Cost of Brake Work
 

Replacing lines with stainless, pads on all 4 corners, and flush of the DOT3 to replace with high temperature synthetic.

Shop quoting me 5 1/2 hours labor and $503 (sans tax - I'm bringing all the parts).

Thoughts?

RE: Cost of Brake Work
 

That price seems a little bit high. I'm not sure what a shop would normally charge for brake work because I usually do it myself. Disc brakes are pretty simple. Try doing the work yourself, it isn't too hard of a job. For the rear brakes you will need a tool to compress the piston in the caliper. The piston needs to be twisted in to fit the new pads in place. For the front calipers you can just use a C-clamp to compress the pistons. While you have your brakes taken apart you should consider painting them. Its an easy job and is a nice subtle appearance mod. I painted my brakes silver and it made them look much cleaner without being too flashy. I just used two coats of duplicolor high temperature paint and they still look good after 9,000 miles.

RE: Cost of Brake Work
 

Thanks man.

My understanding is that you have to have some specialized equipment to drain the ABS valving of all the DOT3 before you can put the DOT4 in?

RE: Cost of Brake Work
 

If you replace the lines make sure you bleed the air out of the lines!

RE: Cost of Brake Work
 

All they are going to do is bleed the brakes until the fluid gets low, then add the DOT4. Yes, you need a special tool to bleed the ABS valve, this is why most people just bleed the brakes and add fluid. Just dont let it completely run dry. It does not take 5 1/2 hours to do a complete brake job, 3 max with everything you want done. That is including turning the rotors.

RE: Cost of Brake Work
 

I've seen several write-ups on brake bleeding, for the most part they don't worry about the fluid stuck in the ABS system. I saw one that said to basically do it twice - bleed them, go drive with some hard, ABS inducing stops, then do it again, this will get rid of virtually all of the old fluid.