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I replaced my front discs & pads and rear springs over the weekend.
The old discs were shagged (left one was actually broken) and there was NO meat on any of the pads.
I got everything from Milners – discs, pads, pins, retaining clips, dust boots, piston seals, and rear springs. They shipped to Dublin in 4 days.
I put the Surf up on 2 axle stands and took off both wheels. I took out the two 17mm calliper mounting bolts and suspended the calliper with a bungee.
To remove the discs, I popped off the hub cap with a small flat blade screwdriver & a rubber hammer, undid & removed the 12mm bolt/washer from the end of the axle. Then I undid & removed the six 12mm dome head nuts from the hub cover. There’s a spring washer and a cone washer on each stud. I made sure not to lose them. I used two 8mm bolts to screw inwards, which pushes the hub cover off the hub. I cleaned all the old grease out and bent back the retaining washer lug. I don’t have a 54mm socket, so I used a chisel & hammer to free off the first 54mm nut. I took off the retaining washer and freed off the second 54mm nut the same way.
When I slid the hub off the axle, the outer bearing fell out. I took the hub/disc into my shed and undid the six 14mm bolts holding the disc & hub together. These were TIGHT. I hit the breaker bar sharply with a rubber hammer to break any seizing. All six came off ok.
I put the disc in a sh1tty little vice and used an old large blade screwdriver with the same rubber hammer to separate the disc from the hub.
I used copper grease on the nuts when I fitted the new disc to the hub. I think I had read that the torque value for these nuts was 90lbft, but I’m confident they were tight enough before my torque wrench clicked.
I put the old hub seal back on. I wish I had ordered new ones. I think the right one displaced itself as I slid the hub/disc back on - I left it on the disc dust backing plate thing. With the left, I put the seal on the end of the hub. I'm going to order new ones today and replace them both asap. I put new grease into the hub and bearings and slid it all back on. I used the same chisel/hammer method to tighten the 54mm nuts, bending the retaining washer lug appropriately, and slapped a load of new grease in. I put the hub cover back on, ensuring that first the cone washers, then the spring washers went on before the dome nuts. I used a bit of copper grease on these studs before I put the nuts back on. Then it was the 12mm bolt/washer onto the end of the axle and pop the cap back on.
Then I did the same for the other side.
I had taken off the calipers to work on them, but decided that it’d be easier if I left them on the car, so I put them back on. I took out the retaining pins & clips and used the old pads & G-clamps to hold back all pistons but one – all 4 on one calliper and just 3 on the one I was working on. I pumped the pedal to push out whichever piston I was working on, then pushed it back in with a G-clamp. While it was out, I used brake cleaner & a toothbrush to clean it. I did this 3 or 4 times with each piston till they were all slipping out like they were buttered.
I then pushed them all out evenly and removed the caliper from the car so I could slip the new dust boots over the pistons. The best I could do to reduce brake fluid leaking from the line while the caliper was off was to push a match up into it... The boots seated quite easily in the groove in the piston, but getting them over the lip on the caliper was trickier. I had to trim 1-2mm off the new retaining rings with a snips – otherwise the ends were meeting and not having any spring action to actually retain the boots.
Putting the new pads in is easy enough – I put copper grease on the backs of the pads to reduce squeal/seizing. Then I bled all corners of the car. My 4 year old boy pumped the pedal while I shouted instructions to him as I released the bleed valves…
I cleaned the discs with paraffin to remove any grease. Then I put the wheels back on and lowered the car. Test drive and retighten wheel nuts. I’m using the brakes carefully to bed the pads to the discs.
Loads has been written elsewhere on this and many other sites on spring replacement. I printed off the relevant parts of Delboy’s “It’s All Coming Together” thread and used that as my guide. (Thanks Del!)
I jacked up the diff, put the axle stands beside the rear trailing arm mounts, then removed the jack from the diff. I removed both wheels, disconnected the top of the sway bar drop links, the lower damper mounts, and the two brake line brackets on rear diff.
I gave the old springs a few bangs with a rubber hammer to help free them off. I used compressors on the old springs and stood on the drums. The old springs came away quite easily. I removed the compressors and used them on the new springs. The first went in fairly easily, but I did think that the diameter of the lower coil appeared slightly smaller than that of the seat. I rotated the spring till it was seated properly, and removed the compressors.
I did more or less on the other side, except for, because of the new spring now in the other side, I couldn’t push the axle down enough to get the compressed new spring in, so I used my bottle jack between the trailing arm and the chassis – worked a treat.
I jacked the diff back up a bit, reconnected the sway bar links, dampers and brake line brackets. Then I put the wheels back on, lowered it all and was nearly aghast at the apparent lift – I didn’t do any measuring, but even visually, it was obvious I’d got at least 3” over the springs I removed. I took it for a quick spin and had to recline my seat by a click – it really feels jacked up now! Feels like I'm looking down the bonnet rather than over it...
Doing these jobs has highlighted a few things...
A lot of my bushes are dry cracked hard rubber - dampers, sway bar & links.
My wheel bearings looked fine, but I'd like to have replaced them.
I'd like to overhaul the rear drums now too.
Thanks to all the guys on this site and to the many anonymous others whose articles I have read which helped me have the knowledge and confidence to do these jobs.
