Brakes, Pads, Rotors...What Else?

[supplyguy]

When I completed my first rear caliper, hoping the get the car back on the road in time for Carlisle, it was clear the pads were shot. Holding off doing the other rear caliper until I can order pads. Have seen on this forum the suggestion that when doing pads, might as well do rotors since they are relatively cheap. Catalog suggests front and rear rotors are same? With rotors off....is this the time to do wheel bearings? Anything else? BTW - replacement pads are advertised as "organic". Presume this means non-metallic and isn't a green "save the Earth" thing. For my old car thinking cheapest name brand organic pads are fine.

[BEEK]

1. when repairing brakes do the same for both sides or you will develop a pulling problem.

2. front and rear rotors are the same
a. i recomend replacing the rotors when replacing the pads. not worth turning
b. brake pad compounds make an extreme difference on the cars stoping ability
c. your personal driving style will dictate what type of pads (compound) you will want

3. calipers should be rebuilt in pairs,(refer to 1)
a. when servicing the brakes on a fiat i would also recomend replacing the rubber hoses. these hoses can be the culprit of many braking issues in a fiat.

4. wheel bearings
a. while you have the car jacked up it is a great time to check the front bearings.
b. if so inclined i would recomend repacking the front wheel bearings as it has probably been many years.

[supplyguy]

Thanks Beek - planned to do the pair, just finished the left the night before Carlisle - will do the right before heading out again.

[maytag]

Beek's comments are right on the money.
I'm terrible at project creep... but as long as it's in the air, I would suggest at least CHECKING some other parts, and making a note as to their condition. including ball-joints, tie-rod-ends and all rubber bushings.

I'm just sayin'

[vandor]

This is a good time to check the bearings, but you do not have to replace them. Remember, the front hubnuts are not reusable, so if you plan on taking them off, be sure you have replacements on hand (left and right are different).
I agree on replacing brake hoses, unless they look newish.
Another small thing to check is the rear brake compensator linkage bushings, these often disintegrate over time.
You can get new ones, or just us a short piece of rubber hose around the metal sleeve as a bushing.

[Budduncan]

I bit the bullet and replaced the front calipers and pads on my 71 spider. Both seals were bad and I was tired of fighting the wheel, even though my bike gets more miles per year than my spider. The learning curve was typical...about 1.5 hours for the first caliper and 15 min for the second one. I did have to use a hammper to tap the baby apart and back together, but that seems typical. Although I had a fair amout of pad left I replaced them anyway. It sure drives better without the front pads hanging up. The hoses seemed ok, but I did replace the copper washers. Lots of bleeding and now it is stopping fine. Next project will be replacing the dashboard and console wood with new ones my brother in law made for me. They are very nice, but a bit on the fragile side so no stressing on installation.

I will repack the bearings next time I am in there.

Thanks for the info.
Bud