[Intybe]

First time I've ventured beyond the 650 thread, so please be kind; even though this not about REs let alone bikes, I hoping the experienced brains trust that works on all things mechanical will kindly advise.

I'm an amateur (read: for love, wannabe) diy mechanic, which was a big reason for buying the Inty. Anyway, since I found it straight forward to remove, inspect, regrease my Inty's brake pads and my partner's garage quoted her $600 to replace her car's (Kia Cerato), I offered.  Front and rear pads cost $180 so $420 for labour... a lot of brownie points for me! 💑

I thought it might be easier if I used jack stands. Question is will these cheapies suffice? The description doesn't say for cars and shows a buggy in the pics.
 
https://www.amazon.com.au/Scale-Stands-Axial-Wraith-Crawlers/dp/B07X82NDFL/ref=sr_1_6?crid=37J7V0FKIYQ6K&dchild=1&keywords=car+jack+stands&qid=1630991535&sprefix=car+jack%2Caps%2C368&sr=8-6

[Nitrowing]

They're for remote control cars - RC 

[Mr_84]

Wow that sale for those stands could be easily misread as they have 6 ton on them , but yes they are 1/10th scale RC cars stands , so no good for real "man" work. Not sure where you are but in NZ and Aussie we have Supercheap auto , axel stands and items like that are cheap as chips. And what's your Yamaha dirt bike in your avatar picture?

[Karl Childers]

Yes the full size version of those will work just fine, That's what I use on my wife's Kia Sportage. Just about any auto parts store will sell them. On unibody cars there are four recommended lift points to raise the vehicle, the owners manual should show where they are in relation to each wheel. Use of other areas can damage the car so place your jack or jackstands accordingly.

[Bilgemaster]

It's a good thing you asked here before clicking that "Buy it Now" button. Its delivery would have been a real red letter day.

Seems like one of many ways I'd find to fold, spindle and mutilate my own "man card", and that teeny-tiny jack stand unboxing would have been a hard one to recover from.

[AzCal Retred]

You can also replace the pads one at a time onto the existing rotors if they aren't chewed up too bad. The new pads will bed in to the existing rotors. For extra points, get a set of EBC pads & slotted rotors, you'll be amazed at the difference. New rotors are a lot less hassle than getting the old ones turned by some flunky. But unless they are chewed, they'll work OK as is, the new pads will bed in quickly.
1) Use your floor jack to lift one corner at the designated lift point. You can use a strategically located jack stand with a block of cushioning wood on it for life insurance. 2 ton jack stands are cheap & readily available at the auto supply or Wally World, as are 3 ton floor jacks. Your life is worth it.
2) Loosen the retaining bolts, pull off the puck holder & lift away from the disc. Don't tweak the brake lines.
3) Take 2 biggo screwdrivers and prise the pads apart maybe 1/4". IF the brake fluid reservoir is already full, you may need to remove some fluid before it spills over. The puck holders generally "float" on sliding pins. These HAVE to slide relatively easily. If they don't, remove them from the puck, clean them and their bore holes, re-grease with Hi-Temp brake grease, install back into puck & check for smooth operation. Stuck pins screw up the brake operation & eat pads.
4) Install new pads.
4a) remove & install new disc. Some are retained by a separate conical screw thru the disc.
5) Replace puck holder assembly onto disc. You may need to pry them apart a bit further. Retorque securing bolts properly.
6) Pump brakes a few times. this forces the new pads down onto the disc surface. It must feel at least as solid as it did before you started.
7) If all goes well, take out the "insurance" jack stand, then lower the car with the floor jack, freeing it up for the next brake. Move on to the next corner.
8 ) When all done, check the brake fluid reservoir level. Carefully take your car around the block, testing the brakes 10 - 20 times to start the bedding-in process. Pick a low traffic lane. If all seems well, you're done. 

[zimmemr]

Holy crap you can buy real jackstands for those prices! Damn things had me fooled until I read the fine print.

