[TDIRunner]

The front rotors are warped on my 2006 Jetta TDI. I was getting ready to take them off and have them turned by a shop nearby my house. I always like to read up on any procedure before I start, but I cannot find anything on the front brakes for a Jetta. I have found several pages for rear brakes. I also found one page indicating that the front brakes and rotors are extremely difficult and should only be completed by a VW dealership. Can anyone give me a heads up as to whether or not the front pads and rotors should be a DIY job or not? I was hoping to do the job today (3/6/11). Any quick feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[chittychittybangbang]

Sure. I haven't done them yet but it's straightforward, I don't see why only the dealer could do them.

If you document it with step by step pictures it will qualify for the writeup contest! Current prize for the winner is $50 e-gift cert to kermatdi.com . More pics is better than too few pictures (pics must be clear), full guidelines and tips are in the sticky at the top.

 

[TDIRunner]

I went ahead and started the project and sure enough, it is as straight forward as any other front brake job I have ever done. The only extra step is unplugging the brake pad wear indicator. Unfortunately, my rotors were really stuck due to the rust and it looks like they won't be re-usable. So much for spending $15 each on turning the rotors...... Now I will be forking out between $70 and $100 each for new ones. At 65k miles, it's probably for the best.

The difficult part is that none of the auto shops around here carry VW parts and of course the dealership isn’t open on Sundays. So for now, I am leaving the car on jack stands and will drive my truck out to the dealership tomorrow on my lunch break. The car is safe because it’s in my garage. But when I work on my car, I park it in the center to maximize my room. Now there isn’t room to get the truck in the garage and it has to park outside tonight. Oh well.

I might actually take you up on that and create a write up. I really think the site needs one since there is a write up for the rear brakes. I have a good camera and more often than not I take several pictures of my projects just to remember them down the road.

 

[rootrider]

yeah.. the front brakes are pretty straight forward. It's the rears that are a pain since it's almost impossible to get enough torque on some of the bolts.. and stretch bolts need to be replaced (and a good M14 bit isn't the easiest to find either)

This is one of the better DIY's I've seen online.. also lists torque specs at the end (which match what the Bentley states)
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40013