Changing disc pads on GU Patrol

my advise is simple..

if you don't know what you are doing, don't play with brakes

i don't want you behind me in traffic with 3.2 tonne and no way of stopping

take it to a pro

rick get your self a manual and go thru it . there is not much to it and is a fairly straight forward job.
once you have done it you will wonder what all the fuss is about and save your self a bit of coin as well. cheers

basically using a brain a person could follow these steps.

jack up and car stands under car.
remove wheel
undo caliper and remove
stick large tool in there and push against the pads to push the piston in.
remove old pads.
put new pads in
put caliper back on tighten up
wheel back on
remove car stands
tension up nuts
drive away.

A set of stainless steel Braded brake lines would help with brake Pro-Formance, not cheep but

I would just add that a G Clamp of suitable size is the best for pushing the piston back into the calliper

Cheers

Truckster, Exlpoder and of course Rick himself,

You only forgt one thing. When trying to push back the caliper pistons it's a lot easier to crack open the bleed nipple. That way the brake fluid that's displaced by the piston has somewhere to go. i.e the atmosphere.

Otherwise you could be screwing that G clamp until it screws it way out the back of the piston! ;)

Make sure that as soon as (i.e immediately) the piston is fully retracted ie.pushed back, that you close the bleed nipple. Otherwise you'll get air in and have to bleed the brakes.

If you do it like this you won't need a G clamp. Just a big screwdriver will suffice. If the piston is hollow, just put a socket in it and use the screwdriver to push on that. Make sure the piston is INDEED ALL THe WAY BACK. It only needs to stick out a midges pubic hair to stop you from replacing the caliper without struggling. With new pads there's not much slack.

PS - with some cars you don't need to take the caliper off. I don't know about the GU as I've never had to do mine yet.

Bilbo

Rick,
It should be simple. But you won't need to use G-clamps as others have suggested - this is only of you are fitting new pads, and need to push the piston all the way back. I'm not sure exactly what type your GU has, but it usually either two bolts behind the caliper which undo and it will swing out of the way - you can then take a pad out, and check the numbers. Others have pins over the top of the caliper that are clipped in.

Rick - as per Bilbo , cracking the nipple to let out pressure is important.

If changing pads , a couple of other things.

As per other posts its 2 big bolts that come out to free caliper, but I only remove 1 first and swing caliper back , then you can apply pressure to seperate pads a bit whilst cracking the nipple. I make sure mine could be seperated and stay apart before remove the loose second bolt and take off caliper.

I have had problems with this before , and now use a brake pad seperator, while you can buy little devices to do this , I use a slower way.

I have a short bolt and 22mm nut which I put between the pads and adjust the nut to place constant pressure on the pads. Then I loosen the nipple and get little squirt of fluid out, then repeat.

The above process can be very effective in fully seperating the pads.

Often with new pads , they seem just to big to fit and the whole process can be a pain so allow a few hours.

Sometimes also the pads can just push apart be hand and whole job only takes a few minutes.

Couple of other points - as you remove caliper you need a block of wood or something to put it on at about same height as were it came off , this makes things much easier to work on.

Also , on pads are little metal clips at each end, and also metal backing plates , pay particular attention to how these clip on , as when putting new pads on these have to be in place, and unless they are put on square the will seem not to fit.

It all does work but takes care, patience and careful alignment and sometimes 3 hands.

As for actual pads I got cheapest soft ones about $40 for my GU and these provide better braking and less life, its ones with metal particles in them that last longest , and require more force to operate.

Mine lasted 100,000 kms

Robin Miller

Thanks all,

esp Bilbo, Robin & Phil.

You gave me the the starting point & next steps, which is what I lacked.

All OK now.