For a way to describe it, it's kind of a combination disc/drum setup with the drum for the parking brake portion.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

As a fellow rust belt dweller, I have to ask, what type of penetrant are you planning to use?

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Well, I have that "Gunk" penetrating oil, but I'm not sure it's helped me all that much in the past. Otherwise, I just read that club soda apparently works miracles for loosening up rusted bolts...

What do you use?

PB Blaster. About 20 years ago i switched from WD-40 to Kroil, because Kroil works so much better. About 2 years ago I tried some PB Blaster and never looked back.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Thanks.

The braingears page has all broken links, unfortunately.

Do I need some kind of a spreader to remove the old pads and get the new ones in there? From what I understand, I remove the caliper bolts, slide the caliper out of the way, unbolt the rotor and remove it, bolt the new rotor on, slide the caliper back on, take out the pins and replace pads one at a time... The one thing I'm not clear on is whether the caliper will simply snap closed after a pad is removed... Can someone explain this to the n00b?

Since you are changing the pads and rotors anyway the simplest and cheapest thing to set the caliper pistons is to wedge a BF screwdriver between the pad surface and rotor, and pry until you push the caliper pistons all the way back.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

a few more questions:

1) what is a BF screwdriver? i own a C-clamp sort of press I got from Harbor Freight... Will that also work in spreading the caliper?

2) do i need to apply anti-seize to caliper bolts or pins? (in fact, one article recommends loctite for caliper bolts, but i wonder on that...)

3) is moly grease ok to use on the back of pads and on pins?

bf is big f@#%king.

no grease on back. a little silicone caulk to stop squealing.

lube the edges of the pads. sometimes they need to be ground a little to slip in easily. nothing on the pins.

a little locktite on the bolts. a drop or two of the red.

very simple job. you will chuckle at how easy it is.

if you were doing only pads youcould do it faster than jacking the car up and down, imho. at least aafter doing it a few times.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

If the rotors don't come off heat the hats. They should pop right off after that.

Also I know it sounds stupid but make sure the parking brake is off!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I just did the rears on my 1987 300TD, I bought new, discs, pads, pins to hold the pads, new clips for holding the discs, new parking shoes with kit, and new brake cables from the center of the car back...To get the calipers back in I just used a pair of large plumbers pliers and squeezed hard, make sure to open the brake fluid reservoir a bit and watch that it does not come out the reservoir. The hardest part was getting one of the discs off as it was being held by the parking shoes. Pulled and wiggled for a good 2 hrs! Then the brake cable. I took a pair of bolt cutters to them and solved that in a hurry. I took the cable off the parking pedal to give myself some extra cable to play with under the car. I took all the parts apart and gave them some anti sieze. I did not replace the cable form the foot pedal to the middle under the car. Seems to work well. I just finished this afternoon, took a while but cheaper than a having someone do it for me. Also installed a new antenna mast and fixed my broken window, wires bares. One window is a real slow poke, guess it needs some TLC too. Hope thats all and some grease. Car needs some other things but I want to drive the thing finally!! Good Luck

The rear pad should be same as the Volvo 240 circa 80's rear pads.
U can go to a parts shop and ask for both, see if # same.
Volvos are few $$ cheaper thats all.

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Thanks for all the tips, guys

Since it's rear brakes, and they don't generally wear quickly, it kind of makes me wonder how long these things have been on there... I think maybe the rotors haven't been replaced for quite a while. I'm sure that whatever can get frozen on probably did get frozen on... I bought some PB Blaster today

I decided to source the parts from the dealer for this job. I got a set of Textar brake pads in a Mercedes box for about $35, and each rotor was $70, coated in some kind of a protective anti-rust coating (at least that's what the parts guy told me).

May as well put new seals in the calipers while your there. They must be cracked etc if rear brakes havent been done in who knows when. There CHEAP. Easy to put on. To push pads back in caliper, I took a 3" C clamp and ground the end of it so it would fit in middle. Works like a charm.

new seals... does that mean bleeding the brakes after?