DIY replace brake pads and rotors 2020 Mercedes Sprinter 2500 (Service B??)

[@thisfinitelife]

Woah! Insane effort needed on that passenger front! Any update/feedback on how this set of non-OEM rotor/pads went over the last year?

[@OutofIpswich]

Yeah it was out of control to remove the front rotors. The new stuff has been outstanding for about 25,000 miles! Very happy with the Powerstop hardware. It's clean, quiet, and stops great.

[@srhondapro38]

Oh its sprinter thing .. 😂 and more above

[@w.ryansteenburg7264]

Thanks for the video. Got a quote this week to replace our brakes for @$3000. Not happy considering it’s a 2020 Sprinter with less than 25,000 miles (brakes are at 3mm). No, we’re not race car drivers, just a big family trying to get to church. Any other advice someone might take for granted if this is the first DIY brake job?

[@OutofIpswich]

First off, we are so happy to hear that you are going to do it yourself! Kudos to you! I think I covered pretty much everything in the video but I would like to add a few notes since you're asking. I have since gone back and added brake grease to the caliper slide pins since a couple were pretty dry and the old pads showed signs of the caliper sticking. This is much easier to do while you have the caliper off so I would add it to this job; it only takes a minute. And I would also recommend flushing the brake fluid (which we made a previous video about!) since it is 2 years old now. That's the recommended service interval according to Mercedes-Benz. Other than that, just be prepared to save a ton of money! Good luck. We reply to all the comments so reach out if you have issues! We love to help.

[@EdTwoMR]

Hi there, I had left a comment yesterday pointing to a video of mine, but it has disappeared and perhaps it is not allowed to link to outside media in comments. Anyway, my questions stands, I have a 2021 4x4 Sprinter with 30k miles and I have a loud noise coming from the rear wheels/brakes that squeal when drive normally and then stops when applying the brakes. Is this what you are referring to in the beginning of your video as a typical issue with Sprinters? Thanks for your help (my dealer already made me change my front disc and pads for $1500 for nothing and wants to charge me $2500 for the rear not being able to confirm whether it is actually the brakes...)

[@OutofIpswich]

That's so weird - I didn't see your comment at all! Sorry about that. Comments aren't super reliable all the time. But anyways, it sounds like you have the same symptoms as we had. Regular driving, usually after a short warm-up period, it would start to squeal in the rear and would vary with vehicle speed. If we applied the brakes, the squeal would stop. I believe I narrowed it down to a design flaw. I don't have any confirmation of this, but it LOOKS LIKE when they changed the parking brake from cable-actuated to electronic, they didn't remove part of the casting on the axle flange that was part of that system. If you take your rotor off, you'll see a big nub sticking out that does nothing. On our van, that nub had clear signs of metal to metal contact. It was rubbing against our rotor inside face ever so slightly. Whenever we'd apply the brakes, it would move the rotor just enough to break contact and the squeal would stop. I put Power Stop rotors on and applied some grease to the worn part of the axle flange nub and it hasn't made a noise since. If you're at all inclined, you can replace your brakes for way less than $2500. That's ridiculously high in my opinion.

[@EdTwoMR]

Thank you so much! I think MB knew all along, but still pretended they didn’t and made me change the front at only $1500 to “isolate” the issue. They am not sure I visualize what you are describing, I would be curious to change the brakes myself, but I have never done it on a modern car that I use on long distance with the family, so I am a little scared. When changing the rotor, how can I know the noise is not going to reappear? The grease is enough? Isn’t there a part that is better designed?

[@robertwcote]

​@@EdTwoMRif the rotor offset is slightly different, it could alleviate the issue. It could be as minor as machining tolerances. I'm not really sure that the grease did anything at all, to be honest. You could file down the nub if you want to be totally sure it won't come back.

[@EdTwoMR]

@@robertwcote Thank you so much for these answers. It really helps me understands better what is going on. Overall I absolutely love my sprinter, but MB is a real pain to deal with and between the EGR valve getting clogged, the automatic sliding door not always working fine in winter and now that brake issue, I am quite annoyed.. I wish Toyota would make a good looking van like the size of the Sprinter.. 🙂

[@cnevle]

Thanks for posting this! How do you like the Power Stop brakes? I’m thinking about going this route when its time for a brake job.

[@OutofIpswich]

So far so good! Stopping power is no worse than OEM, perhaps better. We haven't done any controlled testing. No noise. Probably less dust than the original equipment though it's hard to say for sure. We need more time yet to see how they last but otherwise we'd recommend them!

[@StarWarsNewsletter]

@@OutofIpswich any update on powerstop brakes? Love 'em/hate em?

