Thinking about doing my own brake job on my 85 300SD.

Does anyone have instructions for me to review?



after the front, I would like to do the rear, including the parking brakes...

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W123FrontPadsRotors

This is for the W123, but the W126 brakes are nearly identical.

I'm about to follow it my self, the U-pull it has a W126 with brand new front brakes on it.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Yeah, the 126 is the same.
Pads alone are very easy, remove some brake fluid so when you push back the piston you won't have a problem in the reservoir, I kept the cap loosened.

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83 SD

84 CD

I did this job sans rotor last week. As the tutorial shows it was pretty easy. I wish I could spend the money on rotors because they are messed up. But autozone has cheap pads for about $14 rear and $17 front. I asked for the cheaper softer pads. I figure they would mold themselves into the groves on the roters and settle in.
right off the bat it was a big improvement. All togeather it wasn't hard at all. just the jacking and tire remeoval was the worst part. I did have a pad on the back that was hard to remove because of the rotor groove. Just had to pry it over. Also one of those keeper springs fell apart and I used a rivit gun to put it back togeather. Do the job you will be glad you did.

thanks for the info.

what's the minimum thickness on rotors? I will check them to determine how big a job I will have.

thanks...

This is from the FSM for an '85 126.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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83 SD

84 CD

The only difference between 1st generation w126 brakes and w123 brakes are the vented rotors and the length of the piston in the caliper to handle the thickness of the vented rotor of the w126. Otherwise the caliper is exactly the same. I put the w126 brakes on my wagon so I could have the vented rotors. It was a simple bolt on upgrade for the w123.

The rear calipers and rotors are the same and even use the same part numbers for both.

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Chad
2013 Jeep Unlimited Rubicon
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL

My experience is with the W123.

I did a front brake job using the FSM and the Haynes manual and it was not too bad. Be advised, you will need to repack the front bearings if you are changing the rotors. This requires lots of brake cleaner to get the old grease out plus a tube of the correct grease to repack (i got the mercedes bearing grease). Also, taking the rotor bolts out can be a pain - I had to go to my neighbor's who has an oxy/acetelyne torch to heat the bolts up to come out (my propane torch was useless).

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

It is my understanding that kerosene, or even diesel fuel, is better for cleaning the bearings before repacking. Brake cleaner tends to clean them too well, to the point of drying out.

Actually, the most forgotten part of the brake job is setting the bearing tolerances. You need a dial indicator to do this correctly. I believe if you do a search of "bearings" and "jmorrison" you will find good photos of how to set it up.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )