lets make a car repair thread for DR1 members where people can have their input in their recent car repair experiences.
I will discuss about brake job today.
As you all know, I am a big fan of mama & papa type car repair places where fat maestro papo directs the joint. I am also a big fan of street mechanics. why? The main reason being, they are cheap.
As many know, I am also an engineer so i like to do my homework before i tackle a job. I make sure how its done right and then i go about finding a person to do it for me. The labor is so cheap here, so why dirty my hands?
Ok so here is my story:
I was coming back from punta cana on saturday (droping my sister off to punta cana airport- yikexxxxxx, now you know why I hate guests ), my brakes began to make noises. It was clear my pads were worn out and they were cutting the discs. its a Toyota camry 2000. I had no choice but to continue because on the highway you really don't use brakes and I was in the middle of no where. I reached home and locked the car. I hit the internet and downloaded the service manual for camry 2000. It became clear to me the front end brake job is no rocket science. Just straight forward job, where the discs have to be cut and resurfaced, the pads have to be replaces and put in new shims and regular cleaning and lube job. I then proceeded to look for mechanics to do the job right for me. I had seen a few brake service shops around my area. After inspecting a few i came to conclusion they all sold pretty much the same service and same parts. I only needed a place where they worked fast and had a machine to resurface the front discs. This one place had it all but no power tools. So what, no big deal. I had them remove the tires and when the pads were removed (yikexx) they were all gone. metal to metal. One disc was cut bad the other was still ok. thanks god the discs were still thick enough to be cut again. It took 3 attempts to cut it good and make the surface even on the bad disc. they sell few different types of brake pads. 1 brand is the refurbished one (locally) and its for concho cars and taxis. This brand is really cheap looking and I would not get near it. the next level up was a Chinese brand. it looked good but it didn't come with shimming plates. So I passed on that as well. the next brand up was a Japanese and it did come with shimming plates. I took this brand because the next brands up were american (after-marke) and genuine toyota. The japanese seemed fine so i took the plunge. The brakes were cleaned the brake cylinders were inspected and cleaned as well, the rear brakes were inspected and cleaned but left alone because they were still good. they simply adjusted the rear brakes to make them more effective and adjusted the hand brake. The front discs were cut and resurfaced and reinstalled. the brake pads were installed and lubricated and all the tired were put together. The whole job took 45 mins from the start to finish. 3 guys were working at once. the brakes work like new and i am very happy. Especially when the whole job cost me a little less than 50 dollars total.
So I would recommend jobs like these to cars that are not super sophisticated (example new SUVs and other expensive cars) but if the car is a few years old and not so delicate, i would suggest getting your repairs done in places like these, providing they know how to do the work right.
AZB
I will discuss about brake job today.
As you all know, I am a big fan of mama & papa type car repair places where fat maestro papo directs the joint. I am also a big fan of street mechanics. why? The main reason being, they are cheap.
As many know, I am also an engineer so i like to do my homework before i tackle a job. I make sure how its done right and then i go about finding a person to do it for me. The labor is so cheap here, so why dirty my hands?
Ok so here is my story:
I was coming back from punta cana on saturday (droping my sister off to punta cana airport- yikexxxxxx, now you know why I hate guests ), my brakes began to make noises. It was clear my pads were worn out and they were cutting the discs. its a Toyota camry 2000. I had no choice but to continue because on the highway you really don't use brakes and I was in the middle of no where. I reached home and locked the car. I hit the internet and downloaded the service manual for camry 2000. It became clear to me the front end brake job is no rocket science. Just straight forward job, where the discs have to be cut and resurfaced, the pads have to be replaces and put in new shims and regular cleaning and lube job. I then proceeded to look for mechanics to do the job right for me. I had seen a few brake service shops around my area. After inspecting a few i came to conclusion they all sold pretty much the same service and same parts. I only needed a place where they worked fast and had a machine to resurface the front discs. This one place had it all but no power tools. So what, no big deal. I had them remove the tires and when the pads were removed (yikexx) they were all gone. metal to metal. One disc was cut bad the other was still ok. thanks god the discs were still thick enough to be cut again. It took 3 attempts to cut it good and make the surface even on the bad disc. they sell few different types of brake pads. 1 brand is the refurbished one (locally) and its for concho cars and taxis. This brand is really cheap looking and I would not get near it. the next level up was a Chinese brand. it looked good but it didn't come with shimming plates. So I passed on that as well. the next brand up was a Japanese and it did come with shimming plates. I took this brand because the next brands up were american (after-marke) and genuine toyota. The japanese seemed fine so i took the plunge. The brakes were cleaned the brake cylinders were inspected and cleaned as well, the rear brakes were inspected and cleaned but left alone because they were still good. they simply adjusted the rear brakes to make them more effective and adjusted the hand brake. The front discs were cut and resurfaced and reinstalled. the brake pads were installed and lubricated and all the tired were put together. The whole job took 45 mins from the start to finish. 3 guys were working at once. the brakes work like new and i am very happy. Especially when the whole job cost me a little less than 50 dollars total.
So I would recommend jobs like these to cars that are not super sophisticated (example new SUVs and other expensive cars) but if the car is a few years old and not so delicate, i would suggest getting your repairs done in places like these, providing they know how to do the work right.
AZB