brake job

[rinverso]

hello friends, my 86 911 targa needs brakes and rotors all around, per my service center. i have had work done in the past by these guys and they have an old porsche mechanic who has worked on the air cooled toys for years. i always felt like i was treated fair, but the price i was quoted for brakes, rotors, sensors, calibers and brake fluid flush and replace is $1400. i though that was kinda high.
i had anticipated tackling this job myself, since the warning light came on, but have been too busy with my business.
i also checked with our sponsor suppliers at pelican and found parts alone would cost about $800.
what do you guys think? i checked the forums and didn't find a definitive answer.
thanks, robert

[jason2guy]

sounds kinda high. calipers? id make sure you really need those before pulling the trigger

[Bob Kontak]

You have some options.

Try *********. They will sell Zimmerman Rotors and ATE calipers within percentage points of PP. Same stuff same price. Go with PP.

However, if you want to just purchase average equipment, it's available there. Rebuilt calipers, varying degrees of rotors.

Frankly, I would skip the calipers until I was certain they need replacement as jason says. My 81 ATE's are just fine. Moderate garage queen, but still no issues. 100k on car - original calipers.

Look at the rotors to see if they are cooked.

You may need only pads and a fluid flush/bleeding.

You can buy a Motive pressure bleeder and DIY or get a pal to pump the pedal and do it the old fashioned way.

The more I work with cars and hear associated repair stories, the more I think you need to be a bit of a BS artist to make money in this business.

[Eric D.]

Going with the info given. You have 800 in parts and 600 in labor. Brakes are usually 2 hours per axle. Plus the calipers are probably an hour each. So if you do 2 calipers and the brakes that's 6 hours. Shops around here get about a 100 bucks an hour. I would personally do it myself and question why you need calipers

Eric

[r_towle]

If none of the calipers are frozen, don't replace them.
Pads, sensors, rotors...those are the parts.
Brake fluid...
Maybe brake pad retainer hardware kits for each caliper.

Otherwise, you are getting sold nice clean parts so the technician does not need to get dirty, but that would be at your expense.

Time seems about right, maybe four hours for the car, maybe five.

[PK 77 911]

Are you sure you need calipers. Are they sticking? get him to put it on the hoist and show you the sticking calipers. That is the only reason you may need them. But then you can put a kit in them. I rebuilt mine. It was easy and I am no expert. I replaced all the old brake hoses as well. If this interests you. Get hold of me and I will pass along a couple of tips that I learned along the way that will save you some time and money.

[PorscheAmateur]

At a reputable shop I go to, it was a little over 2,000 for all of my break job. This included labor
I had new pads
New rotors
2 calipers rebuilt
New steel lines
Fluid change
And bleeding of brakes

Money hurts when talking about breaks but you can't go without them


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[911SauCy]

I feel like brakes are the #1 item people get ripped off on.

I.E. the 6 hours of labor, that's what they bill you for, not how long it actually takes. Consider this. A great friend of mine is Benz Tech. He works about 50hrs/wk....and bills between 85-120hrs/wk.

I recently did the brakes on my DD, Nissan Altima. Dealer proposed $1240 price tag for the job while it was in for an oil change ... which are free. I purchased $280 worth of pads, rotors, and fluid from the parts store, spent 2 hours of my time doing the job and saved myself a mortgage payment.

Unless your time is worth $1000/hr+. It's time to learn yourself about brakes, they're easy.

[DaddyGlenn]

There are probably several Pelicans in your area that would come over to help you do it yourself. Not a difficult job and very satisfying.

I, too, would question the need for new calipers and even if they are sticking, I would rebuild them first.

[Roger 911]

$1400 is probably not too bad for the work being proposed. As others have said, you may not need all of that.

Another thing to keep in mind, just because the pad wear light comes on, this doesn't mean you need to stop driving it. It's not like the oil pressure light...you would want to stop driving it if that comes on. There should still be plenty of pad material left for you to safely drive around, while you figure out what you want to do (don't try to do any DEs!). I just offer this up because sometimes shops will scare people into thinking that the car is unsafe to drive, "You must spend $1400 before this car is safe to roll out of our shop". Not true (assuming it is just the wear sensors?).

You could post some pics of your rotors here as well. There are a lot of folks who could probably help to point out if there are signs of excessive scoring or warpage. FWIW, I usually don't replace rotors every time I replace pads. For example, it is common to replace a set of front pads during the course of a DE weekend, but not rotors.

Roger

[Driver_X]

Does the car pull left or right under hard braking? If not, then I wouldn't think you would need new calipers. Then all you are talking about is pads & rotors and probably a bleed. This is pretty basic stuff, that can be done with basic hand tools in an afternoon.....a full day if you totally take your time.

[Rich Gas]

Make sure you replace the old flex brake lines while you're in there. Take a good look at the front bearings, and repack if in good condition...order the rear seals.
I just ordered the rebuild kits for all four calipers. Only had to rebuild the fronts. Get the Motive power bleeder. Don't put fluid in it, just use it to pressurize.
The rears are super easy, if you don't mess with the parking brake. One screw and the rotor is off.
The fronts take the most time...

Very doable... You can buy the best parts here at pelican, and still be $1000 ahead.

Pelican sells a brake kit package with everything you'll need.

http://www.paulsgarageblog.com/how-to-replace-the-front-brakes-and-wheel-bearings-on-a-porsche-911sc/

[rinverso]

as always, youse guys are awesome. only owning the car for a year now. and not having alot of info on the po. i 'm going for the complete job from the service center that i trust. and after checking the price on parts and lack of time.. i don't want to have to wait on my p car too long. for now on i will be checking ahead and doing the pad replacement my self. thanks again.

[theiceman]

i cant remember if the front rotors need the bearing races pressed into them, if so take this into consideration for a first timer.

[rinverso]

Originally Posted by Rich Gas

Make sure you replace the old flex brake lines while you're in there. Take a good look at the front bearings, and repack if in good condition...order the rear seals.
I just ordered the rebuild kits for all four calipers. Only had to rebuild the fronts. Get the Motive power bleeder. Don't put fluid in it, just use it to pressurize.
The rears are super easy, if you don't mess with the parking brake. One screw and the rotor is off.
The fronts take the most time...

Very doable... You can buy the best parts here at pelican, and still be $1000 ahead.

Pelican sells a brake kit package with everything you'll need.

Paul’s Garage Blog » How to replace the front brakes and wheel bearings on a Porsche 911SC

thats perfect, Rich. thanks

[Rich Gas]

rinverso, you're very welcome.

Rich