Tormania

It looks like it's time to replace the front brake pads on our 2007 CX-7. Should I simply take the vehicle to a Pep Boys/Brake Check type place to have this done OR should I simply replace the pads myself with some high quality performance pads?

I haven't replaced pads myself on my C5 before but I have watched it done several times and have done other minor work on it so I feel confident that I could do this myself.

For those of you that do minor work on your own Corvettes, do you recommend doing the work myself on the Mazda?

Thanks!

Dave68

I guess that depends on your time and financial health. I used to do far more weekend jobs on my vehicles, but when it comes to brakes and brake fluid flushing, I'm starting to lean toward having a trusted shop do the work. I have a painted garage floor that gets eaten alive when it sees brake fluid. My 89 Mazda MX6 GT brakes have these springs that keep the pads away from the rotors and they are a pain to keep in place while aligning the pads. Also, you have to rotate the rear caliper pistons to get them to go back into the bore - a real pain as well.
So now I'm a bit more selective when it comes to what I spend my Saturday on.

Dueysan

All boils down to cost. You will probably get a huge range of quotes. I've done the brakes on a Mazda 3 and they were pretty simple....a couple stubborn spring clips that I had to put in back on the calipers but the pads and calipers were super easy. A couple questions for you.
Do you have or have access to the basic tools you'll need? Floor jack, tire iron, ratchet set, rubber mallet, disc brake reset tool...

How many miles on the CX-7?

In my less than professional opinion of doing several home brake jobs, your rotors do not need to be "turned" or replaced every time you replace pads....see below...but most shops wll try to sell you on this fallacy as it greatly enhances their bottom line.

The last brake job I did was on my CTS with about 31K miles...the rears were gone and the fronts were almost done so I just did them all. Really simple job...I used hawk HPS street pads from the tirerack but any generic replacement pad would have been just as good and half the cost. I sanded the rotors with sand paper but left them on the car when doing this and then simply replaced the pads and reset the pistons with a universal brake tool. You do not need to bleed the brakes, just crank the pistons back with a sturdy tool like the one I have linked below. I did bleed the brakes on the CTS and the brake fluid was in good condition but it was not necessary. My pads cost me around 150 bucks.....the only quote I bothered to get was from a stealership and their quote was $350 for JUST THE REAR BRAKES! I laughed...for a shop it's an hour, hour and half job tops to do all four corners. An independent would have quoted much less.....point is I could have done the job with cheapie generic pads for probably 50-80 bucks.

I like this kit...it is what I use and will do pretty much any car or suv.

Link!

http://www.amazon.com/OEM-27111-Disc...3418358&sr=8-1

Tormania

Thanks for the replies. I went with Carbotech Bobcat pads based on research I did at the CX-7 forums:

http://thmotorsports.com/carbotech/c.../i-240255.aspx

I called my dealer (an actual good one for once) and the labor to install the front pads in $89. Not too bad, could be worse. I do have all the equipment to do it myself outside of the specialized tool to compress the piston back, but I have read that some folks use a C-clamp to do the same thing.

Our CX-7 has almost 62K miles at 3 yrs / 3 months old and this would be the first brake job on it. So far the brakes have been spot on, no issues, just have noticed a very faint squeal when backing out of the garage the last week and we all know what that means, time for pads. I did check the rotors for grooves and they still seem nice and smooth so I wasn't planning on resurfacing them.

Based on the somewhat reasonable labor price and the fact that I can combine the stop at the dealer with an oil change (pain in the a$$ to change the oil on the CX-7 myself) I figure I'll have them do it. We do have our first child due in 4 weeks so I may side on the overly-cautious side when it comes to the brakes in the vehicle he'll be riding in.

Thanks again guys!

Dueysan

That's a pretty fair quote...basically an hour of shop time at a dealership. Some dealers are really good and some are downright terrible.


My old Chevy delaership in Missoula (Karl Tyler Chevrolet) is like that...very reasonable...had them install an aftermarket steering wheel on my corvette...they charged me 79 bucks...another 70 or so for a 4 wheel alignment and gave the car a wash too (not usually keen on that but they did a great job). Same dealership in Spokane himmmed and hawwed about the airbag and weren't sure they could even do it and it would cost 200-300 bucks....which is why I decided to take a nice little road trip over to Missoula and enjoy the weekend there.

Dave68

This is possible when doing my front brakes, but the rear calipers require that each piston be rotated like a screw. I have used needlenose pliers before but I can imagine how much easier it would be if I had the correct tool.

But I agree that at that service price, you can't go wrong.

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

Good call

Dave68

This is possible only if most of those miles were highway (no brakes required) and the high mileage per year amount points to that conclusion.

When we had a Nissan Quest van, the front brakes needed replacing every 25,000 miles. While we mixed city and highway miles, it's the city miles that wear down the pads, especially if the city has hills.

Compare this frequency of pad replacement to that of our hybrid, the RX400h and it is like night and day. At 49,000 miles, the pads on the RX look brand new. This is amazing when you consider the weight of the vehicle (4600 lbs) and the fact that it decends the same hills as did the lighter weight van.
Other hybrid owners are reporting more than 100,000 miles of heavy city use without pad replacement. This is because most of the braking is accomplished by the same mechanism that generates electricity. It is only after fairly hard braking when the pads actually touch the rotors.

C5 Pewter Coupe

the correct tool at a parts store is just a few dollars.. have one in my tool box from Kragen for the rear calipers on my Mustang

Dave68

Yes, but the first time I did the brakes on that car was 10 years ago and when I had to do them again, I completely forgot about the availability of that tool. Of course, I remembered after being halfway through the job!

Tormania

OK, WTF??? I ordered my Carbotech Pads last Friday from jdmhub.com and the order was promptly received. And that's the end of the story. Nothing else has happened for a WEEK!!! They haven't charged my credit card but the order hasn't been processed either. I have called and emailed them but no answer, no replies, no nothing. I saw they they are registered as an LLC as Velocity Mania LLC which also sells stuff on a different site, velocitymania.com and the physical address in Dallas is the same, but different phone number. AH HA!! I'll call this other number.....no dice! No answer at this number either.

WTF is going on with this place?!?!?

I haven't wanted to try and order the pads someplace else in case this order magically gets processed, but if I don't see any change by Monday I'm gonna call the credit card company and have them block any future transactions from this company since I am unable to cancel the order since no one answers the damn phone there!!!

This is the 2nd place I have tried to order these damn pads from, the other place was backordered for months. Are these the hardest pads to find in the Western World? Really?

Dave68

A word of advice: If you buy pads locally, be sure to get pads that label their pads specifically as "quiet". I installed Wagner Thermoquiet pads in my Mazda MX6 GT and they are perfect - quiet with great braking performance.

Dueysan

Check the www.tirerack.com they have all sorts of high end pads and will have them in stock.