Quest to change rear brakes on a Saab 9-3

[Dave T]

I changed to snow tires last night. As expected, I saw that my rear brake pads are wearing out and need to be changed soon. I am looking to buy spare parts, including brake pads and rotors.

Off the top of my head, I might buy Brembo rotors (discs) and Akebono ceramic pads. All I know is that I have 292 mm vented rear disc. I confirmed it yesterday using a ruler. I'll report what happens, where I got the parts, how difficult it was to do, etc.

Any advice, just let me know or post.

[nordwulf]

How did this go? What rotors and pads did you get?

[Cafasco]

I did my rear brake pads last fall. My rotors were in perfect shape, whew! The tire shop caught the nearly to the metal rear pads and offered to replace them for $225. I said really...I can do it for $25. But thanks for telling me they are shot. I slapped in some Autozone Duralast Semi-metalic lifetime pads < $25.00, (not the GOLD version), & blead the whole system (PIA). Of course I had to get a qt of brake fluid too. The pads have been great: no dust, no squeaking, and great stopping power, little better than OEM from what I can tell. Oh, I also borrowed their brake tool set as you have to screw in the piston with some good force to get it moving.

[Dave T]

How did this go? What rotors and pads did you get?

Brembo 09.9505.10 292mm vented rear discs (rotors) from eeuroparts.com
Note that the Brembos come with two screws, which I didn't know. I bought two Saab screws.
The disadvantage of the Brembos is that the hat or center part is not painted black, like the OEM rotors. After about 3-4 weeks, they have orange rust on them. They are rumored to be hard steel that doesn't wear quickly, but mine are too new to confirm this.

Akebono (EUR 1095?) ceramic brake pads from Rock Auto
The front brakes do most of the stopping, not the rear. However, since having new rear pads, braking seems unchanged. There is now less brake dust in the rear than in the front. The OEM pads are ceramic in the front.

The parts kept sitting around uninstalled so I changed my mind and decided to have someone else put them in. I think the shop charged an hour's labor and was willing to use customer supplied parts.

[niskanem]

I just did the front pads and rotors on my 2004 9-3, not too bad. I used OEM rotors and pads from the dealership. pretty simple job as long as you have the big a$$ esternal torx socket... I used a craftsman multi purp socket and it worked perfect.

Just did the front and rear pads on my 2004 9-3 today, for this one I used Akebono pads all around, Brembo rotors up front and Beck Arnley for rear rotors. all went well aside from the front rotor screws needed to be drilled. As Dave mention the Brembos came with screws but in my case they were not the correct screw.

Both are too recent to make judgment on which is better between the OEM and aftermarket but I'm thinking i'll use the Akebono and aftermarket rotors on the back of the 9-3 if for nothing else it was a little cheaper.