Gimmie a brake (job)

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
07/29/2017 at 23:10 • Filed to: jaguar, jaaaaaaag, xjs

Ticking items off the “things that might kill me about my Jag” list, I finally replaced the front brake pads after several weeks of obnoxious squealing. The fun thing about Jag brake pads is that they lack wear indicators. When they start squealing it means you’re milling the retaining clip down to nothing.

Meh. Not bad. One thing that’s *AWESOME* about these Jaguars is that they have four-piston rear brakes with rear-loading brake pads. This means that, for a 4000lb car, it can stop pretty competently. It also makes pad changes super easy since the caliper can stay mounted to the car. Couple cotter pins, slip out the guide dowels, shove the pistons back and the pads slip right out.

Look at that monster! 11.3 inch (I believe) rotor with a pretty respectable amount of surface area.

Autozone doesn’t have a tool that works with dual-piston calipers. Improvisation was required.

Oh. Ah, yeah. Those could use replacement for sure. Worth noting that a whole set of new front pads was $8. Neat.

Loaded and ready to go. Blasted everything with brake cleaner because I’m sure my greasy-ass gloves touched something they weren’t supposed to, despite my care taken to avoid it.

Couple of cats.

Get it?

So this was a source of annoyance when I got my factory wheels mounted on the car. I needed these obnoxiously specific lug nuts to make them work. Not only are they what I’m told is the “long shank mag wheel style”, but they’re a special Euro thread pitch.

Neato.

Re-fill my power steering fluid (a weekly procedure at this point) and I’m all good to go. Brake ability isn’t really much better than it was but I’m sure these are less likely to heatsoak and they’re FAR quieter than the old ones were. Happy day!

DISCUSSION (10)

Spridget > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
07/29/2017 at 23:13

Next step: replace the death triangle

Grindintosecond > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
07/29/2017 at 23:16

An old work friend of mine has one of those with the 12 in it. He’s doing the same thing, brakes, shocks, bushings, etc. The tape deck works so he looks for hair metal cassettes.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Spridget
07/29/2017 at 23:22

Harder than you’d think. Clearances are pretty damn abysmal underhood. I had to mash the triangle down with my palm to make the hood close.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Grindintosecond
07/29/2017 at 23:22

I have a mix CD with a bunch of the Police on it.

Spridget > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
07/29/2017 at 23:26

Maybe find a very small air filter and then cut down the cover to make it fit? It’d be a lot of work, but possibly worth it aesthetically. Or you could go EFI, I’m pretty sure most conversion kits are thinner than a carb.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Spridget
07/29/2017 at 23:32

My eventual goal would be a $1000 FiTech setup. I don’t have that yet though :(

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
07/30/2017 at 00:19

I don’t usually end up replacing pads because they’re squeaking, more frequently because I managed to absolutely cook them somewhere.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
07/30/2017 at 00:35

Now the only things that will kill you are... literally everything else about the Jag.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
07/30/2017 at 00:36

Plenty of material on the old pads

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
07/30/2017 at 01:08

Steering and fuel tank come next. Should be pretty solid after that. Then doors and floor.