My dealer told me this afternoon that there are two different size pads/rotors on 2005 xc90 - I needed to measure the rotors to see if I needed the larger or smaller pads? (Pads looked the same, the brackets on the pads looked a little different).

Anyway, I pulled a front wheel off tonight to measure the rotor and I figured I'd see if the calipers were any different before I started the brakes tomorrow...now I've done many brake jobs before but I realized I couldn't figure out how to get the caliper off. I removed the clip, removed the two allen bolts but could not figure out how to get the caliper off past the bracket unless I somehow pushed the piston in so I can pull the caliper forward towards the outside of the fender then pull out towards the front. Does that make any sense? It was a little late, and I was a bit tired but still, I had the pads changed on my Chevy truck last week in the time I sat scratching my head inside the Volvo's wheelwell!!

Any help would be much appreciated.

Matt

 

O.K. Done deal - 45 minutes. You really have to push the piston back in a bit at first so you have some wiggle room. I don't recall doing that on any other Volvo my wife has had or any of my other cars/trucks for that matter.

Now as for all of the noises, squeeks, rattles, etc., etc.........well we've had them in almost every Volvo we've had. '98 S70, '02 XC70 and '05 XC90. Current XC90 squeeks include 2nd row center seat (track replaced, squeek back a few days latyer - my grease works as well as their seat track/grease!), drivers window ANNOYING rattle still not fixed, sunroof rattle still not fixed, courtesy lights seem to have a mind of their own, clunk in front end worries my wife but dealer says its just a design issue (hmmmm)............and on and on.

Thing is you can't beat the lease deals and the loyalty cash. Everytime the lease is up we look at other cars, ususally Infiniti's but the lease deals stink. Before the XC90 we got a price on a G35 first $466 a month with little down. I think I got the payment down to the low 4's or high 3's but then when we went back to Volvo I managed to get an XC90 for around $425 a month. Hmmmm, a $45,000 vehicle for $425 a month or a $35,000 vehicle for $400 - 466 a month - we got our third Volvo obviously.......