Rear brakes on LV Focus.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Hello,

Thinking of trying to change the rear brake pads myself on the Focus. How hard exactly is it? Better still, has anyone made a 'how to' page on this, or does anyone have one saved from another site?

I used to do the front pads on my Festiva no worries.. just concerned if there are any special tools needed or if I have a good chance of stuffing up the electronics.

Cheers,

Jason

[marg99]

the rear pistons must be screwed back in the housing. It can be done without a special tool but much easier with it. Its made more complex because the hand brake works off the rear pads. See if there is a how to for the earlier Ls or LT series which should be the same

[leakey]

Hi Jason, I did this myself recently on my LT.

I used the Bendix Stealth rears, which are the same for your model, but just do a check, as the 08' update I have was ever so slightly different. I dont know if it would have really made any difference, but I went with the Bendix reccomendation.

It's pretty much the same as doing your front brakes, except for that bloody wind back screw you MUST wind in.

There are tools on Ebay for about $60.

If you've ever bought some cheap socket sets, and kept them, there will probably be one of those thinner style spark plug sockets. They're about 70mm long.

I chucked it in a vice, socket facing up, and filed down about 3mm, leaving two small pins. (o( )o) [no, not boobs....]
These will fit into the two small holes in the piston.

Just wind in as far as you can.

Clean, fit your new pads, and you're ready to roll - and stop!!

The pistons and the hand brake automatically adjust back.

Mine stops a treat. I used the stealths as you dont need to bed them in.

If I can find the socket I made, I'll take a pic of it for you.

Cheers, Mark

[rand0mn00b]

make sure you have a 7mm hex key

and as mentioned, a tool for winding back the pistons

i was unaware of both these things when I did mine so while I was able to buy the hex key on short notice, I ended up using needle nose pliers into the 2 holes in the piston + lots of $@%#ing about trying to push AND wind at the same time

[DZFord]

Yeah I ended up buying this to do my rear pads:
Laser Tools 4511 Brake Rewind Kit : http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Laser-451...item53dfa292e5

[leakey]

Yeah, that's the one I looked at too, and if you can afford it and have the time DEFINATELY grab one!!

Otherwise, improvise!! LOL. You can et the 7mm hex in a nice kit from Supacheap for about $12

[DZFord]

And for anyone who is attempting this job, it would be best to use a 7mm Hex Socket, which can be connected to your torque wrench to re-torque the caliper slide pins to the workshop manual recommendations.

[leakey]

- and for anyone attempting this job, have plenty of bandaids and cloths ready to clean up blood, cuts and abrasions. A face mask will serve as a reasonable 'muffler' to disguise the swear words when you inevitably slip at full arm strength and slam your fist into a sharp piece of metal.

Oh, and punching said metal part 'for hurting you' doesnt really do anything, other than making more hurt...

[Russ]

If all else fails get yourself one of these, guaranteed to get that pesky piston back



Of course the chances are the brakes won't work afterwards but hey what better way to relieve the frustration