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How much should it cost to get XJ brakes done at a shop?
Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go hereXJ (84-01)
All OEM related XJ specific tech. Examples, no start, general maintenance or anything that's stock.
If they are replacing, pads, rotors, hardware and calipers on the front; shoes, drums and hardware on the rear, that price sounds pretty decent. If they have to get into wheel cylinders, e-brake cables, backing plates the price will go up.
Remember, if you do it yourself, count your time for everything, like traveling to get parts etc. Also, dont forget to figure in taxes on the parts. My list of parts above would easily reach or exceed $400+. Shops dont buy the economy line pads and shoes. Labor in my market is usually between 80 and 100 an hour. I would assume the Northeast is a little higher. You can ask how many hours they figure and the rate, my guess is around 3 plus or minus a half hour.
You may get a little better price at a small private shop. Often shops like Midas and such are a franchise and are locally owned and operated, so don't rule them out.
I agree with others above, most shops today wont turn rotors or drums, the time and equipment, plus liability cost more than replacing the parts.
If you decide to do it yourself, read one of the above posts, that was very good advise! "just do one side at a time, you can reference the side still together". You tube is an excellent resource too.
You will save money doing it yourself, but maybe not as much as you think. Don't buy cheap parts, buy value parts, they are never the cheapest...
Before you say "just do it yourself", I'd like to but honestly can't. Dad was the family mechanic and had all the tools, knowledge, and space to work, but that is no longer an option.
I don't have all the needed tools or jack and jack stands and have a dirt parking spot, so I have to take it to a shop for this job. (I did change out my own alternator last month, so I'm not completely useless, but brakes are beyond my abilities/time/resources right now.)
I just want to know what is a reasonable price to pay a shop to get front and back brakes done, I am assuming they would do new rotors, pads, drums, shoes, all the little springs and hardware and charge me labor.
For my 2001 XJ Limited with 16 inch alloys, I was quoted $800-$850 for the front and rear brake job here in Central Massachusetts. Does that sound about right?
Thank you,
Squelchtone
Brother do it yourself. It’s not difficult and I’m sure you can you tube it as well for some visual aid if needed. Like mentioned earlier, you can buy the tools and parts for way cheaper than a shop will charge you. You CAN do it. Don’t doubt yourself. I hope we hear back from you saying “I did it!”
lol, nah, I worked all day and I go to school so just catching up on posts right now. Lots of great advice for sure, I'm still sorting through it.
For everyone saying it is easy... sure.. everything is easy once you know how to do it. first time, not so much. I think I can handle the front brakes as long as I buy a jack and jack stands and find a place other than my gravel driveway to do the job.. the rear.. I need to really think about it before I tackle that.
Thank you to all for taking the time to offer your thoughts, advice, and encouragement.
I hope to follow up in the next 30 days.
Squelchtone
lol, nah, I worked all day and I go to school so just catching up on posts right now. Lots of great advice for sure, I'm still sorting through it.
For everyone saying it is easy... sure.. everything is easy once you know how to do it. first time, not so much. I think I can handle the front brakes as long as I buy a jack and jack stands and find a place other than my gravel driveway to do the job.. the rear.. I need to really think about it before I tackle that.
Thank you to all for taking the time to offer your thoughts, advice, and encouragement.
I hope to follow up in the next 30 days.
Squelchtone
My advice on the rears, if you ever decide to tackle them yourself, is to take a few pictures of the components before you take it apart. That way if you can't figure out what goes where exactly, you can pull up the photos.
Like, with the brakes reassembled as in freegdr's image, practice adjusting so you can see where to place the spoon, and if necessary, move the adjusting lever out of the way with a narrow screwdriver to allow backing the star adjuster off.
From recent experience, this year, that doesn't sound out of line.
Precision Tune in Knoxville, TN quoted me near $400 for the rears (btw, they messed up one of the lines 5 years ago replacing a wheel cylinder so I figured out how to do it myself). Note though, top end parts are not what they use either. The $400 job is Duralast parts, not Raybestos and AC Delco. I had a devil of a time doing the back completely earlier this year.
Five years ago they replaced pads, rotors, and one rear wheel cylinder $350 iirc.
One option to get the best parts at a lower price is find a place that will install your parts and get them from Rock Auto and Summit, etc. You can get better parts for way less than what they are going to charge you (coated rotors, etc) and you are going to pay the same labor charge as if they sourced the whole thing.
oh man, I do appreciate your vote of confidence, but I am a bit intimidated by all the springs and wheel cylinder in the rear drum brakes. if something is stuck or worn out, it means going back and fourth to car parts store for this and for that, maybe if I watched some youtube videos first, and then take the wheels off and see what condition things are in before I start taking old parts off.
Thank you for your supportive reply
Squelchtone
You can do it... youtube and your cellphone are your best friends...
Youtube - find video to do it step by step (see if ChrisFix has one - his vids are pretty good on there)
Cellphone - take pictures of each step from the beginning... then you have pictures to refer to for when you go to put the hardware back together for the drum brakes. (it will be your best friend trust me) - that way you'll have the order and position of each spring, etc.
I've done brakes on everything from sports cars to mini-vans and everything in between. It may seem intimidating at first...but it's really not rocket science just take your time. Take the pics to reference each step. Then you'll have it done right. Save yourself a boatload of cash and have the satisfaction of doing the job yourself.
Last edited by RocketMouse; 09-29-2020 at 10:11 AM.
About $90.00 for good quality pads and shoes. If I charged someone to do the entire job it would be about $40.00/ wheel. Total would be around $250.00 for the whole job. But, my labor cost to myself isn't close to the normal rate from the stealership.
Whenever I do anything on my vehicles I create an invoice for my own records tallying parts & labor and then contrast the figure to a quote from a garage. If it takes me 15 minutes to replace pads on a disk brake I'm daydreaming. Rear shoes can go either side of 1/2 hour each wheel just because of their fidgety nature and the need to spend a few minutes cleaning, prepping and final adjusting.
09-28-2020, 01:43 PM
