Hi everyone,

I am going to replace the rotors and pads as it is unknown when they were last replaced on my 1999 Discovery 1.

Mostly city / highway driving in an area that has a lot of rain and wet conditions.

Would the EBC 3 series rotors be sufficient? EBC has many variations of the rotors and from what i have gathered, the green 6000 series brake pads are pretty skookum!

TheEBC rotor brake pad combo fits my budget.

while i am doing this job, what else should i grease while i am in the wheel wells? Bearings? Would the LR one shot grease be best?

Thanks in advance

Should this go well, i will do my 1997 SD with the R380 transmission as well. I like good stopping power!

 

grab the workshop manual in the link in my sig and start on page 501.

per wheel you will need...
a - joint washer (571752) (#5 in the picture) - paper gasket between drive flange and hub
b- bearings (as needed) (#11 & #13 in the picture) - two per wheel
c - hub seal (RTC3511) (#14 in the picture) - This should be set 4mm below the surface of the hub. This is the seal used in Defenders which many claim is better than the stock Disco seal. I use it but I rarely go off road so the only water my truck sees is deep puddles on rainy days. Probably overkill in my application.
d - a 52mm spanner makes life easier to remove and replace the hub nuts
e - bearing grease. I have used Lucas green without incident
f - hub lock plate and two hub washers. (washers are #8 in pic) The plate goes on first and is heavy enough not to deform. the washers however are easier to buy for a a couple of bucks than to flatten out and then bend the over again.
g- dust cap (#1 in pic). They get old and brittle.

Your swivel ball won't be open but with all the brakes and hub off, now is a good time to make sure it is filled with grease.

A can or two of PB Blaster or the like is also very helpful to remove the discs from the hub.

It's not hard, but it is a little time consuming to do it properly, clean everything, re-pack bearings, etc, etc.
Even under the best circumstances, don't expect to brake like a modern day sports car. It just doesn't happen.

You may also consider moving to d-110 calipers which are a direct bolt-on and have greater stopping power with larger rotors. That is a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

 

 

DII's are different from D1's.

I've heard good things about Akebono. Relevant part numbers for pads on a D1 would be
EUR518 - front
EUR520 - Rear

That said, those part numbers are suspiciously close to the Wagner Thermoquiet part numbers

PD520 - ceramic rear


MX520 - semi-metallic rear
ZX520 - 'quick stop' semi metallic rear

PD518 - ceramic front
MX518 - semi-metallic front
ZX518 - 'quick stop' semi metallic front

I use the MX line. Easy to order on Amazon. Cheap. About 55% of the price of the Akebonos.

I also find that CRC Disc Brake Quiet (red stuff for the back of the pad) helps keep squeal to a minimum. Some Permatex disc caliper lube might help keep those seals alive a bit longer too. It might also be snake oil but for $7 I figure what the heck. I've been ripped off worse than that.

 

bearings are cheap on rock auto too - aswell as Brembro rotors
Since you will have to bleed the system when your done - I would flush all the brake fluid.

I am running brembro rotors and beck arnley pads - no problems

 

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated!

I liked the akebono pads on my LR3.

I am going to try the EBC rotors and pads on my 99 Discovery and then decide which brand/make for the 97 R380 Discovery afterwards

 

They're harder to find, but the yellow EBC pads offer slightly more (EBC claims "10%", whatever that means) braking force than the green pads. For rotors, I had EBCs for a few years but could not find any shop willing to turn them. I tossed them and put on regular NAPA rotors. Drilled rotors are of no practical benefit when using ceramic pads. Slotted rotors on a Land Rover will just increase pad wear with no appreciable benefit. The only significant upgrades to the stock system would be with the pads and lines.

It is possible to upgrade to wider, more-massive and vented D90 rotors if you also change the calipers. Rear rotor upgrades are also possible if you buy another set of front calipers or reuse the ones taken off the front if you upgrade to D90 fronts, and an adapter bracket like one that was produced by X-eng. That and steel-braided teflon lines would probably be the ultimate bolt-on brake upgrade, but you'd have as much into the brakes as the Rover is worth, and it would still be prone to the booster occasionally flaking-out and the brakes sucking.

My solution is to just not drive very fast.

The yellow pads for stock calipers are front DP4814R rear DP4663R. They are better than Greenstuff 6000 and 7000.

 

I just run some mid-grade rotors and some low end pads on my D1. Pads are cheap. $6 a set on RockAuto and I'll stock up. No problems stopping. I'd rather toss in new pads every 6 months to a year than replace rotors.

For brake bleeding I use a Motive Power bleeder with a Power Probe MC adapter. The Motive MC adapter sucks ***. The Power Probe is a quality part.

 

That is where i am confused.

Define mid-grade rotor? Which brand/make? Solid piece or vented?

Thanks

Ps.,

Rotors are pooched on the 99. Deep grooves and lots of corrosion... and no idea of when they were last replaced with 200,000 km on the odometer. Figured I'd start fresh with new rotors and brakes

 

When I was working NAPA, we had 2 grades - Premium and Ultra Premium. The Premiums I would recommend for 90% of car drivers, unless you drive a full-size truck, do any performance driving or tow anything. The Ultra-Premium is the only rotors we would use for law-enforcement vehicles, and 3/4 ton or larger trucks. We found that they did not warp like the cheap ones when the limits were tested. I've run the Ultra-Premiums on my Rovers and have never had any second thoughts. Vented options are fine for street use, but one mud puddle can negate any gains there for a Rover when driven where Rovers go! Vents on an off-road fill up with mud and dirt and generally at a loss to original mass of the disc (you lose metal to make vents, grooves, etc while keeping the same OE dimensions externally to make things fit). If you do performance road driving and/or towing, you might benefit from vented - I've never had any brake heating problems, but I do live in Utah and know how to drive mountain roads.

Brake pads - I've used inexpensive semi-metallic on both Rovers and replace when needed. The ceramic and ceramic blends do have a higher heat resistance, but they are also harder = faster rotor wear. Let the pads wear before the rotors and you'll have a longer rotor life.

My .02 (I just realized my keyboard doesn't have a cent sign!) and I didn't mean to offend with my "know how to drive in mountains" remark, but there are some things to think of when outfitting a truck as an off-road unit and techniques other than stop and go. Russ