Mark
The old discs were shagged (left one was actually broken) and there was NO meat on any of the pads.
I got everything from Milners – discs, pads, pins, retaining clips, dust boots, piston seals, and rear springs. They shipped to Dublin in 4 days.
I put the Surf up on 2 axle stands and took off both wheels. I took out the two 17mm calliper mounting bolts and suspended the calliper with a bungee.
To remove the discs, I popped off the hub cap with a small flat blade screwdriver & a rubber hammer, undid & removed the 12mm bolt/washer from the end of the axle. Then I undid & removed the six 12mm dome head nuts from the hub cover. There’s a spring washer and a cone washer on each stud. I made sure not to lose them. I used two 8mm bolts to screw inwards, which pushes the hub cover off the hub. I cleaned all the old grease out and bent back the retaining washer lug. I don’t have a 54mm socket, so I used a chisel & hammer to free off the first 54mm nut. I took off the retaining washer and freed off the second 54mm nut the same way.
When I slid the hub off the axle, the outer bearing fell out. I took the hub/disc into my shed and undid the six 14mm bolts holding the disc & hub together. These were TIGHT. I hit the breaker bar sharply with a rubber hammer to break any seizing. All six came off ok.
I put the disc in a sh1tty little vice and used an old large blade screwdriver with the same rubber hammer to separate the disc from the hub.
I used copper grease on the nuts when I fitted the new disc to the hub. I think I had read that the torque value for these nuts was 90lbft, but I’m confident they were tight enough before my torque wrench clicked.
I put the old hub seal back on. I wish I had ordered new ones. I think the right one displaced itself as I slid the hub/disc back on - I left it on the disc dust backing plate thing. With the left, I put the seal on the end of the hub. I'm going to order new ones today and replace them both asap. I put new grease into the hub and bearings and slid it all back on. I used the same chisel/hammer method to tighten the 54mm nuts, bending the retaining washer lug appropriately, and slapped a load of new grease in. I put the hub cover back on, ensuring that first the cone washers, then the spring washers went on before the dome nuts. I used a bit of copper grease on these studs before I put the nuts back on. Then it was the 12mm bolt/washer onto the end of the axle and pop the cap back on.
Then I did the same for the other side.
I had taken off the calipers to work on them, but decided that it’d be easier if I left them on the car, so I put them back on. I took out the retaining pins & clips and used the old pads & G-clamps to hold back all pistons but one – all 4 on one calliper and just 3 on the one I was working on. I pumped the pedal to push out whichever piston I was working on, then pushed it back in with a G-clamp. While it was out, I used brake cleaner & a toothbrush to clean it. I did this 3 or 4 times with each piston till they were all slipping out like they were buttered.
I then pushed them all out evenly and removed the caliper from the car so I could slip the new dust boots over the pistons. The best I could do to reduce brake fluid leaking from the line while the caliper was off was to push a match up into it... The boots seated quite easily in the groove in the piston, but getting them over the lip on the caliper was trickier. I had to trim 1-2mm off the new retaining rings with a snips – otherwise the ends were meeting and not having any spring action to actually retain the boots.
Putting the new pads in is easy enough – I put copper grease on the backs of the pads to reduce squeal/seizing. Then I bled all corners of the car. My 4 year old boy pumped the pedal while I shouted instructions to him as I released the bleed valves…
I cleaned the discs with paraffin to remove any grease. Then I put the wheels back on and lowered the car. Test drive and retighten wheel nuts. I’m using the brakes carefully to bed the pads to the discs.
Loads has been written elsewhere on this and many other sites on spring replacement. I printed off the relevant parts of Delboy’s “It’s All Coming Together” thread and used that as my guide. (Thanks Del!)
I jacked up the diff, put the axle stands beside the rear trailing arm mounts, then removed the jack from the diff. I removed both wheels, disconnected the top of the sway bar drop links, the lower damper mounts, and the two brake line brackets on rear diff.
I gave the old springs a few bangs with a rubber hammer to help free them off. I used compressors on the old springs and stood on the drums. The old springs came away quite easily. I removed the compressors and used them on the new springs. The first went in fairly easily, but I did think that the diameter of the lower coil appeared slightly smaller than that of the seat. I rotated the spring till it was seated properly, and removed the compressors.
I did more or less on the other side, except for, because of the new spring now in the other side, I couldn’t push the axle down enough to get the compressed new spring in, so I used my bottle jack between the trailing arm and the chassis – worked a treat.
I jacked the diff back up a bit, reconnected the sway bar links, dampers and brake line brackets. Then I put the wheels back on, lowered it all and was nearly aghast at the apparent lift – I didn’t do any measuring, but even visually, it was obvious I’d got at least 3” over the springs I removed. I took it for a quick spin and had to recline my seat by a click – it really feels jacked up now! Feels like I'm looking down the bonnet rather than over it...
Doing these jobs has highlighted a few things...
A lot of my bushes are dry cracked hard rubber - dampers, sway bar & links.
My wheel bearings looked fine, but I'd like to have replaced them.
I'd like to overhaul the rear drums now too.
Thanks to all the guys on this site and to the many anonymous others whose articles I have read which helped me have the knowledge and confidence to do these jobs.
Mark
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