I remember when disc brakes were first introduced on mass produced automobiles. The rumors were they were complicated, were hard to repair and shade tree mechanics would not like them.
I believed that, until necessity demanded I work on the front disc brakes on my pickup. Even with the learning curve, when I finished, I was amazed at the simplicity and ease of replacing components.
Today, I changed all four sets of pads on my wife's car. It took two hours, including the time to gather the tools and put them away. In the past, changing shoes would have taken much longer and the system with drums was far less efficient.
You really can't call disc brakes modern gizmos, unless you're getting to be an old fart like me. I'm still impressed and glad they came along.
You ever wonder how long those guys laughed after taking money for doing disc brakes at three times the rate of shoes?
ReplyDeleteYou and me both. I got used to using C-clamps to run the cylinder back in on a Monza I had, but when I got a Nissan 200SX, that didn't work. I took the caliper clear off and all the nabes around couldn't figure out why the dern thing wouldn't move back into the caliper so I could slap in some new shoes.
ReplyDeleteI was about ready to take the other one off and haul them to town to get rebuilt when I had the bright idea to turn the cylinder. It screwed right in, much to the astonishment of all. Never leaked, which was surprising considering all the hammering and pressing it went through.
I don't think I would have had the idea.
DeleteIn the past, I could buy the kit for the caliper. It was a simple task to polish the cylinder, place a new o-ring and replace the boot. Just like master cylinders, auto stores don't carry such things any longer. I'm guessing it was due to law suits when people made shoddy repairs on their own equipment and took it out on anyone, but those really responsible.