I didn't want to wait in for a delivery to be honest. 

Local parkers motor factors did the pair at 207, with a 45 rebate on each, so 117 for the pair is not bad in my eyes

I was going to look at the caliper and pins today but access is very difficult without exact tools.

 

I can get a socket on the top bolt (1/2" on mine, not 13mm) but there is no room for the ratchet head and i cannot even get the socket onto the bottom bolt.

I would need a quality 1/2" flat ring spanner alongside the 15mm open end (i believe) to remove the pins and caliper.

 

Going into the garage tomorrow morning anyway so hopefully a new caliper will prevent further issues for the foreseeable.

You need a 12mm ring/open ended and 15mm open ended IIRC. Easy to undo and remove caliper/pads. The bolts have loctite on the threads so initially a little extra effort require to crack them loose.

 

The bleed nipple requires 11mm ring/open.

 

Avoid imperial sizes, you just will end up rounding off the heads, the bolts are quite soft.

I'm agreeing with x-man on this one.  Bought my Octavia in 2009 and within a matter of months the rear discs were starting to degrade so I mentioned it to the dealer; "nothing to worry about" was their retort..... Suffice to say the rears wore much quicker and the discs eventually showed such signs of degradation we had her up on the ramps and replaced discs and pads, I overhauled  the calipers cleaning pistons and that infernal "wear compensator" which is the usual culprit.  A quality (Sealey) wind-back tool makes life far easier and the application of a small amount of copper grease to the pads where they contact with the (cleaned) calliper.  Needless to say, the replacements have lasted MUCH longer.. 

 

And with reference to comments on the brake proportioning valve; this reduces the amount of braking effort going to the rear brakes under heavy braking to reduce the likelihood of the wheels locking as load transfers to the front wheels (laws of physics).

 Well I have two new calipers fitted.

Not too bad a price in total. 

 

207 for the new calipers. 

-108 rebate for the old returned units (45+VAT each)

13 for new pads. 

50 for fitting from a local garage. 

 

So overall it's cost me 162 in total which I think is a very good price.

 

I'm also glad I got the new calipers from a local motor factors and not delivered from the internet. 

One of the calipers was slightly out of tolerance on the connection and would weep brake fluid slightly. 

They were happy to drop another one round at the garage without quibble as it was only down the road. 

^^^ it is a good price mate. I paid £153 just for my nsr in feb 2014. And that was an indy garage.

 

This the reason i wanted to diy this time, although didn't end up diy.

On 1/4/2018 at 04:13, Tilt said:

 

Yes, 1KD at 255mm, but local garage saying TRW and 153mm or 156mm.

 

I think the 156 must be correct or he hadn't got his glasses on, lol.

You don't have to fit TRW branded pads to TRW calipers.  There are dozens of different brands that will fit.

 

To the OP: 

1) Rear brakes come on first during light braking.

2) Rear pads have 10mm friction material, fronts have 16mm.

3) Front pads might be a slightly more robust compound.

On 1/4/2018 at 16:44, xman said:

You need a 12mm ring/open ended and 15mm open ended IIRC. Easy to undo and remove caliper/pads. The bolts have loctite on the threads so initially a little extra effort require to crack them loose.

 

The bleed nipple requires 11mm ring/open.

 

Avoid imperial sizes, you just will end up rounding off the heads, the bolts are quite soft.

 

Definitely 1/2" head bolts on mine for whatever reason. not 12 or 13mm and not damaged in any way. The other required is 15mm tho.

 

Took it apart today to find the garage have not cleaned the pads or the carriers.

Maybe i expect too much. They have fitted the caliper though, which is what i paid for.

Should have done it myself, got confused thinking the carrier required removal. 

 

You live n learn.

If 1/2 inch then someone has bodged a repair. All fittings on VAG cars are metric and replacement bolts in brake kits likewise.

Even fake chinese pads would include metric bolts.

 

Last time I saw an imperial bolt on a car was about 1960.