[@OutofIpswich]

They've been great! Pretty low dust, excellent braking, and minimal wear after ~25,000 miles. Highly recommended.@@StarWarsNewsletter

[@tylerdawsey377]

Sweet this helped a lot! Thanks :)

[@OutofIpswich]

Woohoo! You're welcome!!

[@tylerdawsey377]

@@OutofIpswich hey! After doing the change, the parking brake stopped automatically coming on. Did this happen with yours?

[@robertwcote]

​@@tylerdawsey377nope! Did you unplug it?

[@tylerdawsey377]

@@robertwcote turns out it was a loose connection on the front right ABS sensor!

[@walt8993]

Very helpful thanks

[@OutofIpswich]

You're very welcome! We're so glad it helped you! Thanks for writing.

[@lilo2469]

great video

[@OutofIpswich]

Thank you! Hope it helped!

[@lilo2469]

i am gonna do mine on my 2020 sprinter next week only question ihave is buttons to reset parking brake motor would be nice to have videoed that cause weather its sound i cant make it out claearly ty Bro

[@Billy-sv4nx]

Clean the pad brackets where the pads sit with a wire brush top and bottom that outboard pad got stuck seized pins will also do that

[@OutofIpswich]

Great recommendation! Thanks for sharing

[@thequattro20v]

That thing that makes metal to metal contact inside the rotor is your handbrake "pad" don't put grease on that.

[@OutofIpswich]

No, it's not.

[@thequattro20v]

Ok, wanna explain how does the electric handbrake motor make the rear brake work when the are on?

[@OutofIpswich]

@@thequattro20v It squeezes the caliper onto the rotor.

[@themeroguski]

@thequattro20v @OutofIpswich - to clear it up for future readers, electric handbrake indeed applies force on a caliper, using same brake pads as your normal pneumautic hand brake. Model with manual, old fashioned mechanical emergency brake, indeed has separate braking pads called "shoes" which are semi circles, applying pressure from the inside, against inner walls of your rotor's central hub. Those also can be replaced if you already have your rotors out. It is important to recognize it, because of this difference rotors for models with electric vs manual parking brakes look different, you want to check before ordering. Also, for duallies, rear rotors do not have this hex retaining bolt, they are just held by wheel bolts. Lastly, also for dually models, you will need to tackle one more set of stubborn bolts holding up wheel flanges, those remind of wheel spacers, allowing for different positioning of wheel retaining bolts.

[@skylarallan3814]

Ive definatly had the rear brake drag inside my rotors aswelk

[@OutofIpswich]

So strange! It seems like a design flaw.

[@HighlineGroupVT]

I was literally having this convo with the dealer today as I am at 36k the rears were done at 20k and are needed again, all do dragging, this is a rust issue which I would say is a design flaw, but they say is an issue with our road treatments in VT. @@OutofIpswich

[@go5582]

Hi handsome. Please DON'T FORGET TO HAVE MERCEDES SPRINTER LUBE-its a grey tube. Apply where the rotor sits-and your problem of rotor cease , ceases to exist.

[@Cass98799]

Seize.

[@go5582]

At the 20:02 you did not show us applying Mercedes sprinter anti cease lube where the rotor sits. Go back and show us that you did correctly. Let's go.

[@jamestreanor182]

Why replace rotors and not just pads?

[@OutofIpswich]

Great question! You can measure the rotor thickness to ensure they're still within the specified dimensions. If they are, best practice is to resurface them so they're nice and flat again. This allows the new pads to work properly with the old rotors. I always do both rotors and pads because it's only a little bit more cost, but less effort to not have to bring the rotors to a shop to be turned. Plus, new rotors will give a longer service interval over reusing the old ones.

[@mchilly]

I just changed my rotors and pads on my 2014 and the front were the most seized I have ever seen. I ended up having to replace the knuckle and hub on one side and used a 10,000lb puller on the other side which barely worked. This is bad engineering on Mercedes side.

[@OutofIpswich]

Sorry for your struggle! It's actually comforting to know ours wasn't the only one that put up such a fight.

[@andymcdo]

That was by far the worst seizing i've seen on such a new vehicle

[@OutofIpswich]

Samesies. I would love to know why!

[@jscanlan22]

Use gloves and I did not see you clean off the rotors with brake cleaner.

[@OutofIpswich]

I was very careful to not touch the braking surface of the rotors during installation, which is why they were clean. I have only ever had frustration from wearing gloves while working. I try, but I can't.

[@thequattro20v]

@@OutofIpswich Brake rotors are covered in oil to prevent rust when you buy them from store, you should clean the rotors with brake clean to not have oil between the pad and rotor.

[@OutofIpswich]

@@thequattro20v Power Stop prevent rust with an electric coating rather than oil.