Fitting new brake pads

[secat187]

Had a look at my rear pads this morning and they are in desperate need of some replacements.

Will it take about 30mins to 1 hour to do all four corners and do I need to buy fitting kits as well as the pads or can I just use everything that's already there?

[Hardtrack]

Your in the wrong job if you can do all 4 corners in under an hour....i hear Benetton are looking for a pit stop crew .........seriously,they are very simple to do and if the springs and stuff are fine,just use what you have,will take a bit longer than an hour for all 4 corners,jacking and taking 4 wheels off in itself will take you time...............but as said before,easy job

[secat187]

Just ordered some pads from mx5parts. Fingers crossed that they will arrive tomorrow, but more likely to be thursday. I'll time it and let you know how long it actually takes.

Alex

[kevham]

I used to be able to do the fronts in about 30-45mins (when I was doing lots of trackdays). I even changed them in a pub car park once after trashing a set at Castle Combe (not recommended!).

Rears can be more tricky - because they are changed less often, the bolts sometimes rust on - I'd allow an hour just to do a simple replacement job. However, when you've got the pads off, its always worth giving everything a good clean and grease (where appropriate) - especially at the rear where calipers have a tendency to seize over time. Also need time to check disc condtion and runout (before you potentially ruin a new set of pads on trashed discs).

If you're using stock Mazda pads, you get all the clips and shims in the kit - this saves time. Otherwise, if using aftermarket pads (eg Greenstuff, Redstuff, Mintex), you'll need to re-use the clips and shims and that means giving them all a good clean (more time).

I used to buy Mazda pads for the winter, put them on the car and then come the trackday season, change to Greenstuff after the first trackday. That way, I had a new set of clips and shims for every 2-3 pad changes.

Good luck.

[secat187]

Cheers, I ordered some green stuff pads. It shouldn't be that difficult to change them all over. I remember the old days of drums and shoes. They were an absolute nightmare.

[Richardn]

No one has mentioned how to retract the rear pads!

this will help

http://www.miata.net/garage/brakepad.html

[boydie]

secat187, if you are changing the rear pads with greenstuff you are supposed to change the fronts aswell to avoid rear wheel lockup due to the extra bite according to EBC.

[Hardtrack]

No one has mentioned how to retract the rear pads!

Oops i forgot these rear calipers are so difficult

[secat187]

boydie: I got green stuff for all four disks. Going to fit them tomorrow morning.

[boydie]

was just incase you were tempted to fit the rears first and then leave the fronts for later. my mate locked his rear end in his scooby by leaving the fronts for another day

[secat187]

That must have been hairy.

[secat187]

Done, all 4 corners in 2 hours 5min.