Front brake pad replacement, 1997 Conti

J

jjbarnone

Registered
Hello all,

My front brake pads began squealing gently about two weeks ago - on and off with braking. There's no pulling, no pumping, no other problems.

I had the pads replaced around 30,000 miles ago and guess am overdue for new ones.

My question is, how much is the typical shop price for replacement/installation of pads (and calipers I assume)?

I'm guessing the rotors are still good - at least from what I remember from the last pad replacement and the current smooth braking with the car.


Quotes range for parts and labor from $89 up to $209.


The cheapest one for $89 (just pads) is running a special and said they charge another $20 if they have to turn the rotors (something I always have a hard time with - some guys like to grind them down it seems).


I figure with that low of a price, I'll be getting the cheapest pads which may not last long - so what type of pads are recommended to upgrade too?

Any input would be great.

jj
 
Brake pads and rotors are such an easy job you could probably buy the tools and the parts for less than a typical shop will charge to do the job. Then you have the tools to keep! You can also probably buy premium parts and still come out cheaper. Unless you are really pressed for time why not give it a shot? on a 1-10 scale front brakes are usually about a 2, a 1 would be filling up the tires with air. =)
 
If you want a quality brake job, I would buy new rotors from Napa...Napa premium, and Premium pads. These parts should cost about $120, and you'll have to pay probably 1 1/2 hours labor for another $100. If you can get out the door for $225-250, you'll have a great front brake job with ALL new premium parts. You want to steer away from the $90 brake job because on a big car you don't want to use cheap pads.

As far as turning the rotors....you "should" do this on every brake job, and turning the rotors consists of "grinding" the metal off of them.

I always do my own car work and if the rotors aren't warped, and the surfaces don't have grooves or irregularities on them I won't even bother messing with them and I just do a "pad swap".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top