Replacement of front brake pads and rotor

220629

Well-known member
Not that you asked...

With the one pad being down to metal, and the other having as much material left as it does I would suspect a caliper related problem. Unless the rotor face shows a problem (pitting, cracks, inclusions, hard spots), something likely caused the metal on metal pad to be dragging which resulted in premature wear.

Did you closely inspect the slides for any gouges or issues? Sometimes that can prevent the caliper from properly bumping back to give the pads clearance when not braking.

:2cents: vic
 

CJPJ

2008 3500 170 EXTD 3.0 V6 OM642.993 4.182
One Side wearing more than the other side means the caliper is no longer floating; almost always because the grease on the guides has failed. Dried up.
 

sikwan

06 Tin Can
I didn't inspect it closely for gouging. I cleaned it and greased the surface. I didn't find any anomalies. Of course that doesn't mean that there isn't anything.

The play on the caliper bolt/slide was smooth and there were no tears on the rubber boots.

:hmmm:

Interesting that the outside pads for both sides wore faster. Only the driver side wore more than the passenger.

EDIT: After thinking about it, I think the inner pad was stuck or didn't slide easily through the caliper carrier slide for both sides. Given the design of the brakes, I don't think it's a caliper float issue.

I added grease on both slides of the caliper carrier, so I'll inspect later to get a comparison.
 

derekhski

Member
I certainly appreciate everyone's contributions and input. Picked up rooters and pads from Europarts SD. Did the install this last weekend. The fronts were worn to their MAX. (see photo old on top, new underneath) Following HK's original and using some of the added tactics everything went smooth front and rear. Using the Caliper and and extra body to step on the brake pedal worked great for breaking free all of the Trox bolts on the Rooters.
 

Attachments

220629

Well-known member
Great use of a bungee cord to support the caliper assembly. :thumbup::thumbup:

... Using the Caliper and and extra body to step on the brake pedal worked great for breaking free all of the Trox bolts on the Rooters.
For future reference, they are rotors. (Maybe you're a victim of auto correct.)

vic

From another thread.


Wheel rusted stuck seized on hub rotor


For 2500 wheel studs.
I tried a new trick today and it worked... 2 times. :thumbup:

Sometimes the Sprinter wheel lug bolt design has advantage over the more common wheel studs.

The rear wheels/tires on my 2006 Sprinter were rusted securely on to the hub. I needed to inspect the brake pads and also change out the thin tread rear tires. I found both of the rear wheels seized to the rotors. The fronts were stubborn, but some tapping here and there loosened them up.

Not so with the rears. Lots of tapping and hard bumps to the tires with a 16 pound sledgehammer left the stuck wheel laughing at me. I gave up on the passenger side. Before re-installing the lug bolts I sprayed PB Blaster on the hub and into the spaces between the wheel and hub. I re-installed the lug bolts figuring that maybe the penetrating oil would help after an overnight soak.

Hope springs eternal for the driver side so I went to try that wheel. Same thing only the lug bolts were so rusted I needed to drop the tire back to ground just to back the lug bolts off. (This was after loosening them a couple turns. Why don't mechanics believe in oil or grease on wheel fasteners? :idunno:)

Anyway, I ended up with all the lug bolts out, the wheel seized to the hub, and the tire partially loaded with my floor jack still supporting the Sprinter. Tapping the wheel with a hammer and using the sledgehammer on the tire did nothing to loosen things up on this side either.

I decided to try using a quite large ball peen hammer that basically fit the lug bolt tapered holes. I held the peen end into the lug bolt tapered holes and whacked the other end of the ball peen hammer with another large hammer. Note: Striking a hammer with another hammer is not recommended. Wear eye protection. Using a brass mallet to strike is safest, but it needs some weight.

After using a circular pattern to whack each tapered hole I noticed a change of sound as I struck the wheel. A couple more whacks and the wheel popped loose. After the driver side removal success I went back to the passenger PB Blaster side. I removed all of the lug bolts, lowered the tire to put weight on it and then just like the other side I whacked this wheel with the ball peen. After a short time that one also changed sounds and soon popped loose.

So it is worth trying the large ball peen hammer beaten into the tapered holes trick. My theory is that it bounces the steel of the wheel which transfers force to the stuck parts. The large ball peen end didn't damage the lug bolt holes at all. I don't know if lowering the jack to put weight on the wheel helped or not because I did that on both sides.

:cheers: vic

Added:
Another DIY trick that given time may help.


Good to hear you got it done.

For DIY types not in a hurry.

Last Fall I wanted to change out all the brakes on my 2006. Fronts went great. The rear rotors wouldn't budge. For some reason my rear brake parts are rusted more than any other area of the van. The pads and rotors were good enough for inspection. 3/8" thick pads.

