Need advice on brake pads...
10-13-2014, 09:03 AM
#1
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Need advice on brake pads...
I need rear brake pads, called Goodyear for a price and tbey told me to take it to some place called German Imports. When I got my tires put on at Tire King they game me a price of $315.
What would you do, where would you go?
What would you do, where would you go?
10-13-2014, 09:33 AM
#2
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Not enough info here; need to get more local data and parts i.d.
Car repair market is of course way too fragmented to offer any advice on some local shop name. Use regional boards on various sites if you want, including AW, to try to get better references. FL was--and is--actually the biggest market for A8's (lots of stereotype rich old geezers I guess), so there should be places dealing w/ them. Failing anything else, get to a shop that either does Audi/VW's, or at least mainline Euro car brands. Brakes on Euro vehicles only come from a handful of suppliers underneath, so they tend to be pretty similar across brands; mostly just bigger as you get to heavier and higher performance Euro stuff.
As or more important I would focus on parts brands. There are endless no name/changing name parts, and lots of similar generic stuff from classic U.S. type suppliers. But in this day and age, not a safe assumption the parts actually come from the given supplier, especially when dealing w/ a low volume vehicle like and A8, rather than just relabeling some no name stuff. Net, I would either get dealer OE parts, or go with a known quality aftermarket brake supplier (EBC, Ate, Zimmerman, Brembo, etc.; if it were U.S., Raybestos, successor companies to old Bendix...). In turn if it is not DIY, get a better sense of what parts the given shop uses. The job itself is among the easier of most car mechanical repairs.
As or more important I would focus on parts brands. There are endless no name/changing name parts, and lots of similar generic stuff from classic U.S. type suppliers. But in this day and age, not a safe assumption the parts actually come from the given supplier, especially when dealing w/ a low volume vehicle like and A8, rather than just relabeling some no name stuff. Net, I would either get dealer OE parts, or go with a known quality aftermarket brake supplier (EBC, Ate, Zimmerman, Brembo, etc.; if it were U.S., Raybestos, successor companies to old Bendix...). In turn if it is not DIY, get a better sense of what parts the given shop uses. The job itself is among the easier of most car mechanical repairs.
10-13-2014, 09:39 AM
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Car repair market is of course way too fragmented to offer any advice on some local shop name. Use regional boards on various sites if you want, including AW, to try to get better references. FL was--and is--actually the biggest market for A8's (lots of stereotype rich old geezers I guess), so there should be places dealing w/ them. Failing anything else, get to a shop that either does Audi/VW's, or at least mainline Euro car brands. Brakes on Euro vehicles only come from a handful of suppliers underneath, so they tend to be pretty similar across brands; mostly just bigger as you get to heavier and higher performance Euro stuff.
As or more important I would focus on parts brands. There are endless no name/changing name parts, and lots of similar generic stuff from classic U.S. type suppliers. But in this day and age, not a safe assumption the parts actually come from the given supplier, especially when dealing w/ a low volume vehicle like and A8, rather than just relabeling some no name stuff. Net, I would either get dealer OE parts, or go with a known quality aftermarket brake supplier (EBC, Ate, Zimmerman, Brembo, etc.; if it were U.S., Raybestos, successor companies to old Bendix...). In turn if it is not DIY, get a better sense of what parts the given shop uses. The job itself is among the easier of most car mechanical repairs.
As or more important I would focus on parts brands. There are endless no name/changing name parts, and lots of similar generic stuff from classic U.S. type suppliers. But in this day and age, not a safe assumption the parts actually come from the given supplier, especially when dealing w/ a low volume vehicle like and A8, rather than just relabeling some no name stuff. Net, I would either get dealer OE parts, or go with a known quality aftermarket brake supplier (EBC, Ate, Zimmerman, Brembo, etc.; if it were U.S., Raybestos, successor companies to old Bendix...). In turn if it is not DIY, get a better sense of what parts the given shop uses. The job itself is among the easier of most car mechanical repairs.
10-13-2014, 09:59 AM
#6
AudiWorld Super User
Fronts yes, rears...
Fronts are bigger but easy. Front pad change alone is quite simple as things go--basically unplugging the pad sensor, print open the pad to rotor area, prying off the pad retainer clip, etc. If you need front rotors, you then need to wrench two fairly large, high torque bolts that hold the brake caliper to the hub. Still do-able with decent hand tools.
Rears require VAG-COM/VCDS to open and close the brake caliper to get the pads out and in. The mechanical part of the job is a lot like the front but with much smaller/lighter parts, plus unlike the front to change just the pads youl take the caliper off from the bracket, it is is only two 13mm bolts with modest hand torque. It's typically the lack of VAG COM/VCDS that (on the D3 A8/S8) stops many a first timer with some mechanical inclination for the backs.
You also should bleed and flush the brake fluid periodically. Easy/standard as long as you don't run reservoir out of fluid as you go. Any brake/wheel type shop can do fluid bleed/flush too.
Rears require VAG-COM/VCDS to open and close the brake caliper to get the pads out and in. The mechanical part of the job is a lot like the front but with much smaller/lighter parts, plus unlike the front to change just the pads youl take the caliper off from the bracket, it is is only two 13mm bolts with modest hand torque. It's typically the lack of VAG COM/VCDS that (on the D3 A8/S8) stops many a first timer with some mechanical inclination for the backs.
You also should bleed and flush the brake fluid periodically. Easy/standard as long as you don't run reservoir out of fluid as you go. Any brake/wheel type shop can do fluid bleed/flush too.
Last edited by MP4.2+6.0; 10-13-2014 at 10:04 AM.
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10-13-2014, 11:20 AM
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10-13-2014, 11:49 AM
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10-13-2014, 12:29 PM
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