Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Except for the alignment, I'm glad I can do all those things myself in my garage. Youtube is the greatest thing for DIY cheap bastards like myself.
I recently failed NYS inspection on one of my older cars because the shop was trying to extort $600 from me to replace rear drums and do a parking break adjustment. Replaced drums and shoes myself for about $60 in parts. Adjusting the parking brake was free. Passed inspection at a quick lube place.
I wish instead of going to med school, I opened up an autoshop instead. Its license to print money since the average person knows nothing about cars.
this entire experience has me determined to start learning how to do basic stuff.
if the breaks weren't as crucially needed, like ASAP (according to mechanic), i would ABSOLUTELY do it myself.
Brakes are the most important element on a car but for most cars they are the easiest to change out, especially if just changing out pads.
Once the wheels are off literally it's two bolts you have to loosen. Push the pistons back in, replace pads, bleed brakes, and voila, you're done. You can grease the piston boot or caliper pins if they have them but not absolutely necessary.
Do use a torque wrench when tightening the wheel lug nuts back on. This will help you from warping the rotor. Many people over torque them. Check online or your car manual for your car specs. Usually around 70-85 lbs of torque.
Forgot to mention. Craigslist sometimes has killer deals on tires. We once bought set of four Honda tires with maybe 10 000 miles on them for $100 cash. I had full set of NEW tires for my Ranger for free. Guy just gave them to me. He asked $25 originally.
Why do you need new calipers? Is there something wrong?
Yeah I wondered this too. You should really never need to replace your calipers unless something is wrong, and even then, you would only need one (to fix whichever one is broken). This mechanic sounds like a fool, or more realistically, a sheister.
At least he dropped his price to $300 for the labor.
I personal don't use it. I have one but I just go by feel. I'm not saying that's the way to go. You can pick up all the tools at Harbor Freight for a reasonable price.
Harbor Freight? You're kidding, right? If I want Big Lots or Dollar General quality, I'll just go there.
Why do you need new calipers? Is there something wrong?
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYCresident2014
Yeah I wondered this too. You should really never need to replace your calipers unless something is wrong, and even then, you would only need one (to fix whichever one is broken). This mechanic sounds like a fool, or more realistically, a sheister.
At least he dropped his price to $300 for the labor.
verbatim "your back breaks are metal on metal and the rotor looks warped, i can't tell if you need a new caliper until i take the tire/rotor off and only then will i be able to give you a definitive answer. i THINK it can be saved, but i wanted to give you a worst-case-scenario quote"
it sounds very shady to me as well. i know i NEED brakes, they've been needed for a little while but i never heard any squealing, relatively no shudder, etc. so to think that they were in that disrepair seems...unreasonable.
luckily i got, what i think is, a great deal on parts and will have the freedom to shop around a bit for someone to do the labor.
actually bringing the car to the dealer today as i was given an extended warranty for stuck pistons/oil consumption so i'll have them measure the brake pads to see if it really is metal on metal.
if it is, i guess i can go right back to him with the parts that should be here any day.
Except for the alignment, I'm glad I can do all those things myself in my garage. Youtube is the greatest thing for DIY cheap bastards like myself.
I recently failed NYS inspection on one of my older cars because the shop was trying to extort $600 from me to replace rear drums and do a parking break adjustment. Replaced drums and shoes myself for about $60 in parts. Adjusting the parking brake was free. Passed inspection at a quick lube place.
I wish instead of going to med school, I opened up an autoshop instead. Its license to print money since the average person knows nothing about cars.
Without AES certification and insurance you could easily go bankrupt from lawsuits.
I was horrified to hear a recent story from my mom. She failed NYS inspection because of a CEL. Mechanic told her it was $900 to "fix" it. She paid, passed inspection, 2 days later the CEL went back on. I bet all they did was reset the CEL.
License to print money.
And this whole leaving State inspection to private mechanics is extortion. When I lived in Chicago for a few years, at least the emission inspection was done by the state so their was no incentive for BS repairs.
Brakes are the most important element on a car but for most cars they are the easiest to change out, especially if just changing out pads.
Once the wheels are off literally it's two bolts you have to loosen. Push the pistons back in, replace pads, bleed brakes, and voila, you're done. You can grease the piston boot or caliper pins if they have them but not absolutely necessary.
Do use a torque wrench when tightening the wheel lug nuts back on. This will help you from warping the rotor. Many people over torque them. Check online or your car manual for your car specs. Usually around 70-85 lbs of torque.
Again.... if you're not cracking the bleeder screw on the calipers or breaking a line loose you do not need to bleed the brakes.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
