How to replace rear brake pads and discs on Volvo 850, S70, V70 or C70

The other weekend I put some new pads and discs on the back of my 850 so wanted to post the photos in case it helps someone else attempting this job for the first time.

Here’s the rear wheels off, ready to start.

Here’s the retaining pins being knocked out. I used various diameter punches and a hammer.

Here’s the old retaining pins and anti-rattle spring out.

Here’s one of the old pads, not much left!

Another shot of the old stuff that came off.

Here’s the caliper tied out of the way to the rear spring once the caliper bolts were removed.

That’s the disc spigot pin out (10mm).

Here’s the view with the disc removed. This was a bit tricky, as the handbrake shoes had worn a groove in the ‘hat’ of the old disc. This stopped the disc simply coming off. I had to rotate the disc until the access hole lined up with the adjuster cog.

It’s a bit tricky, and I’ve included the photo to help in case (like me) you don’t know what it looks like behind the disc 🙂

To tighten the shoes to allow the disc to come off I pushed my screwdriver through the hole to push the bottom of the cog. After a while the disc could be removed.

Here’s the new (well, 2nd hand but better nick than mine) disc and spigot pin on.

Here’s the caliper back on (use new bolts, details below).

You needed to undo this brake hose mount to move the nearside caliper. Don’t do what I did and drop the bolt trying to do it back up, it’s a real pig to get it back out of the metalwork underneath :-/

Here’s the anti-rattle spring held in place with one of the new retaining pins (supplier details below).

Here’s the finished job.

The last step was to tighten the handbrake adjuster back up, by lining up the hole in the disc over the cog and pushing the top with the screwdriver. Once it was fully tight so the disc couldn’t move I slackened it back off 5-6 clicks and double checked that the handbrake was fully tight at 3-5 clicks of the handle.

I used EBC Green Stuff pads, which were just over £31 I think. The replacement caliper bolts (4) came from Volvo, part 985421. The replacement pins and anti-rattle springs came from eBay for about £16 posted.

The instructions in this tutorial will work in the following models / years:

– 1991,1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997 Volvo 850
– 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 Volvo S70
– 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 Volvo V70
– 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 Volvo C70 Coupe and Convertible / Cabrio