Front brakes

[Fey!]

I finally got my replacement surf. It's a green 1998 kzn185 with 187k km, which isn't in as good a condition as my old one, but it'll get it there.

I had to get new discs and pds for the front, which Roughtrax supplied me with.

I dropped it into a garage to get them fitted, and the guy quoted me 1 hour labour (€50) which I felt was ok.

He then started on about hw it may be €20-€30 more if they needed to "free out the bearings", which he's apparently had to do to these before.

Is this a common fault, or is he leading me on?

[Apache]

Sounds dodgy. Disks and pads is easy. No need to go anywhere near any bearings.

If he means free up the pistons on the calipers, there is sometimes a need to do that if you've got uneven pad wear, but to do it properly means servicing (or in serious cases, replacing) the calipers.

[Fey!]

Thanks for that. I thought that it sounded dodgy.

He definitely said bearings, not pistons.

[NiftyNev]

He's probably thinking second generation which requires hub/bearing removal to replace discs. Not necessary on the third generation as far as I know.

Nev

[Fey!]

It turns out that Nev is right; the guy was used to dealing with his friends '95 surf.

All done, with brakes bled and something done with some pipe (I'm soooo technical, amn't I!!), €70. Add €100 for the disc, pads and postage, the whole job cost me €170 (£140).