[axman88]

I'm an amateur (read: for love, wannabe) diy mechanic, which was a big reason for buying the Inty. Anyway, since I found it straight forward to remove, inspect, regrease my Inty's brake pads and my partner's garage quoted her $600 to replace her car's (Kia Cerato), I offered.  Front and rear pads cost $180 so $420 for labour... a lot of brownie points for me! 💑

Be advised.  If your experience is anything like mine, enter with the expectation of owning all that Kia's problems, for the forseeable future.  Cars are much less fun to work on than bikes.  Allow extra time for the rusty fasteners that strip or break off in place, preventing either moving forward, or going back.  Buy a car to loan your partner, while you work on theirs. 

I too, used to do mechanical work for my girlfriends.  Typical situation, six weeks after hearing "thank you" for spending half a day replacing brake pads.  Walk into her kitchen to hear,  "Honey the horn stopped working and the engine light came on!  I was thinking that maybe something YOU DID might have caused the problem."

[AzCal Retred]

Maybe those jackstands would work under this?

[zimmemr]

Be advised.  If your experience is anything like mine, enter with the expectation of owning all that Kia's problems, for the forseeable future.  Cars are much less fun to work on than bikes.  Allow extra time for the rusty fasteners that strip or break off in place, preventing either moving forward, or going back.  Buy a car to loan your partner, while you work on theirs. 

I too, used to do mechanical work for my girlfriends.  Typical situation, six weeks after hearing "thank you" for spending half a day replacing brake pads.  Walk into her kitchen to hear,  "Honey the horn stopped working and the engine light came on!  I was thinking that maybe something YOU DID might have caused the problem."

We use to call that a "since ya." As in "since ya rotated the tires it's had a misfire."

[AzCal Retred]

It's a "You touched it last, so it's warrantee work" situation. As long as both parties are satisfied with the arrangement & attendant gratuities, it's all fair dinkum. When it gets one-way or abusive, time to up stakes.

My buddy had to quit working on Harleys in the '70's, too many "dirtbag riders" wanted to swap their Old Ladies favours for bike work & parts. Favours didn't pay rent.

[Karl Childers]

Most of those gals were pretty scary looking, very few could have doubled for Nancy Sinatra.

[Intybe]

They're for remote control cars - RC 

🤦‍♂️ Now that's embarrassing! So glad I asked - It could've cost me more than my pride!😅
Thanks Nitro 🙏

[AzCal Retred]

KC @ #11: "When all candles bee out all cattes be gray.”  1546, J. Heywood; aka "all cats are grey in the dark" 1745, B. Franklin 

[Intybe]

When I first returned to check if anyone had replied to my post, I was so embarrassed to see I'd "mutilated my mancard" that I failed to notice that a bunch of you contributed helpful and humorous responses after Nitro's. My apologies. So I'm returning to show my appreciation and acknowledge your contributions 🙏

AzCal: Special thanks for the detailed step by step on how to do the job. I've watched Chris Fix's video on YouTube, which seems pretty good too. I will definitely combine the floor jack with the jack stand for safety insurance. I'm hoping that the rotors won't need to be replaced.

Axman: My partner's pretty cool; appreciative and undemanding. She'd have paid the dealer to do the job in a heartbeat - she's all about safety first. Motivated in equal parts by tight arse and manliness (the last part mutilated since confessing to this misstep), I said I'd do it. But now you've filled me with dread with all the things that may go wrong - last thing I need is a stripped bolt! We live by the ocean and the car's still under warranty, so when the seller of the pads emailed to say there was hold up with supply and asked whether I wanted to cancel my order, I saw a way out. Alas, my arse tightened at the thought of the wasted cash: I doubled down and confirmed my order 🤦‍♂️ I'll let you know how things go. Fortunately, she'll be happy to ride a bicycle, if needs be.

