I am going to replace the front brake pads on my Disco and have never done this before. Are the pads difficult to remove? How are they held in?
Thanks in advance.

 

The hardest part is getting the wheels off.
Jack up the truck, remove the wheels.
There are 2 pins that hold the brakes pads in place, remove them, the ends will be bent over to keep them from falling out, just straighten the bends and pull them out, remove the springs too.
Save all of that for later.
Leave the caliper on the truck, no need to remove it.
Using a "C" clamp and the old pads slowly squeeze the caliper pistons as far back as they will go.
Remove the old pads, install the new ones.
Put the springs and pins back in place bending the ends of the pins back over.
Your new pads may or may not come with a wire and plug attached, if they do just cut it off.
Put the wheels back on.

 

...and if your pads are really worn out you may need to use a turkey baster to remove some brake fluid from your master cylinder resevouir.

 

I am not sure if mine has a wire plug. What would they be for?

 

on a 98 disco just take out the cotter pins, bang out the pins and then take a screwdriver and slide one brake pad back and then install one side and then slide the other back and install and install the pins and cotter pin and its done.

 

Loosen your brake bleed screw before pushing your calipers back, that way you do not push all that oil fluid back into your master cylinder. Bleed your brakes once you have the new pads on.

 

It is a wear sensor built into the pad that is non-functional on our rovers

Also as above, I am one for opening the bleeder screw so not to push fluid back into the master cylinder

 

Who's pads are you going to use, have you checked your rotors for wear, when was the last time you cleaner/ replace and inspected your wheel bearings??????

 

I was surprised at all the responses that ignored mentioning the wheel bearings!!!!!!!!!

It's a good thing Disco Mike is here. You should also be prepared with new wheel bearings, seals, wheel bearing grease, a new locking washer, a new drive flange gasket...........Anything else I overlooked?

Oh yeah, I would go ahead and buy the kit that contains the new springs and cotter pins, my springs were shot!

Download the RAVE, print the pages that apply, study them and use them like a work order,then keep it as a record of the items you replaced. I started a binder to keep up with all the items I have replaced with the printed pages and receipts for the parts.

It's really bad to get started on a job then realize there are a few more items that you should have purchased. I highly recommend Rovers North or Atlantic British or similar for getting the right parts at a good price. I avoid most other parts houses except maybe NAPA or in a crunch I will check At Advance Auto. Sometimes the dealership will give you a decnt price on the small stuff like the right bolt or spring, but I usually don't rely on them for major parts. I call Rovers North and ASK lots of questions about "If i am doing this, what else do I need as far as parts". They have always supplied good answers as well as the right part at a good price shipped right to my house. Hard to beat that kind of service.

 

I agree, if you don't know the history of the hub bearings, or haven't serviced them in 30k miles (more often if you off-road) then you should be checking them and repacking and/or replacing.
Forget the crap Disco hub seals and get Rover PN RTC3511 double lip seals.
For the hub bearings, get them locally for $10-$13 each (two needed per hub)
Timken SET37, SKF BR37 or *** KIT38
I'd get 4 hub bearing lock washers as well, in case you can't reuse yours.
I'd also get a couple of bearing lock nuts in case someone in the past trashed yours.