QuestionHey, I started hearing a kind of knocking sound when braking in my 1996 nissan altima gxe. I figured it was my brakes making the noise, and I haven't had them touched since summer of 2004. I took it to a local Car-X and they said I needed new rotors, pads, shoes, drums, and calipers and that it would cost $1091.17 to do it all. Now, that's probably even more than my car is worth, so I chose not to have anything done. I drove it back home, and I no longer hear the knocking sound, and I must say I am very skeptical that I need everything they mentioned. I started to look online for cheap brake parts, and thought I could buy the parts myself and have a place put them on. However, I now have more questions, as there's more information and brands than I thought, so I wasn't sure what the first step would be in finding out exactly what I need, without trying to be suckered in to paying so much money. I saw your posts, and was wondering if you had any recommendations. Would I be able to just replace the front brakes and not the rear brakes? I recall them saying I have front rotors and rear drums. If I only do the front ones, can I replace just the rotors only or do I also need to replace whatever pieces go with those also? If it's not apparent, ha, I'm pretty much clueless as to how a brake system works, and if there's a way I can check my brakes myself to see if in fact I do need all of those pieces replaced. I appreciate any feedback, and will be glad to provide any other information I may have failed to include. I thank you for your time!
Doug Wilson
AnswerHi Doug,
Seriously, brakes are your life as well as the life and safety of every other motorist on the road with you. Even a novice like yourself can replace front pads but I can't explain drum set-ups as they are too complex.
The pads, to replace, should be only two ten millimeter bolts holding each caliper and the caliper will be able to be pulled-up and away from the disc. (obviously jack and support the car WELL first and remove the tire and wheel to access the brakes) You will NEED a C-Clamp if you don't have a pad-spreader in order to re-seat the piston back into the caliper. This is done by leaving the inboard shoe on the caliper and squeezing the c-clamp around the cylinder part of the caliper and pushing it back into its bore until seated. (DO NOT open the bleeder screw, you MAY loosen the reservoir cap on the master cylinder but do not remove that either and never allow the caliper to hang by the rubber hose) An Anti-squeal agent should be put onto the back of the new pads wherever the pad contacts the caliper. You should measure the rotor thickness (unless just buying new ones) to make sure they aren't too thin to the point where they will become dangerous. The rotor should be marked on the inside edge as to the minimum thickness. You can safely, as long as you don't plan to have them cut, ever again, replace pads on a rotor that is about 0.010 BELOW minimum thickness but when they get to 0.015 below (about six-months to a year of average driving), they start to affect the caliper piston movement which could cause the piston to become unseated while braking which would result in NO brakes, serious injury, death, you know, all that stuff!
Ok, NEVER buy parts and take them to a repair facility. You don't bring you're own catch to the local Red Lobster so why would you think that it would be ok to bring parts to a garage? All that will result in is MORE labor charges because they won't be able to make the same overhead on the parts sale. As a garage we get a discount because we buy parts DAILY and the average consumer only purchases parts once every 63 days! What you don't know is as the customer of the garage, YOU will only pay an average of 5% over auto-parts store list price. ie. an alternator to you cost $50.00 from the auto parts store. At a garage, you'd probably pay UP TO $55.00 for it but the garage is only paying $40.00 because they should at least have a standard 20% wholesale list. If they are going to charge 25.00 to install said part, you walk out with a bill for $80.00 (plus tax, etc.). If you walk in with your own alternator and deprive the owner of the small profit of the part sale, not only did you fork out the $50.00 for the part needed but you'll end up paying for two hours labor for install at $65.00 per hour. So who wins? Certainly not you and you'd have no clue it was even happening (save for me telling you).
So if you ask me, the guy at the shop you took your car to may have been a bit off-base with his pricing but as the consumer, YOU are the one in control of what kind of deal you get. Search out and find a good REPUTABLE service garage in your area and stick with them.
Looking for a reputable service technician? My advice on finding a good technician is: Steer clear of the dealership and 'chain' stores like Firestone, Sears, Pep Boys, Monro Muffler/Brake, Midas, etc. as they usually only employ ONE ASE Certified Tech just so they can say they do and chances are, that guy is the asst. manager or manager and is not in the store to diagnose/repair vehicles anyway. Find a service location in the link below or get some names out of the yellow-pages and do a drive-by. Garages that employ ASE Certified Technicians will be marked with the 'Blue-Seal' insignia. If unsure about whether a place employs Certified Techs, just ask to see their credentials. ALL ASE Certified Technicians will be PROUD to show and display their certificate(s).
Thanks for the question, I hope this information was helpful to you.
Fred
Knucklebusters Used Auto & Truck Parts, Inc.
www.knucklebusters.us
570-453-0910
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Click here: http://www.ase.com/bluesealsearch/locator.php
