I have a leaking left rear wheel cylinder. Mr Tire wants to replace both cylinders. Should they be replaced in pairs?
He says replacing both is necessary since the older one is now more likely to be blown out by the new one since its seals are in better condition...sounds like BS to me.
Get away from that shop!
95 Maxima's don't have wheel cylinders because they don't have drum brakes on the rear. They have 4 wheel disc brakes, meaning they have calipers in the rear.
Yeah I know, I didn't mean cylinders...I meant calipers...slip of the tongue (or fingers) on my part...sorry. Do they need to be replaced in pairs?
No they don't. I had a left rear one fail a few months back, went to pepboys got a reman. one and all's been fine, with both. What kind of price are they quoting you?
Nick
$350 for front brake work: Calipers OK but Mr Tire says it needs new rotors & pads plus bleed.
$540 for rear brake work: Left caliper leaking, Mr Tire wants to replace pads, other caliper & bleed line
Sounds steep for non-dealer work. FYI *dealer list price* for rotors are $80 each, pads $80 set, full clip/shim set is $22.
I don't have dealer prices for the rotors on the rear... is he replacing those or turning them ? They are much simpler than the fronts so I'd guess $50 each at the dealer since they were about $20 aftermarket each. Dealer pads are $80, shim kit $22. I didn't price calipers at the dealer but I recall that the aftermarkets were under $40 each, so the dealer is probably $80 each.
Again, seems like a lot of money for a non-dealer job. Check to see if he's using dealer parts. If not, cut all those dealer prices roughly in half to find out how much he's charging for labor.
Personal advice: I would never, ever go to a chain. Find an independent mechanic and see what he wants or pay the dealer.
My .02, Bob
[I don't doubt that the rotors on the front need replacing. It's not all that unusual. I'm a *big* fan of *factory only* front rotors after going through two sets of aftermarket fronts that immediately distorted badly under high speed braking.]
That aside, it sounds awfully expensive for what he's doing. It's not that unusual to pay fairly big money for brakes these days but I think that's high for the work being done. Try checking with another indy and a dealer and compare - that's the only thing that really counts.
Bob
That's extremly steep. Brakes are one of, if not THE easiest thing to replace on a car. Are you mechaniclly inclined at all? If you are this job is one of the simplest DIY projects.
This is also very, very expensive. Goto Autozone or Pepboys and pickup a reman. caliper. They run 70 bucks when you give them back your original (called the core). I did this on my mother's Maxima and its been perfect for the last 10k miles. Also, goto a regular mechanic, not a chain type one. They will quote you something much less then that, I can guarantee.
BTW if you read the step by step instructions on the site for the front brake replacement the rear is exactly the same. The only difference is that instead of pushing the piston into the bore, you screw it in (with the specialty tool you can usually borrow from a place like autozone, or with a regular pair of needlenose pliers - a little harder but nothing crazy).
Bleeding the brakes is also very simple, all you need is an assistant to pump the pedal. I did my 96 Maxima's brakes (not oem rotors, but the aftermarket ones that were on had 40k+ on them with no signs of vibration or excessive wear, I just figured I'd replace them anyway because I had just bought the car used). Total cost was somewhere around 240 bucks (4 rotors, shims, pads and grease). Total time with the bleed was around 5 hours with a cheap hydraulic floor jack and no power tools (the most time consuming part was just taking the damn wheels off :) )
Nick
I agree, thanks for the advice
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