Brakes: Guide to replace rear brakes on S60/V70

[boggymarsh]

Well it looks as if mine have failed as last night I reversed off the drive and the whole back end locked up bringing the car to a sudden halt. A grinding and grumbling followed as I moved foward again and the car has remained there since. Have just been to the main dealer and picked up a set of shoes for just under £30 so I am having a cuppa and then going out to see what's what. I am just hoping that I have no major damage to greet me... standy by, stand by!

[boggymarsh]

Well what a pain in the rear this little jobs is!

I am no mechanic but having been inspired by the write up on here I thought I would give it a go. I have found that I couldn't undo the the allen screw thingies underneath the dust caps so ended up skipping that bit and undoing the 13mm bolts that hold the caliper on. The top one was just about accessible and took a bit of effort with a rubber mallet but the bottom one required using a 12in extension bar and gaining access behind the coil spring - my socket wrench just wouldn't fit in the small gap available otherwise. Once undone the caliper had to be tapped off the disc but that was easy enough.

The drum/disc itself took a while to free but once taken off it was plain to see why it was stuck - the botton shoe had fully delaminated and the friction pad (?) fell on the floor leaving a rather rusty base.

The centre springs are a real pig and I have infact broken one in my frustration to get the shoes out. Whoever designed this Heath Robinson affair ought to be sacked and why when you buy a new set of shoes do they not provide a new set of springs? I can go no further until I have a new centre spring so another trip to the main dealer tomorrow morning - if they stock these things that is?

Somebody said it took them about an hour to replace the brake shoes... well I wish you could come and do mine! I have pictures of the knackered shoes and will post those once I have uploaded them to the laptop.

[boggymarsh]

Points to note!

When considering replacing your handbrake shoes, at the time of ordering your shoes make sure you get a set of new springs at the same time!

Now have three broken centre springs and the main dealer wants over three quid plus VAT per spring! They want over 32 quid plus VAT for a full set!

Why the heck aren't they part of the brake shoe kit.... FFS!

And how come I can get a full set off eeeeebay for £7.08 inc delivery?

It's pishing down, I have no car, the misses is peed off with me, the kids are screaming, the dogs need a walk... what a lovely weekend I'm having!

[S60D5-185]

Originally Posted by boggymarsh

Points to note!

When considering replacing your handbrake shoes, at the time of ordering your shoes make sure you get a set of new springs at the same time!

Now have three broken centre springs and the main dealer wants over three quid plus VAT per spring! They want over 32 quid plus VAT for a full set!

Why the heck aren't they part of the brake shoe kit.... FFS!

And how come I can get a full set off eeeeebay for £7.08 inc delivery?

It's pishing down, I have no car, the misses is peed off with me, the kids are screaming, the dogs need a walk... what a lovely weekend I'm having!

I did this job in under an hour for both sides HOWEVER the small circular springs that actually attach the shoes to the backplate MUST be removed properly otherwise you will have a hell of a job getting them off without trashing them.

Quite often this type of spring is removed by depressing with long nose pliers and then twisting through 90 degrees to align with the removal slot.

This is NOT THE CASE with these springs that Volvo have used.

Correct Method:- You depress, then whilst keeping the spring in the same plane, slide sideways and they will pop straight out. Confused me to start with as i had never had difficulty with these springs on other cars before and "assumed" there would be no difference in their design OR method of removal on a Volvo.

Well as i always say to my son, "Assumption is the mother of all F*** ups"!!!!!!!!!!

Rather than continue, i checked my Haynes manual and following their advice re reoval of these spriings the job was then very straightforward.

When you get the first one out, carefully examine the top of the spring and you will then see which direction the 3 remaining ones need to be slid by noting their construction.

I can easily see why people have gone wrong trying to get these out and without the Haynes i have no doubt i would have simply ripped them out in frustration.

Cheers Darryl

[boggymarsh]

Well I have finally finished the job but have to say that it was not the quickest of jobs - one side was a doddle the other was a right PITA! I bit the bullet and rode a 50 mile round trip to buy a full set of new springs and then spent the afternoon in the wind and rain replacing the manky old stuff. What delayed things is that on the side that I had most difficulty with the raised bracket where the top centre spring sits had broken away from the disc guard. This prevent from the top shoe from sitting tight and so I ended up drilling and using a self tapping screws to secure it. This disc guard is made of cheap materials and not what I expect from Volvo but atleast it is all back up and running again.

Now to sell.... anyone want a 2000 V70?

[The Edge]

I did mine this morning. As is the way with most of these jobs it took an hour and a half to do one side and fifteen minuites to do the other!!

My shoes were just starting to go, genuine volvo ones so most likely origional from 2002. Changed all the springs too apart from the long one as the two i got suppolied with were too short.

Also did the front hoses at the same time - massive differance in pedal travel.

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by tykey

I've just done mine, and was confused by this. Even with new shoes, and when tightened, you can still rotate the wheel a bit.

Remember the pads tighten up in the drums, but aren't fixed to the hub in any way and still rotate a bit with the drum until it reaches the "stop". When the wheel is still jacked up you can rotate the wheel each way about 20deg until it hits the stop with a clunk.

Every Volvo I've ever owned has had this movement with the handbrake on. The first one, the 245, I took apart and replaced the shoes but I noticed that they were designed to have that play. My assumption is that it's so that the car's can be rocked to free the shoes if they freeze to the drums.

My XC90 is just the same as all the others as regards the movement.

[dcorless]

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=119250

[leswindeler]

I changed the handbrake shoes on my V70 today.
What I did find was that it is not the shoes stopping the disc coming off but corrosion where the disc mates with the hub. I gave them a squirt of WD40 before resorting to the rubber Mallet. Believe me, it took a fair amount of whacks to separate them.
A quick clean with a file around the hole in the disc and the area on the hub where they mate cured the problem.
I realised that was the problem because once I replaced the disc I took it off again but found it difficult.
As for the old shoes, they had separated from the backing plates. I have never seen such a poor design. It also proves to me that some main stealers do not do their job correctly at service intervals.

Hope this helps some folk out there.

[V70AWF]

Have just purchased a pair of PAGID rear discs for my 2003 V70 from Euro Car Parts. They appear to have been sprayed all over with silver paint. Do I clean this off before fitting or fit as is? Last time I purchased disc for my previous Audi they came in steel finish.