How much does it cost to replace rear brake pads normally?

Is it something that can be done yourself?

Normally rear disc brakes are a little more complicated than fronts because they have to have the hand brake mechanism built into them too.

Simply put - A lot of rear systems have a threaded piston which will need winding in to compress it back into the caliper so you can slot in the new pads; you normally need a specialized tool to do this but DIY tooling can suffice in some situations (car model etc) and if you have the ability to make one.

Personally I'd get a mechanic to do it, with the right tools and no complications it shouldnt take any more than a hours labour to do.

Thanks

I got several quotes and the one I liked the best is from Halfords Autocentre.

Free brake check to see if I actually need them replacing (which I think I do) and he said there could be 3 different models depending on what is fitted but it's around £70-80 all inclusive.

Also, what is the problem with garages telling you how much something is going to cost?

"How much does it cost to replace my rear brake pads?"
"They're about £40-50"
"Cool, does that include labour?"
"No, altogether it'll be about £60"
"Right, so £60... does that include VAT?"
"No, that's excluding VAT?"
"So why the f*ck didn't you say it would cost £72 instead of messing around to get there?!?!?!?"

When you pick up a computer game off the shelf at game and it says £30 and you get to the till you'd be pretty pissed off if they charged you £36 for it.

We quite regularly change rear brake pads, our disc brakes have a hex key screw thread that compresses the pad into the caliper and the most difficult part of the job is re-adjusting the handbrake afterwards, but then only if you don't have someone to keep putting the handbrake on and off while you adjust it. Haynes Book Of Lies is actually pretty helpful for brakes.

Whether it's worth getting someone else to do it, might depend on the expense of the pads, ours are pretty cheap to buy (£8 for a pair) which means the majority of the cost is in the labour and it's not worth it for us, we can do them easily enough on our own. It may also depend on whether you have the tools, axle stands, jack etc to make the job easy.

Given that I have no tools and the most complicated thing I have ever done to my car is checking the oil I think I'd better pay for someone else to do it

I'm sure I have a jack in the boot next to the spare tyre but that's about it.

diy I did a new cambelt on my vehicle last weekend. Spent about £120 on parts and special tools and it took me 5 hours. but didnt pay out £400. VW Transporter T5 1.9 TDI so no mean feat.
I sold my old car to my bro which I had paid a garage to replace the cam belt on at 115,000 miles. At 128,000 it failed and effectively wrote the car off. Did they really do the work? I know I did mine.

Because garages service (get it?) business and normal customers, you wouldn't go into a cash and carry who do sell to private and business customers and expect them to show inc vat prices when they sell them. It's pretty standard practice actually from experience

It's not a difficult job, pads are dirt cheap, for say £20 for a set for front/back (I can get a set of "green stuff" performance front pads for £43 inc vat as upgrades or £70 for OEM spec ones), discs are the issue, just need to remember to properly clean the shim they fit in when you do them as the dust build up can make them difficult to fit back in

There are some things I would change myself, pads/discs are some of them

Depends enormously on the car you have and the size of your setup. Mine are likely to be vastly more expensive than yours and wolfie's are probably more expensive than mine. Still, if I had a Toyota, I'd be going to a Jap independent specialist and getting genuine bits fitted, personally.

Benson, nice work. Wouldn't go near mine with a bargepole, but my bro's a VW tech, so not a problem!

Well depending on what the guy says after the brake check I may do different things.

If it's fine then obviously I'm not going to spend anything.
If it needs new pads I'll prob just pay them to get fitted.
If it need new pads and discs then I may try fitting them myself. I have a supply of tools at my grandma's house (70 years worth of spanners, hammers, screwdrivers, etc...) and if that doesn't work my step dad maintains my broher's kart so I'm sure he'll be able to sort it (or at least help).

Found this site...

Discs
Pads

That's cheaper than getting just the pads fitted.

You know what, I'm more tempted to do it myself now.

Go for it. Just beware of seized nuts, skinned knuckles and brake fluid pissing everywhere.

Found a nice tutorial too

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/i ... ad-change/

Just been reading up here...

http://www.justpartsbiz.co.uk/acatalog/ ... discs.html

I think I'm gonna need to get new discs also.

OK, I'm up for this now.

Read this also, a very good guide...

http://www.nrgizerbunny.com/frontbrakedisc.html

I'm a bit of a fan of EBC stuff - http://www.ebcbrakeshop.co.uk/ - free delivery too. And they're a British firm, so worth supporting, IMHO.