# TTS Front Brake Job w/ Photos



## macaddict111 (Jun 13, 2018)

Hey everyone,

As you might have guessed from my several threads asking brake questions, I recently completed a front brake pad and rotor change on my 2017 TTS and thought I'd share photos and what I learned. It was a lot of work (took me around 5 hours with plenty of rests) but actually quite easy minus a few hiccups....









*Tools Needed*
- Needle-Nose Pliers (for removing the pad retaining pin)
- Channel-locks or wide pliers (for retracting the pads to remove caliper)
- Torque Wrench (10-200 lb ft) with 17 mm (wheel lugs) and 21 mm (caliper bolts) sockets
- 4-piston Caliper Piston Spreader (I used Lisle LIS29100 from ECS Tuning, but plenty of other ways to retract pistons with no special tools)
- Torx T30 bit (for rotor retainer bolt)
- Wire or heavy string (for hanging caliper when unbolted)
- Something to suck out excess brake fluid with (I didn't need this but you might)
- Tons of rags/towels

*Parts/Supplies Needed*
- 8SO 615 301 - Pair of Brake Rotors
- 8SO 698 151 - Set of 4 brake pads (good luck finding anything aftermarket that fits without a new rotor/caliper, lots of discussion on the forums about that with not much luck)
- G 052 150 - VAG Lithium Lubricating Grease (I'm sure there's tons of 3rd party alternatives that are just fine but I wanted to stay totally OEM)
- *Only if your pad wear sensor has gone off:* 8SO 615 121 - Front Brake Pad Wear Sensor
- 2 x N 106 483 01 - Brake Rotor Set Screw (recommend to replace this, but could probably get away with just cleaning the old ones, mine were just fine)
- Can of Brake Parts Cleaner
- Can of Rust Penetrant oil spray (PB Blaster is the American brand I used)

The parts all in all cost about $900 USD (mostly from ECS tuning), along with a bit extra for some of the tools I got.

*Basic Steps*
1. *Jack up the appropriate wheel and remove the wheel.*
2. *Use channel locks to retract one of the pads a bit.* You won't be able to slide the calipers off the rotor without doing this (I tried). Cover the painted caliper with a rag or rubber, hook one side of the channel locks on the outside caliper body and the other on the inside brake pad guide plate (which will have the retaining pin installed). I was able to get a brake pad to retract enough with little effort.
3. *Unplug the brake pad wear sensor.* This is only connected to the passenger-side inside brake pad, and is very easy to spot comping out of the caliper. Connector is right behind the caliper and easy to get to.
4. *Hang the caliper.* Do *NOT* remove the caliper bolts before hanging the caliper, otherwise the calipers will hang on the brake line and break it (it is not meant to hold weight at all and there's no reason to have to replace the brake line). I hooked some 12 gauge electrical wire around a loop at the top of the suspension strut and hung the caliper using the vibration damper when I initially pulled them off, then around the pad guide hole in the caliper once the pads were removed as it's a much stronger place to hang on.
5. *Unbolt the caliper and slide it off.* There are 2 x 21 mm bolts directly behind the caliper holding it on to the suspension. They were very tight but not too difficult to loosen. Upon removing the second bolt, make sure your hanging situation is tight and that the caliper won't fall onto the brake line. Remove the final bolt and slide the caliper off the rotor (should be easy since you retracted a brake pad).
6. *Remove the rotor.* You could really do this at any point before reinstalling the caliper, but removing it now just gives you a lot more room to work on the caliper. Use a T30 bit to loosen the single caliper retaining bolt (this was very easy). At this point, the caliper _should_ fall right off, but mine was rusted on. This was the only part of the job I got hung up on, I've never really had to remove a rusted on part before. I tried hand-pulling on it and pounding around it with a fist, but it was stuck on tight. I eventually applied rust penetrant into all of the wheel lug holes and rotor retaining bolt hole and let that sit for 15 minutes. I banged on the caliper some more lightly, but no luck. At this point, I actually turned to YouTube to figure out how hard you normally had to bang on a rotor to get it to pop off. A lot of people were banging REALLY hard with a hammer on cars more expensive that mine, so I finally broke down and did a few good full-arm swings onto the edge of the rotor (was nerve wracking), and it did pop right off. The intensity of hammering did lightly dent/damage the old rotors, so only get into this part if you know you're going to replace them anyway. See photo below to get an idea of the force required.








7. *Slide pad retaining clip out and remove the old pads.* There is a metal clip that slides through the holes in both pads and secured them to the caliper. I used needle-nose pliers, and it was fairly easy to pull this clip out the back of the rotor while holding onto the pads to make sure they stayed put. At this point, the old pads are just adhesive-stuck to the pistons. They'll pop right off if pulled. There are four clips that cover where the pads come in contact with the top and bottom of the caliper. Make sure to keep track of these and note how they're installed! Also, keep the old pads handy for reference. All four pads are unique in the set, make sure you have the exact same new one! The passenger's side inside pad will have the wear sensor installed. Note how it's installed, then tug on the sensor to unclip it from the old pad.
8. *Clean the heck out of the caliper.* I didn't feel like spraying heavy brake cleaner all over the nice painted caliper and pistons (repair manual says to only use mineral spirits), so I just used a wet towel and a LOT of rags to wet-wipe all the dust off the inside and outside of the caliper.
9. *Retract the pistons and remove excess fluid if necessary.* You need to retract the pistons all the way back for the new, thicker pads, otherwise they'll never fit on the rotors. This will cause the brake fluid reservoir to raise to take up this excess fluid, so make sure your hood is popped and that the reservoir never goes over the max line or overflows. I used a tool made for 4-piston retraction, but I'm sure there's a cheaper way you could probably do this. My reservoir got right to the max line after doing both sides, so I never had to suck extra fluid out. But if you've topped off your reservoir, make sure you have a syringe or something handy to remove the extra fluid. The manual says to retract the pistons "all the way", and there was a very definite stopping feeling when they were fully retracted.








