Front Rotors 939 Spider

[GregSale]

Hey anybody changed the front rotors themselves ? I've never done a FWD (lots of RWD)
Alfa dealer changed mine at the last service (60k) without authorisation, and tried to charge me $991 for the privilege - some word exchanged.... and he took them back off
Found direct replacement Brembo's in the UK for 72 pound a pair, and pads for 38 pound a pair (both plus freight so I'm getting a quote for the freight). Sounds like about $220 plus freight .... So if anyone has done them and knows if you need a special tool can you please let me know
Cheers

[colcol]

Hi Greg, have done them in a 156 which may be similar to yours, i got all the info from one of those British Alfa service \ spare parts sellers, on their web site, from my memory, remove wheels, put car on chassis stands, push pistons back into bore as far as they will go, use big multigrips or screwdrivers, check to see master cylinder has not overflowed, loosen off and remove caliper bolts, swing caliper out of way, hang caliper on coathanger wire from strut so that flexiable brake line is not strained, there is usually one 6mm bolt holding the rotor to the hub, use a 10mm spanner to remove the bolt, then the rotor should bo free to come off the hub, but you may have to tap it with a soft hammer to help it off the hub, but be carefull as there is a ABS sensor lurking around the hub and it is about the size of a match and it is very easy to break it, as it is very hard to see it as it is covered in brake dust, remove the rotor and clean up the hub and caliper with say truck wash, not degreaser as it is too harsh on the caliper piston boots, install rotor on hub tighten single bolt on rotor, cleanup caliper, put some copperslip grease, or caliper grease from Repco where the pads and caliper slide against each other, put the brake pads into the caliper and have the pads \ pistons pushed back as far as they can go for maximum opening, then install caliper back onto hub, put some anti seize grease on caliper bolts and tighten them to specs with a torque wrench, if it all looks good, pump the brake pedal to bring the pads into the rotor, this is so when you drive out the first time you brake, the pedal goes to the floor and you hit a Semi, repeat the same on the other side and if you have not bled the brakes for 2 years, now is a good time to do it, hope this helps, Colin.

[GregSale]

Hi Colin - fantastic reply thanks - much appreciated

[bix]

colcol. If that is all recalled from memory, then it's pretty impressive 

[colcol]

Its a standard thing on front wheel drive brakes, i have only ever owned front wheel drives, so its a bit of a second nature to me, i used to run a 33 in the AROCA VIC sprints, so every month or so you would be changing rotors and brake pads, Colin.

[wankski]

I apologise that again, mine insight is based on the 156 - but i imagine it will be the same or similar... in any case...

colcol is spot on...

on the 156, when you've taken off the wheel, the only thing holding the rotor on is the aformentioned aligning nut... you can see it in my attached pic... sorry the first is blurred, but u can see the aligning nut in the second pic as well (the black stick thing is the withdrawn ABS sensor, u don't need to do this...)

the only thing to add is - assuming you don't have brembo brakes... is that our type is a sliding caliper (single pot) so when you've split the halves clean the sliding interface well, u can use a steel brush for this....

also - sounds dumb - make sure the retaining clip for the pads is correctly installed... no special tool required (reversing tool required for the rear brakes! don't try to push in the rear pots!!)

good luck!

[bix]

colcol. A question about that procedure. You say to press the pistons back into the bore with a large screwdriver or multi-grips, but this is before you take the rotor off. I'm wondering how you would get anything like that between rotor and pad whilst the rotor is on, or have I missed something?

[colcol]

I should have pointed out that before you pull the caliper off, use a large screw driver to push the piston back into the caliper, to give you a bit of room to pull the caliper off the hub, then pull the old pads off and use a g clamp or large multigrips to push the piston back into the caliper, check the master cylinder hasn't overflowed, and pushing the piston all the way back in will give you more wriggle room to fit it all back, the rears are another story if they are like on a 156, you need to get a special piston windback tool, mine cost $150 off ebay, i did try using a 'cube' piston windback tool $20, but it didn't work, so don't waste your money on one, hope this helps, Colin.

[bix]

When changing the rotors, would you recommend changing the wheel bearings also?

[colcol]

When changing rotors and you have the rotors off and therefore no pads rubbing, turn the hub, that is the part that the wheel and rotor bolt to and see if there are any noticeable tight spots and move hub back and forth to see if there is excessive movement, but really it is hard to tell because of all the drag with the gearbox and cv joints, wait until you clobber a pothole or kerb and then the bearing will whine noticeably, as i have done several times!, or when you get a wheel alignment and the bearings are too worn to align the suspension properly, treated properly they are long lasting, but with all modern cars now, you don't buy a new bearing, you buy a new hub \ bearing assembly that bolts on \ off by removal of some bolts on the steering knuckle, these are about $200 each of ebay + fitting, Colin.

[GregSale]

Thanks everyone for the help - I'll be giving it a try as soon as the company in the UK tells me the size and weight of the rotors and pads packed so I can get a freight quote to make certain its not false economy bringing my own in 

[colcol]

You might want to grab yourself a workshop manual on cd, if they are available, Colin.

[Bruce Fowler]

Greg,

Once you get your quote compare it against Race Brakes at 2 Minnie Street
Yarraville VIC. I bought DBA rotors and pads for my 156 for $270. They then installed them for $100

[GregSale]

To make matters worse I measured the rotor - well within legal... and pads good for another 10,000k's - so will be done when they are actually needed