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Old Oct 9th, 2010, 19:34   #13
chb
Master Member
 

Last Online: Dec 22nd, 2023 11:53
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Leeds
Wink

All done! PHEW. The pads and discs were easy.

Comments for those trying it themselves:

I found that I couldn't get my 7mm hex socket in to remove the caliper from the bracket. My ratchet would not fit because all the suspension components got in the way.
To get round this I unbolted the caliper and the caliper bracket as an entire unit, I then pulled this away from the disc so it was fully mobile (making sure I didn't stress the brake hose) and then removed the 7mm hex slide caliper pins/polts.

The discs on my car needed a bit of a clout to get them off but nothing excessive.

Now the hard bit! Christ on a bike, whoever invented brake shoe set up on XC90's clearly also designed that box in HellRaiser.

Bestgear is right when he says that the springs probably will not need replacing, I bought a set of the retaining springs for mine, but the old ones were fine. Getting the retaining springs out is an exercise in patience. I found it bet to use a pair of needle nose pliers to compress the whole spring, but even then it needs fiendish manipulation (not force!) to remove them.

The small tensioner spring on the shoes is easy to remove. However the main shoe return spring ( the longsest of the helical springs) is a real sod to fit. I wrestled with it for 10 minutes a side to get the shoes into a position where I could get the spring to stretch engough to locate it.

The brake shoes were shocking! One had completely lost its lining, and two were delaminating. Moral here is if you are working on the brakes, then change the shoes too!

One bit of good news. My car has the manual adjuster. After using a flatbladed screwdriver and a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the circlip I could turn the collar/sleave by hand. It needs a bit of strength (by soft office boy standards!) , but it is better than using pliers to turn.

I was dreading needing to make a bestgear type tool/pliers to re-tension the cable. I found it very easy to do this by hand. The cable is on a ratchet mechanism, so I just pulled it out several clicks. SO I NEEDED NO TOOLS FOR THIS BIT. Maybe once the brakes bed in I might be proved wrong.

Handbrake is now much better and the car is now ready for MOT!

Last edited by chb; Oct 9th, 2010 at 19:37.
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