Where did you get your brakes done?

[TechSIguy]

Just a quick question to anyone's who's changed their brakes and rotors done. Where did you get it done? Did you buy the parts yourself and take them to a shop and have them do it, or did you have to go to a performance shop? I'm getting close to having to change mine and the person at firestone they wouldn't be able to swap my rotors out to cross drilled rotors for some reason, and they would swap them with normal brake rotors and pads. Sorry if this has been answered before.

Sponsored

 

[TurbSi]

Just a quick question to anyone's who's changed their brakes and rotors done. Where did you get it done? Did you buy the parts yourself and take them to a shop and have them do it, or did you have to go to a performance shop? I'm getting close to having to change mine and the person at firestone they wouldn't be able to swap my rotors out to cross drilled rotors for some reason, and they would swap them with normal brake rotors and pads. Sorry if this has been answered before.

Considering the CTR comes with factory drilled rotors, yeah I'd avoid them regardless. Good thing you didn't get them to do it. And any reputable repair shop can do brake jobs. I personally do them myself since I do work at a shop. If you're doing all four corners, I'd take it to a Honda shop, considering you have a electric parking brake and requires a computer to allow you to retract the caliper piston. Other shops could do it, but they likely don't have Honda's HDS to do that. Not sure if other scan tools can make it do that. In all, just take it somewhere you can trust if you aren't confident in your ability to do so.

 

[Adrian1288]

I just do the pad and rotor replacement myself, then take it to a shop for the brake fluid flush. It’s relatively easy, and you only need basic tools.

 

[MadMage]

If you decide to do it yourself, you will need an Autel AP200 (or similar) and a torque wrench (to make sure you do it right).

Otherwise.... I guess I would try a dealer if you haven't developed a relationship with an independent shop.

 

[Blindeye_03]

Ill probably be taking mine to a dealer with my own rotors and pads supplied (if they allow that)..

I cant work on my own car in my apartment complex. If I had a second car that'd make it even better. Me working on cars usually means I have to make a trip to the auto shop to buy something I lost or didnt know I needed. Kind of like when you do any home repair.. its not done right unless you make multiple trips to home depot / lowes LOL.

 

[DRUSA]

I just ordered the front rotors and pads for mine this week. The OEM front pads were on back order so I ordered some Hawk HP+ pads instead. I've used them on other cars and I know they make a lot of dust and can squeal, I'm okay with that though. The rotors I got from RockAuto for the OE drilled units at $75/ea (2018 CTR). If you are trying to do it cheaper on a 20-21, you can swap back to the 17-19 cross drilled rotors instead of the full floaters, but if you already have the full float rotors just bite the bullet and get them again.

Yes, you CAN take your own parts to the dealer and have them install them at their labor rate. They don't care, the tech is getting paid the same, the service department is still making the same amount of money, the only person out on the deal is the parts dept. If you are trying to do this for as cheap as possible, bring your own parts to the dealer and let them do it.

Story:
I have a car that I just finished yesterday that has been at our dealership for a month now waiting on parts. The customer didn't want to have us do his rear brakes so he had his friend do them instead. The friend did not release the rear caliper properly, putting the parking brake into maintenance mode, he just pressed the piston back into place and sent it. He broke the shaft inside the caliper piston that the parking brake actuator turns. Damaged the actuator, broke the caliper. The caliper has been on back order for a month now, car has been sitting for a whole month. I had to take the parts off an auction vehicle in order to get the customer back on the road. Bill ended up being around $1000, our brakes were about $229. Parts are hard to come by right now, many things are on back order for weeks or months. Have any work done by trained techs right now, the slight price increase could save you thousands.

The rear calipers have electronic parking brakes that need to be put into maintenance mode, either by computer or by hand (removing the actuators and spinning the brakes in, then compressing the piston). Lots of people forget this step and damage the rear calipers when they DIY.

 

[Quip]

Really really really easy to do your own brakes. Its literally a few bolts for the rotors and a couple pins to knock out for the pads.

 

[cfl001]

if it was nicer out (i don't have access to a garage), I'd help you replace them. It's pretty straightforward. I have a slightly used OEM setup if you're trying to source parts.

 

[FifStreet]

I ordered my own aftermarket pads and rotors and installed them myself (first time) after the dealership quoted me big money for OEM parts and a few weeks wait on their parts.

I'm glad I did it. It was a learning experience and I ended up with slightly upgraded parts for about half the price total.

 

[fatherpain]

For anyone considering replacing your own front and rear brake pads, rotors, etc, suggest taking time to read through these links:

• Front brake pad change Post #841, #842, #846,
• Gyrodisc front rotors and Front pad change Post #19, #20, #21, #22, #33
• Brembo front caliper rebuild Post #841, #844, #845, #846,
• Rear brake pad changePost #847, #848, #849, #850, #851, #852, #853, #854, #855,
• First time Rear brake pad (disaster) and caliper change. Post #11, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17
• Sakebomb SST brakelines Post #18, #192
• Brake Safety tip when downsizing from 20’s to 18’s Post #91
• Brake bleeding (1) person method Speedi-bleed kit Post #476
• Brake bleeding (2) person old school method Post #23
• Brake Bedding Procedure Post #23
• wheel lug torque specs Post #23

 

[Romeoridgee]

You can bring your own non oem parts. They just won’t cover the labor warranty is void tho.

 

[Fountainhead]

I changed my rears and rotated my tires this weekend. I just used a small 12V supply to rotate the caliper motor backwards then I screwed down the caliper foot, then I used a large C clamp to gently push the plunger down fully. Then just put the new pads on and tightened it all back down. One of the motor clips push lock finger broke, it was quite brittle. That was the only casualty I had.
I re-used the large outside OEM pad spring, the ones that came with the Autozone gold pads I used seemed weaker and the leg that poked into the caliper was shorter than the OEM.
When I got in the car I first pushed the brake pedal a few times to refill the caliper boot, then I engaged the E brake. It whirred for a moment then stopped as usual. I drove it around with no errors.

No rust, no corrosion. I love living outside the rust belt.

 

[gxl]

Went in just to get front brakes done today with an appointment and then they come back to me with "Front rotors need replacement". I say no, and then they were like, Front brake pads not available, have to order them. Waste of two hours.

Not quite brave enough yet to tackle brake service myself yet.
Anyone put on the 2020+ two piece rotors on a 2018 yet?

 

[Fountainhead]

I changed my front pads last weekend. The longest part was jacking up the car and taking off the wheel(s). The fronts are super simple. Just take a center punch and knock out the little pins, wriggle the pads to push in the caliper cylinders and pull them out. Assembly is the reverse of removal. I did clean the pins with Scotchbrite and put a drop of oil on the locking washers on the pins and a drop of oil in all the holes the pins travel through. Tapped the pins back flush with the back of the caliper and remounted the tires. Brakes just fine and so far the wheels aren't looking like someone dusted them with charcoal. OE pads are dusty.
I didn't use the pins or the springs that came with the pads as the pins were too short and the springs seemed less strong tension-wise than the OE springs. Pads were from Autozone, their "Gold" variety which was recommended here on the forums.

 

[Groundcontrol]

I got quoted $700 for just the front brakes from my local Honda dealership, so I went and bought the parts myself (both front and rear rotors and brake pads) and had it come out to about $550 - $600. I went in for half for the Autel with my brother who is a mechanic (he can now use it for other used cars so it is a win/win). I brought everything to their shop and he swapped it out for me after hours. I will have to look into putting the newer two piece rotors and improved pads on the front next time.

Sponsored