Hi,

Decided to check over the breaks on my car and the rear pads need replacing, not bad as never changed them, am I right in thinking the general concensus for pads is EBC, the reds and yellows tend to be popular?

The rears tend to bind slightly on mine when left standing (Handbrake is left off) I know it's a common problem on these, but always worked fine, I may be on the look for some recon calipers due to the condition of them, also someone has painted them blue and they need repainting really, I see there about £190 on the bay, sounds expensive to me, does anyone know of anywhere cheaper?

Also the offside one has the silver clip in the top of the caliper missing.

Thanks,

Martin

 

Anyone...?

Martin

 

2wd or 4wd?

If it's 2 then any caliper from a sierra/Granada will do the job

if it's 4 then send them to bigred to get an exchange set for less than £190, they were only £250 brand new from ford and someone was selling a pair the othe week for £40

 

Either the reds or yellows will do the job fantastically, offering loads of feel, ime the reds tend to be a bit dirtier than the yellows, but need zero warming up, the yellows work perfectly well just not their best for a few miles before a little heat is there, the dust of the yellows is more transluscent than the reds so don't need to clean wheels so often, but are a harder pad more suited to track use, but 100% legal.
tabetha

 

Thanks for that both of you... Dojj that company have recon calipers at a decent price on an exchange basis which is ideal, very friendly and helpful as well.

Tabetha I have been thinking about the pads and wondering if it's worth me getting standard pads, reason being is I believe the fronts are standard and I don't really want to change these as there is nothing wrong with them, there is a set of standard Motorcraft ones I have my eye on but the guy says there not for Cosworth, so far as I know they are the same for any model with that caliper unless there uprated just for the Cosworth?

Thanks,

Martin

 

The cossie 2wd pad is a very common shape, no doubt the exact same shape pad on the 4wd is used on others, but compounds differ.
Of course you want to have the same material back and front to keep the brake balance correct, as friction levels vary a lot between pads of even the same maker.
If you find no problem with your brakes, ie you find them good enough for your driving style then stick to what you know, I don't know the price of the oe ones you use, but you may be able to get a better deal on the price of a front and rear set cheaper than just the one set you want, from another supplier.
tabetha

 

I changed one of my rear calipers as it was binding and got one from my local motor factors for about £40 with a £30 surcharge you get back when you deposit your old one.

 

If your wanting a good pad / disc combo, you could try the National Sport grooved discs and Ferrodo DS2500 pads. Me and my mate fitted these to my my saff and his 3dr and the brakes are amazing!!

The National Sport discs can be had from Woodford Garage, but I picked mine up from my local factors for £55 for a pair of fronts Think they were supposed to be £55 each but didnt argue about it

Also, Brakes international are good for parts. Picked up all my fitting kits and sliders from here, and the delivery is quick sharp

http://www.brakesint.co.uk/

 

Thanks for the replys, I have a set of OE pads for now, Tabetha they are in fact the same pads as other Sierra/Granada models.

I was surprised that when I checked I had been given pads with sensors, I told the guy that mine did not have them and so far as I know it was just 3DR'S, so I got them changed to normal ones, but he said there computer said all Cosworths have them which I know they don't.

Martin

 

Changed the pads today after a fasion, not long finished, I had to use a breaker bar on the rewind tool, surely this is not normal, possibly sized caliper? I cleaned up the sliders and lubricated, one on each side was solid! This has stopped the binding.

Now I could not remove the handbrake cable from the offside caliper which was the first side I done and in the process the hook part of the cable snapped! I know you are supposted to remove this, but once snapped it was still just the same, this is when I eventually turned to the breaker bar!

I have another cable on the way as the current one is very rusty anyway so could do with a replacement.

Needless to say I did not attempt to remove the cable on the nearside and again I had to use the tool with the breaker bar and considerable force to wind the piston in!

I also whilst trying to remove the offside, removed the self adjuster spring, this is proving very difficult to get back on, as per the original problem when trying to remove the cable the mechanism is very stiff to move!

So the question is really does anyone have any tips for when I come to fit the new cable?

Thanks,


Martin

 

I am now trying to remove my caliper, I have everything removed bar the braided brake hose, I have tried to move the nut but it won't budge, I have tried everything I know, heating it and repeated servings of WD40, I can turn the hose slightly but the nut is just not moving, does anyone have any ideas? I cant even undo the but that holds the hose to the suspension, I can however loosen the rigid hose union.

Thanks,

Martin

 

Got the nearside rear off no problem and have the new caliper on, tried the offside rear once more and the unions are just not shifting, I have left it now as I don't want to break anything (Pardon the pun) or round the nuts off etc and immobilise the car, will leave a garage to sort that part, that is unless anyone else has any suggestions?

Martin

 

Got my 4x4 calipers off Ebay, £109 for the pair, brand new Genuine Ford ones as well.

Can't remember the shop, Redtorque or something like that,

 

the handbrake cable is one bit so if it's snapped in the middle then the other side will come off easily enough

as for the brake pipe, undo the other end

 

Try shocking the union that goes into the caliper? clamp vice grips on and hit them a tap, that may be enough to break the seal?

 

Thanks for the replys, I already have the calipers, I have fitted the nearside one but the offside one just will not move, neither the union on the actual caliper nor the nut that holds the union onto the metal where it meets the ridgid pipe as I also thought of this like Dojj suggestion.

I have tried a wrench and it just won't move, I even tried a crude method of heating with a gas stove (As I don't have a blow torch) I just don't see what else I can do

I also tried Pauls method of hitting the spanner with a mallet and also tried tightening and loosening, I just don't see what else I can do, as I say I don't want to get to the situation where I round the nuts etc, any more thoughts?

Martin

 

the end that goes to the swing arm should be easy enough to remove, if it's not, you can always try further up the metal pipe or the other end of the swing arm flexi

if you do that, you can run a new braided line all the way from the main pipe union all the way to the caliper

 

Will give that a try I have tried about everything else, I would if I could show it to you, I will try a moving the hose from the swing arm opposed to the nut underneath it but tbh I can't see that moving if the nut underneath won't, using the same method I can move the hose slightly at the caliper but the but itself is defiant!

Thanks,

Martin

 

With the handbrake cable I found that winding the adjuster down under the car I was able to easily remove the cable. Once the hb cable is off you could unwind the caliper off the brake pipe

 

Will have one more go myself, the handbrake cable was actually quite easy to remove WHEN the adjuster was slackened, something Haynes fails to omit for changing brake pads.

The hardest part was actually removing the cable from the caliper itself.

My next plan is to take the caliper off, hold the pipe and see if I can unscrew the actual caliper from the hose opposed to the undoing the pipe from the caliper in situ, pretty sure it's still going to be the same, will keep you updated and thanks for the suggestions, as I say the nut on the swing arm is not budging either, the nearside I had no problems with at all.

Martin