D3 Brake Replacement/Upgrade

**Mk1_Oz** · 10th March 2015, 05:42 PM

I have been busily using the search function but have not found the information I seek....

I have never thought the brakes on my D3 TD2.7 are satisfactory even straight from the dealer. This may in part be due to me liking a firm pedal with bitey brakes. My car has always had quite a soggy feeling pedal that needs quite a bit of a press before much happens. Currently, after 75000km (new pads all round at 30000km) the pedal needs around 5" of travel before stopping and gives me only so so confidence. All disks have a decent size lip on the outer edge. Rather than leave my heel on the carpet and press with my toes I am tending to lift my whole foot onto the pedal else it just doesn't feel like it will stop!

I am about to start towing a car on a tandem car trailer that has new 10" electric brakes on one axle. I therefore want to take the opportunity to replace the consumable braking components in order to make the car brakes the best they can be (I need to decend a long steep freeway into Adelaide and I like the idea of not needing to use the arrester beds!!!)

I will be doing the spanner work myself.

Question:
Rather than just automatically put LR brand disk and pads on I want other's opinions of other brands. There are many other threads on here where people discuss pads that have low dust and longevity also seems to be a regular theme. I don't care about dust and longevity is also lower on my list of needs.

My aim is to find a disk/pad combination that provides IMPROVED braking in terms of pedal feel and stopping distance for both city traffic but also whilst the car is loaded up.

What combinations have others used to achieve my goals??????????

**Graeme** · 10th March 2015, 07:42 PM

If you're not running 17" rims then you could buy a pair of the v8 front calliper brackets then fit the V8 front discs. The V8 uses the same callipers just slightly larger discs to give a bit more stopping ability. However the splash/stone shields might need to be either removed or some of the edges reshaped to avoid scraping the discs.

Perhaps your booster is faulty if you need that much foot pressure.

**Mk1_Oz** · 10th March 2015, 09:09 PM

Running 17" so v8 brakes are out.

It's not that I need lots of foot pressure its more the amount of pedal travel. In fact the pedal pressure required is very acceptable.

I am guessing that I need a high friction pad and a soft disk? But which...

**ADMIRAL** · 10th March 2015, 09:26 PM

I'd be borrowing a few other D3's ( or 2.7 D4's ) and doing a quick lap around the block for comparison. It really does sound like your brakes ( system ) are not up to spec. I tow a 2.5 tonne van. With or without the van, it has not been my experience to have ' soft ' pedal or any delay in brake action.
Interested in others impression of their brakes.

I drive a lot of varied vehicles for work, sedans and 4wd's. the Disco compares better than well. If you want to try something with poor brakes, try a 3 litre Patrol. ( scary dead pedal )

**LandyAndy** · 10th March 2015, 09:34 PM

Pedal feel could be just the need to power flush/bleed the hydraulics which should be done every couple of years.My D2 got a soggy pedal from time to time,using the Nanocom I would flush/bleed and would get a very good pedal
With my D2,I upgraded to slotted/drilled rotors with OEM pads as reccomended and supplied by Justin Cooper.The brakes went from OK to brilliant.Wouldnt hesitate to go the same way with my D4 in the future,not that it needs better brakes,the 3.0lt brakes are the best Ive driven in any vehicle,especially considdering the size/weight of the beast!!!!
Andrew

**SBD4** · 10th March 2015, 10:59 PM

There was a recall on the D3 booster. not sure if the symptoms you are experiencing relate to it but worth checking:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...questions.html
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...ther-vins.html

**Mk1_Oz** · 10th March 2015, 11:17 PM

Admiral - will maybe go to a used car dealer and try another D3.

Andrew - the fluid was last bled/replaced around 30000km ago so would have thought it should still be fine but well worth changing. If I have it right, the Nanocom is a plug in diagnostics tool? Why would you need to use that just to bleed brakes??? Would have thought bleeding D3 brakes would be like any other car even with the ABS unit?

SBD4 - mine is a Feb09 so should have been part of the recall. I do not recall having any rectification work done on it but maybe the dealer did it whilst ripping me off for one of their services. Will ring them tomorrow. This recall makes the pedal go hard whereas I am complaining mine is too soft.

Might look carefully at the hoses just to make sure there are no bulges developing that are taking up the brake pressure.

**Dagilmo** · 10th March 2015, 11:45 PM

Last Sat I did the pads and rotors on my D3. Used Brembos for both pads and rotors bought from buycarparts.com.uk $450.00 landed in Perth. My brakes were very worn with very little pad left on the rears and all rotors with a significant lip.

The job was easy with the help of Bodsy Brake Bible and 4 and 5 yo daughters- look Dad my hands are black! All up it took 6 hours (probably do in less than 4 now I know what I'm doing).

The performance is significantly improved and I'm happy with how it pulls up. If for straight performance, my thoughts are, you should consider slotted discs, I would have but was conscious of budget with a few other things on the list to do and the suggestion of mud build up in the slots being an issue

I know you said pressure's not an issue but I'm trying to sort out the booster recall for the third time. Have had the booster replaced twice and now have the problem again. This significantly reduces braking performance.

**Mk1_Oz** · 11th March 2015, 02:13 PM

Rang the stealer and checked if the booster recall had been done....yup....5 years ago.

This thread has started to focus more on the poor braking performance I have but I suspect it is just because the pads and rotors are so worn.

Can anybody offer their experience with brands of pads and rotors (bearing in mind I am not concerned with brake dust)?

**LandyAndy** · 11th March 2015, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by Mk1_Oz

Admiral - will maybe go to a used car dealer and try another D3.

Andrew - the fluid was last bled/replaced around 30000km ago so would have thought it should still be fine but well worth changing. If I have it right, the Nanocom is a plug in diagnostics tool? Why would you need to use that just to bleed brakes??? Would have thought bleeding D3 brakes would be like any other car even with the ABS unit?

SBD4 - mine is a Feb09 so should have been part of the recall. I do not recall having any rectification work done on it but maybe the dealer did it whilst ripping me off for one of their services. Will ring them tomorrow. This recall makes the pedal go hard whereas I am complaining mine is too soft.

Might look carefully at the hoses just to make sure there are no bulges developing that are taking up the brake pressure.

With the Nanocom on the D2 you could use it to run the ABS system to pressure bleed the brakes and change the fluid.Its the easyiest brake bleeding I have ever done.I did it ever 12 months just because it was so easy.
You would need to check with current Nanocom owners if you can do the same with a current Nanocom.
Andrew

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