10. *Install the new pads.* Make sure the four small metal clips are installed in the caliper where they were before (if they fell out or if you took them out to clean them). Coat all of them with lithium grease. The old/factory pads did not have the same metal clips the new ones did, which was a bit confusing at first. The new pads have two "clips" that push into the hollow caliper pistons and hold the pads exactly where they should be during install. I imagine the factory ones don't have them because they have some less expensive way to align them or the pads come pre-installed in the caliper. As I said before, all four pads in the set are unique, so make sure to carefully compare the old pad with the new one and make sure it's identical. Before you install the passenger's inside pad, make sure to install the wear sensor into it as it was on the old pad (clean the old wear sensor or use a new one if the old one went off). Lube the two pad clips with grease, then remove the 3M adhesive backing and don't touch the adhesive (it keeps the pads from squealing, so you want it to be clean and stick to the pistons). Slide the pad top and bottom over the top of the little metal caliper clips and make sure the clips stay flat against the caliper (they're just held on by squeezing metal). If you try to clip the top piston in and then the bottom, it won't work. Push the pad slightly over the little metal caliper clips on the top and bottom, then firmly squeeze it into the piston and both clips will engage at the same time nicely. Repeat with the other pad.








11. *Install the retaining clip.* Thoroughly clean the pad retaining clip and lube it with lithium grease. Hold the inside pad firmly against the caliper (so it doesn't pop off the piston), and wiggle the retaining clip through the inside pad hole, then the outside pad. The clip will "click" and settle in nicely when it's fully engaged in both pads.
12. *Install the new rotor.* Clean the wheel hub (whatever the part the rotor holds onto is called) and make sure it's free of rust and debris. Mine had a bit of rust, so I used lightly sand paper to remove the rust. Peel any stickers or junk off the new rotor, then align the retaining bolt hole with the hub, and use a new bolt and the T30 bit to tighten the bolt. Repair manual says 5 nm, so basically lightly hand tight (my wrench doesn't even go this low).
13. *Reinstall the caliper.* Slide the caliper back over the rotor, make sure the wear sensor wire isn't caught on anything, and replace and tighten the 2 x caliper bolts back onto the suspension. Repair manual says 200 nm for these bolts, so I literally had to lay down, and almost leg press the wheel well to get to the required torque with the wrench. Would probably be a lot easier with the car lifted, but it wasn't too bad.








14. *Reconnect the wear sensor.*
15. *Replace the wheels.* Repair manual sets wheel lug torque at 120 nm.
16. *Pump the brakes a bunch.* The pads are spread out and not even close to the new rotors. The brakes will NOT work the first few applications because the pads need to be extended back on the rotor. I started the engine *in park* and pumped it all the way to the floor about a dozen times, and visually verified all the pads were touching the rotors.
17. *Bed the new brakes.* Plenty of guides on this, but to make sure the brakes have maximum force, wear evenly, and don't get vibration, it's best to basically warm them up gently, then firmly (but not ABS) slow from 60 to 5 MPH 8-10 times *without stopping*, then drive continuously for 15 minutes or so to let them cool without ever coming to a complete stop (this took some very creative driving to accomplish in LA traffic). Brakes felt fine but a bit mushy the first few applications. By the end of my bedding they felt just as good as before.

This was my first brake job so I'm in no way the expert, but hope this helps someone! All said and done it wasn't bad at all and was a great learning experience. Saved me over $1000 USD vs having the dealer do it too! Let me know what you all think and if you have any questions!


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

Looks fun, why would you not go after market? the TTS brakes are not really worth the outlay..


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## macaddict111 (Jun 13, 2018)

TBH I think they're just fine and it's still under warranty so I don't want to do any mods until after that's over.


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## debatable_andrew (Aug 4, 2019)

Thanks for taking the time to post this, very helpful.
Drew


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## Alan W (Oct 8, 2007)

Informative and well written guide with good photos - thank you. 

Alan W


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## no name (Feb 16, 2014)

Why go aftermarket Tosh?

Besides the squealing the brakes are actually really good.


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## macaddict111 (Jun 13, 2018)

placeborick said:


> Besides the squealing the brakes are actually really good.


I'm glad someone mentioned this, the last pair my right-side had a light (really nothing to mention) squeal under moderate hard braking, I figured something in the factory install wasn't perfect. This new set sounds like it's going to do the exact same, so maybe that's just how they are!


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## no name (Feb 16, 2014)

Mine are terrible when crawling in traffic on a really dry day.

Cleaning, regreasing sorts it temporarily. Otherwise I'm stumped. :?


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

If you're going to spend that money aftermarket are much better than the single piston audi ones.
They are for sure better than standard things, but that's really not hard.


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## no name (Feb 16, 2014)

TTS front calipers are 4 pot, well at least in the UK they are?


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## macaddict111 (Jun 13, 2018)

placeborick said:


> TTS front calipers are 4 pot, well at least in the UK they are?


Yup. Best set of brakes I've ever owned (minus the squeal, but honestly I'm hoping I can bed them in a bit and get it better).


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