Stupid auto question - is it worth it to change my own brakes?

[Nephrology]

So quick background is that my 2010 RAV4 is due for new brakes. Planning on replacing just the front pads and rotors. Basically the only other car work I have done up to this point in time is change my own oil, which I don't find to be difficult at all.

My question is this - is it worth it for me to replace these myself or have someone else do it for me? Quotes I've gotten around here to replace front pads + rotors are around $370 all told. Pricing everything out online, here is what I have for DIY:

Centric pads/rotors parts replacement kit - $100 shipped from RockAuto.com
Jack stands - ~$30
Floor jack - ~$100 (though people's opinion on what is 'good enough' seem to vary widely... I'd like to spend on the side of caution)
Torque wrench - ~$40
Anti-seize- $negligible
things I am forgetting: $??

So it looks like I'd be in for at least $270 on parts, necessary tools, etc; if not more. I am mostly confident I would be able to get the job done correctly giving infinite time, money, and energy, but my big fear is that I'll run into something massively frustrating (like a rusted caliper bolt) and get stuck with the car on jack stands.

So, the question is: should I spend the extra $100 on labor for a shop to do this for me? do it myself? Unlike oil changes I won't be using most of these parts at frequent intervals so I consider it to be more or less a sunk cost, but if I can save $100 without giving myself a massive headache then I am all ears...

[Malamute]

Ive done it, much of the cost is labor and shop price for parts. When terminally poor, I did stuff like that (or back when I was young and thought it was fun somehow). Ive also had a shop simply put new pads on (took some talking) when the discs were pretty OK for the most part. They lasted 2 years. A C clamp to get the pistons back in the calipers may be needed. The fluid should flow back up the lines into the master cylinder and may overflow, but otherwise its fairly simple. I think my pads for a Suburban was about $25-ish. A cheap floor jack would be handy. Jack stands are nice, but if youre not getting under it, not totally required.

I had a shop price front pads and rotors for me, they quoted some pretty high parts prices. I priced good quality parts over the counter, discs were like $25 or less each. WAY less than they quoted me for a shop job. I have nothing against people making a living, but when poor, I just couldn't afford it.

FWIW, I try to buy parts from parts houses that are easy to find nationwide, and don't buy the lowest priced parts. If I need them replaced and am on the road (or if you move), it isn't as hard to get the parts if you need them replaced.

I don't recall what my cheap floor jack cost, it was $40-ish I think. Ive used them for a transfer case and transmission jack also. I have a basket made for that purpose a freind made me from scrap he had around.

Yes, I'm cheap. Its cheap or not have wheels sometimes though.

[Luke]

Have you called your local advance and asked for prices? My dad uses those online places and most seem to sell cheap stuff. Not heard of the brand you mentioned.


Does your car have a factory jack? It's cheap and hard to use but it's free. I'd spent the money saved and buy a jack stand. You don't even need two of you can find someone willing to sell you one (do one side at a time).


How handy are you at working on cars? Brakes are stupid simple, they are also stupid important...

You will want some caliper slide pin grease, probably some loctite for the caliper bracket bolts and caliper bolts (use blue). Wash the rotors with warm soapy water before installing them. They come with what's basically grease on them to keep from rusting. I use brake cleaner to get it off but TECHNICALLY that's a no no, soapy water is also free.

Everyone has a different opinion of brake break in, I prefer to get them hot gradually, slowly taking them up to really freaking hot, and then letting them slowly cool back down. I use high speed and different pressure/duration of the brake pedal to acheive this.



YouTube is your friend. I'm sure you can google it and get a good understanding of what you'll need.

[orionz06]

Synthetic brake grease!!!!





Sent from my Nokia 3310 using an owl

[LorenzoS]

If you've never done it before, the money you save will probably not be worth the hours you spend doing the work. If your goal is to learn a valuable skill and get satisfaction from doing the work yourself then yes it's worth it.

[Luke]

Dielectric grease is the same thing if you have any of that laying around.

