W126 aluminum vs steel hood

ATE Powedisc is great choice. I use them all the time. Buy ceramic pads to go with it.

Really, ceramics? I've been using prb metal masters, thought you recommended them to me? I don't care 1 cent about brake dust, I wash my car every week anyways. Also don't care about having to frequently replace pads, all I care about is having bite and not fading.

Thanks for the offer, but I'm in North Carolina for the time being. Yep, the official CD, it has the brake section but it's missing the parts about pad and rotor replacement. It's in my paper books of the service manual, which I have back home in DC.

Though you know what, you would probably know the answer to my only real question on rotor replacement. Do I really need to repack the wheel bearings and is it easy to screw up repacking the bearings at all? I've done pads, takes like 10 seconds, and other than repacking the bearings which is something I've never done (never replaced rotors before, but seems simple) replacing the rotors seems almost as easy.

LOL!!!!

Yes, I kinda prefers the MetalMaster...Ceramic is also excellent... but not as great as the MetalMaster.

Hmmm, the people who distribute the metal masters to the US tell me that I would get more bite from the Axxis (aka PBR) Ultimate pads.

Ultimate is their ceramic pad. I got that on my front brake on my current MB. Great initial grab... better than MetalMaster... sorta like standard pad...

The only thing I missed about MM is the ability to modulate the brake force... how hard you step on the brake, the more stopping power there is. With Ultamate, that is not there... It just got gobs of bites right away... yet it doesn't give you more braking power the harder you step on the pad... sorta less grab the hotter it gets.

Very subjective... I just like to have the control. Ultimate is dusty when first installed, but later clears out. Bosch Ceramic pad is supposed to be good too with zero break-in period.

Don't need to pack the wheel bearing. You know how to change the pads? That's great. So the caliper is off. The rotor has a screw locking it to the hub. I think it's 4 or 5mm hex key. Just pull off the rotor once the locking screw is out. There may be rust on the hub contacting surface. If so, use a hammer to knock out the rotor. Don't worry. The rotor is not going to be reused (MB manual does not mention the rotor is serviceable. My local shop also refuses to resurface it.)

Rear rotors are different since replacing pads does not need to take down the caliper. Also the parking brake (inside the rotor) may need to be released slightly to allow removal of rotor.

The above is all by memory. The last time I did on W126 was almost two years ago but I really don't recall anything special between it and W201 or W202.

Good luck.

marl> Though you know what, you would probably know the answer to my only

You don't take off the caliper to replace the front pads on a W126, but as long as it is no more difficult than unbolting it and bolting it back on, I don't see anything special about it. So every how often should I repack the wheel bearings?

"He's right to say that. "

I agree. A well designed and built hood/trunk lid should close with a modest amount of hand pressure. And as you pointed out, on some cars, like our 300SD's, the lid is so light you can't close it by dropping it from any height. Plus it closes so very nice with just a little pressure, it's a chance to marvel at the craftsmanship. Sort of like enjoying the vault like sound when the doors close!

Whenever you take out the rotor/hub assembly.

Don't you do that to replace the rotors?

Yep... you need a 6mm allen key on 3/8" socket... a 3/8" to 1/2" socket adapter... and a long bar wrench to get that rotor off the hub.

What I did is take the hub out... put in on the wheel and use three lugbolt to hold the hub... flip the wheel over and use the wheel like a vise to keep it from spinning as you remove the allen bolts.

well said Conrad

the case, minus a few cans!

Oops, so my memory was not right. Is this a senior moment?

Anyway, I am go> Yep... you need a 6mm allen key on 3/8" socket... a 3/8" to 1/2" socket

Amen.

On the other tentacle, he did discover in retrospect that his braking system was unexpectedly deficient (the wrong pads, and probably too long on the car). Yeah, his own fault, but then it all comes down to human error in the end, doesn't it?

How about saying it was a combination of factors, including driving too {fast,close}, improper and worn brake pads, and Suburban Assault Vehicles with inappropriate bumper heights?