# 1999.5 VW Jetta -> REAR BRAKES



## GohanBurner (Jun 10, 2011)

I have two questions here.

1. Rear brake job at home?
I was quoted $450 to change the rear brakes. This includes pads/rotors. The shop told me that the bearing and rotor are connected somehow, is this true? Is this a job I cannot undertake at home, by myself with some tools? I came from a Civic and to change ALL the disc brakes with pads would cost me at MAX $180. That is the cost of parts alone, of course.


2. Emergency Brake
I thought I would escape this problem leaving the Honda scene, but I was wrong. This is very strange because the rear-left wheel's e-brake looks as if it is disengaged but the wheel will not turn freely when jacked in the air. The other side, rear-right, spins freely and the e-brake looks to be engaged. I am hoping that it is not seized because I would really like to not have to buy new calipers. 

Pictures...
Rear Left:









Rear Right:


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## Jay-Bee (Sep 22, 2007)

The hand brake cables on MK4s are known to rust up and seize, you can pull the lever down and remove the head of it fairly easily, or just cut it. Search around for the replacement, i think it should be well under 100 bucks and is not that hard to change out.

450$ for just rear brakes is rediculous. I did front AND rear on my 2.0 in my driveway, 415$ for zimmerman disks and akebono ceramic pads all around.

You will need the rear brake piston press tool, as the piston needs to be turned while it's pushed in unlike the fronts, many places rent them out for cheap.

There is a brake job DIY in the MK4 forum.

:thumbup:


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## GohanBurner (Jun 10, 2011)

Thank you for your response.

I thought there was something strange with being quoted $450. I mean just looking at the brake setup back there it doesn't look like the bearing is "connected" by any means. I watched a video on a rear pad change of a newer model Jetta and there was no bearing removal/repacking so I don't know what he was talking about. At first he told me that it would cost $200~ and then he said that he had to look up exactly what he had to do. He called me back and said that it would cost $438+tax so $450~.


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## Smoky Robinson (Jul 21, 2011)

On the MK3 rear brakes the bears are actually located inside the rotor! There are no special tools needed. But make sure if you decide to do this yourself to do the bearing and wheel seals at the same time!


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