Ps, since putting the RC jack stands in my cart, Amazon have kindly offered me  a range of related accessories tow bars, trailer hooks, trailers, etc

https://www.amazon.com.au/GoolRC-Trailer-Hopper-Traxxas-Crawler/dp/B07YD8XM23/ref=pd_sbs_5/357-2516405-8635859?pd_rd_w=fra0E&pf_rd_p=17f1d672-2322-4e92-97d8-fc9a958f014b&pf_rd_r=9BBAZA4J42HCEZM8W2KK&pd_rd_r=27ec7f06-8e42-4bc9-87ab-43839b150578&pd_rd_wg=EjSvg&pd_rd_i=B07YD8XM23&psc=1

Thanks everyone for your help, empathy and good natured humour - laughter and warm smiles helped alleviate my embarrassment. I'll report back when I've done the job.

[Intybe]

Not sure where you are but in NZ and Aussie we have Supercheap auto , axel stands and items like that are cheap as chips. And what's your Yamaha dirt bike in your avatar picture?

Thanks Mr_84, I live north of the Wollongong, NSW. Due to delta spreading here, I've been avoiding bricks and mortar, but after my close shave on Amazon, I'll definitely be buying from Supercheap, etc.
The avatar pic is of my YZ80D, which I raced for a year or two in the SE Gippsland (Vic) comp in the mid 70s.

[Nitrowing]

When I first returned to check if anyone had replied to my post, I was so embarrassed to see I'd "mutilated my mancard" that I failed to notice that a bunch of you contributed helpful and humorous responses after Nitro's. My apologies. So I'm returning to show my appreciation and acknowledge your contributions 🙏

You're 'Man Card' was creased, not torn - you had the sense to ask 

[Mr_84]

Thanks Mr_84, I live north of the Wollongong, NSW. Due to delta spreading here, I've been avoiding bricks and mortar, but after my close shave on Amazon, I'll definitely be buying from Supercheap, etc.
The avatar pic is of my YZ80D, which I raced for a year or two in the SE Gippsland (Vic) comp in the mid 70s.

you Aussies have the most interesting place names , YZ80D is that about a 77? , So cool that you have it after all those years .we enjoy a bit of VMX too here in NZ. here's a pic of my old Honda 1984 CR500 Ive have a little bit over 12 year's , I race it 8-12 times a year , always a blast

[Mr_84]

 :

[Karl Childers]

you Aussies have the most interesting place names , YZ80D is that about a 77? , So cool that you have it after all those years .we enjoy a bit of VMX too here in NZ. here's a pic of my old Honda 1984 CR500 Ive have a little bit over 12 year's , I race it 8-12 times a year , always a blast

"The Widow Maker" those 500 two strokes were awesome beasts to ride, the Yamaha version as well. With a light switch power band when they came on...holy cow. I had a neighbor that after two trips to the hospital sold his. My hat is off to you for riding one in vintage moto!

[AzCal Retred]

Don't overlook the other early daze flyswatter, the infamous TM400...you could buy an accessory flywheel, because it needed it.

https://nationalmcmuseum.org/2020/01/24/1974-suzuki-tm400-motocrosser/

[Intybe]

you Aussies have the most interesting place names , YZ80D is that about a 77? , So cool that you have it after all those years .we enjoy a bit of VMX too here in NZ. here's a pic of my old Honda 1984 CR500 Ive have a little bit over 12 year's , I race it 8-12 times a year , always a blast

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu... and you think Aussie place names are interesting?! Btw, we shorten Wollongong to just The Gong, Wagga Wagga to Wagga, but Woy Woy is never just Woy.
77 sounds about right for the YZ. I only had it for 2-3yrs so don't have it now; avatar is just a pic from the archives. I have one in mind on the starting line but can't find it atm. For most of my adult life I've got by without cars or motorbikes, but a few years back I found myself yearning for a bike that reminded me of the ones I grew up around. Couldn't be happier to have settled on the Inty: it ticks all the boxes!
Your bike looks a beast. The Yammy TT500 were what the big kids were riding when I was on the YZ, but they're thumpers. I can't imagine trying to hold on to a two stroke 500! As others have said, full credit to you racing one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeZ9epc_KSY