I sprayed PB Blaster on the hubs and after doing some other work, greased the rotor center joint with some heavy duty wheel bearing grease before installing the wheels/tires. The idea was that the grease would soak in over time.

I didn't do the rear brakes until better summer weather. Some whacks with a hammer were enough to break the rotors free. Before re-assembly I brushed a thin coat of anti-seize on the inside rotor and hub faces. When I first started using anti-seize in that way I was concerned that it might migrate. I have been doing so for decades now with no problems.

Did my after the fact PB Blaster and grease treatment help? :idunno:

So what value might this story have? Pre-treatment may help. Any time you have your wheels off you might consider hitting the hub areas with some penetrating oil followed by grease before putting the wheels back on. Even after the fact it may soak in to help keep things free(er). It costs little and may help.

:2cents: vic
 
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israndy

2007 LTV Serenity
I recently had my 2006 brakes replaced w/o issue (other than my annoyance that they had been inspected just a few months previously and were not discovered to be going thru the rotors, grrr). But the guy in the garage next to me WAS having an issue. The lug nuts were so rusted on that the mechanic had destroyed 10 sockets trying to get them to move with multiple attempts to spray with some de-rusting product.

So the mechanic just fired up his torch and got the whole mechanism glowing and then hit it with a hammer. It took time, but they were able to get it all off w/o cutting anything. I was quite amazed the things they have to deal with everyday. I know we were talking about seized rotors, but a similar issue

-Randy
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence

edj

New member
Question Replacement of front brake pads and rotor with Brembo Pads

I replaced my front brake pads and rotors today with Zimmerman rotors and Brembo pads. The Brembos did not come with a pad sensor and the ones I took off of the OEM pads did not fit the the Brembos. The Brembos had what I guess is a noise sensor attached to the top but I needed to take them off as I could not get the caliper to fit back on with them attached.

Question: is there any problem using the Brembo pads without a sensor. Of course I will need to manually check for Pad wear, but aside from that should I run into any issues?

Thanks
 

sikwan

06 Tin Can
Re: Question Replacement of front brake pads and rotor with Brembo Pads

Question: is there any problem using the Brembo pads without a sensor. Of course I will need to manually check for Pad wear, but aside from that should I run into any issues?
No problems. Those pad wear sensors don't work reliably, so it's a must anyway to inspect your brakes periodically.

I believe you will have to terminate the pad sensor connection so that you don't see that light on your dash.
 

220629

Well-known member
Re: Question Replacement of front brake pads and rotor with Brembo Pads

No problems. Those pad wear sensors don't work reliably, so it's a must anyway to inspect your brakes periodically.
:thumbup:

I believe you will have to terminate the pad sensor connection so that you don't see that light on your dash.
No real electrical need to do anything. The wear sensor conducts to ground by physically contacting the rotor iron.

As a practical matter I would chop the sensor wire right at the connector plug and leave the chopped off plug installed. That will keep the electrical connection sealed and keep it functional. You may change your mind sometime in the future. An open corroded plug may not work.

vic
 

edj

New member
Great suggestion Vic to leave the plug installed. Next time I have tires off I’ll do this. On many repairs I spend more time getting tires off and on than the actual procedure. (Was definitely the case here where I spent forever getting a tire back on at night without adequate light - sometimes I don’t know what I’ve been thinking:idunno:) Nice to have front brakes with new pads and rotors. After 76,000 miles the originals were down to about 3mm or so. Appreciate the help.:thumbup:
 

Andyandyandy

2005 Cargo 2500
Thanks hkpierce for the great write-up. I'm just about to embark on this job and I have one question that I don't see answered in the thread; what are the torque specs for the caliper bolts and caliper mount bolts?

Thanks,
Andy
 
Front Brake Replacement HowTo with Pictures & Tips

Thank your Sprinter Source community for posting these howtos & tips. Here's a link to pa printable condensed version of this thread with just hoot info and tips, with pictures. We enjoy being able to work on our vans based on all the input here. Any more tips post them up and I'll revise the document as I have time.
 
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marklg

Well-known member
I believe there are a lot that are equivalent, but there are bad ones too. You can get them from Mercedes, but you won't like the price. I purchased Pagid pads and Zimmermann Coat Z rotors. Note that the Pagid pads come with extra parts not needed on the Sprinter and take the snap in type of sensors. The pads I found on the vehicle were from some random aftermarket supplier and had started delaminating. Europarts SD, Million Mile and IDParts have carefully chosen the parts they sell. I have bought from all of them. Many other suppliers will sell just about anything.

In Europe they have this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECE_Regulation_90

and if you can find parts that are marked as such, they probably are OEM equivalent.

In the US there are DOT pad codes:

http://faculty.ccbcmd.edu/~smacadof/DOTPadCodes.htm

They are required on US brake pads but rarely advertised. You can ask the supplier to read them off and choose the best ones you can find.

Regards,

Mark
 

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