[Welder]

Replacing brakes and rotors is one of the simplest jobs on a vehicle unless the rotor is part of the hub. That, air filters, belt changes, and oil changes are cash cows for the cheapy shops who will also sell you shocks that you don't need. Considering these types of shops hire the greenest, bottom of the barrel type "mechanics" around, you are likely going to be at least as safe as a result of doing it yourself. Not to mention you'll either use a torque wrench or torque stick to put your wheels back on, which many of these shops will absolutely not do. They figure if 80 ft-lbs is good, 250 ft-lbs is better. And they won't use caliper grease or quality components.

ETA that jack stands are nice, but plenty of us have cribbed up the underside with 4x4's or what have you when jack stands weren't around. Just center the cribbing under either part of the unibody pressed frame rails or under the drip molding on rocker panels, which is probably the same place your jack is supposed to go. Leave the weight on the jack and just have the cribbing under there for peace of mind. Do one wheel at a time. I use a large pair of channel locks to compress caliper pistons - do it with a pad still in the piston side so you don't mar the piston. If your brake reservoir is full before you start, go ahead and use some shop towels to soak some of it out of there so you don't have a mess when you compress the pistons. Obviously don't drip it on your paint as it's a great paint remover.

[Welder]

.....

[Malamute]

... Not to mention you'll either use a torque wrench or torque stick to put your wheels back on, which many of these shops will absolutely not do. They figure if 80 ft-lbs is good, 250 ft-lbs is better.

I had a flat on the road once when a shop blasted the lug nuts back on after a repair. I was stuck on the shoulder of a ramp in a flaky looking area about midnight and wasn't strong enough to get them broken loose even with a breaker bar and socket and hammer. A sort of wild looking mex kid stopped and helped me. Good kid. Some shops get them close with the gun then torque them to finish. Good plan.

[RevolverRob]

So, it's $270 + The time and gas to acquire tools and parts + Anything you might forget -

Things you might be forgetting:

A brake piston tool (something that allows you to push the brake piston back into the caliper, you should be able to use a C-Clamp, but a good basic one is 8-bucks, the fancier ones run to about $40). You need a brake hardware kit for each wheel. Usually calipers have anti-rattle springs, dust boots, and maybe even torque-to-yield bolts that need to be replaced when pads and rotors are done. - You will likely need a socket for the hub on the rotors. It's usually between 22-30mm depending on the vehicle (example the '63 Sunbeam is a 28mm nut, the '11 Mazda2 is a 24mm nut). Chances are you'll need adapters to put a 3/4" drive socket on your 1/2" drive torque wrench or vice-versa depending on the torque wrench you buy. You should purchase a breaker bar in the drive-size of the socket of your hub-nut, because you should NEVER use a torque wrench to spin a tightened nut/bolt loose (that places stress on the torquing mechanism and will drive your torque wrench out of spec). - So once you factor in the additional costs (breaker bar, hub-nut socket, pad-spreader, hardware kit, a can of brake cleaner is useful) you're probably more into $300-320 with taxes and driving around to get everything or having it shipped.

Unless you intend to do a lot of maintenance to your vehicle involving jackstands and a jack? Pay someone else to do it. You spend $370 and will get a warranty/guarantee on the work (something you don't get from yourself). And you save yourself the 2-3 hours of parts/tools collecting, in addition to the 2-3 hours of labor. You're in med school man, your time is VALUABLE. Like $50/hour valuable. Pay someone who has the tools and kit to do it quick and right and spend sometime with your significant other, or shooting guns, or anything.

The only reasons I do work on my own cars is 1) If the car is old and I don't trust anyone else to do it, see: old British sportscar. 2) If I have performance-oriented parts or specific parts I want and the shop can't/won't order them.

-Rob

PS: I've done brakes, shocks, and struts as an apartment dweller and every single time I think I'm going to come out ahead of paying someone else to do it, financially. I have never, not once, actually come out more than $10 ahead.