[AzCal Retred]

Re: Open Class 2-strokes:
The one time I got to ride the Barstow to Vegas XC race was in 1983, & I did it on my little IT175 Yamaha. About 100 miles or so into it, in the mountains, I started to find these XC500 Husqvarna riders beside the trail, massaging their hands & arms. These were all fairly good sized fellows. Stopping to see if they needed assistance, the answer was always the same: "Naw, I just can't hold on any more...". Those powerful Open Class machines just lunge ahead savagely every time the throttle cracks open. On a machine like that you really need to be in good physical shape just to hold on after a while, let alone set a good trail pace. On my mild-mannered IT175, it was just an extra-long trail ride at my pace.
1983 Husqvarna XC500
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPTZllH91i8

[Mr_84]

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu..

ok you win with that one, that place is only about 300km from where I live it's a bit remote .

ACR your video link to the Husky I had not seen before , hardly recognised Ken Kaplan as he is into CR500s alot these days on his clips ,must be something in the water he's bulked up a bit now , maybe to help tame the beasts he rides

[AzCal Retred]

Here's 3 videos, the first two show the XC 500 in tight terrain, but you can still get a feel for the power. The last vid shows some vintage desert racing. The Open bikes really come into their own in the desert, at minute 2 or so you can see the XC being hustled along properly. Many open bikes are geared for 80-100 depending on the course. These things are brutally powerful, it's a real thrill to wing open the volume control on a fast jeep road. "He who lives by the throttle, dies by the throttle..." I have vivid memories of "bunny hopping" my old WR390 Hunkavarnish over a long set of whoops, & half way thru realizing that I was riding waaay over my head...but Husqvarnas tend to bounce in a straight line, so I made it thru a smarter & wiser rider. There's a reason the fast guys are fast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV4upq3XAD0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EQziE7NTZU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxgAlkYR0M4

[Intybe]

Apologies for reviving an old thread, but wheels turn slowly, especially when it comes to maintenance, and as the brakes on my partner's car are still functioning perfectly well, I haven't bothered to replace the pads yet. (She drives around with the new pads in the back seat 😂) But time must be nigher, so I'm wondering whether I need a disc brake spreader like this?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/333670051896

[Intybe]

ps, Can I get by with just one of these (and the OEM car jack) or do I really need two. To say I'm careful with my money would be kind 😂

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/264563478654

[Karl Childers]

I force the old pads all the way back pushing the pistons all the way into the caliper. I'll use a big screwdriver along with a piece of wood or a flat bar. If you score the old pads it doesn't matter it's the new ones you have to be careful of. With the pistons pushed all the way back in the caliper using that method you should have plenty of clearance to the rotor with the new pads when you remount the caliper. I wouldn't waste my money on that tool.

WHEN EVERY THING IS REASSEMBLED AND READY TO GO PUMP YOUR BRAKES A FEW TIMES BEFORE DRIVING TO SEAT THE NEW PADS AND TAKE UP THE SLACK. This goes for hydraulic motorcycle disc brakes as well, otherwise initially you will not have much stopping power.

If you are doing one wheel at a time then one jack stand as a safety back up to your jack should be enough.

[gizzo]

ps, Can I get by with just one of these (and the OEM car jack) or do I really need two. To say I'm careful with my money would be kind 😂

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/264563478654

They come as a pair so just buy 1 set.

Per Karl Childers, You only need a big screwdriver. And maybe the wooden block.

Don't forget to take the lid off the master cylinder reservoir and keep an eye on the fluid level. You might need to draw some off if it's been topped up as the pads wore.

Watch a few youtubes on changing the pads. That should give you enough confidence.

Good luck!

[Intybe]

Thansk heaps for the tips Karl and Gizzo - You know you're sweetening my marriage; my partner will think I'm a legend

Ps, didn't see the jacks come as a pair. Price feels reaonable now... and I saved $18 by not buying that spreader;