4wordSOUL
Member
FYI 8mm bolts didn't fit my rotors so I'm going back for 6mmX1.25 coarse bolts and I'll followup with what I find. Anyone have an idea why the 8mm didn't fit?
4th Gen 4Runner Rear Brake Rotor and Pad DIY
- Thread starter HokieRunner
- Start date
FYI 8mm bolts didn't fit my rotors so I'm going back for 6mmX1.25 coarse bolts and I'll followup with what I find. Anyone have an idea why the 8mm didn't fit?
jacksheadache
New member
Soooo.. about that star wheel adjuster for the e-brake system..
I have aligned the two holes at 12 and 6 and can see the gear through the 6 slot. A small flat head screwdriver to turn it down is doing nothing on either side of the vehicle. We're talking an hour of trying to fidget with it.
What am I missing here?
How freely should this thing turn?
Thanks!
I have aligned the two holes at 12 and 6 and can see the gear through the 6 slot. A small flat head screwdriver to turn it down is doing nothing on either side of the vehicle. We're talking an hour of trying to fidget with it.
What am I missing here?
How freely should this thing turn?
Thanks!
Bluesky 07
Senior Member
I’ll get to the star wheel in a sec but my opinion (YMMV) after rebuilding and adjusting my parking brakes that the cable under the middle console is the place to start. Tightening it a bit may fix your issue without having to mess with the star wheels at all. I also discovered that you should back the cable tension off before adjusting at the wheels, especially if the cable has previously been tightened, then retighten the cable to the appropriate number of pedal clicks. I realized this after doing it backasswards, tightening the cable then rebuilding & adjusting the shoes. That doesn’t work well b/c you end up with little to no room to further adjust the cable.
I’m not proud of some of my thoughts about anyone who was connected in any way to designing that parking brake assembly and the star-wheel-through-a-tiny-hole-in-the-rotor adjustment method. It’s a massive PITA. Well, half of one anyway. My driver’s side star wheel works as it should. Other one was a nightmare. It wouldn’t turn at all so I took the rotor back off and found the star wheel was stuck.
Check YT for videos on both the cable & star wheel adjustment. This one in particular was helpful. The guy adjusts the shoes by turning the star wheel with the rotor off until the rotor won’t fit on, then backs it off until it does. I found that easier on the passenger side. Skip to around 16:35 to see that part. Good luck.
Not 100% easy every situation. If it's not coming of easy have patience.
jacksheadache
New member
Thank you very much for this. So I tried to back the cable off, and found that there are apparently two spots this can be done?
I tried under the dash (4th Generation 4Runner emergency brake adjustment - YouTube)
and also removed the center console to get at this one (2005 4runner Parking brake adjustment @ console - YouTube)
Backed them out as far as they would go and removed the slack.. then went back to the star wheel and nothing.
It's right there, just isn't moving.. pb blaster did nothing.. spent another couple hours today jabbing a screwdriver into a dark hole trying to get this thing to budge. This is somewhat frustrating at this point how insanely difficult this is.
Bluesky 07
Senior Member
You’re very welcome. IMO your best option is to remove the caliper and rotor then check whether you can turn the star wheel when it’s more accessible. If it’s functional (not stuck), you should be able to turn it by hand, though not necessarily easily.
In case you’re not familiar, this is what it looks like. Both ends have the notch that fits into a matching notch in the brake shoe. One end just slides into the middle cylindrical part (the bottom, partially visible one here) while the other end is threaded. The threaded end isn’t obvious here b/c it’s fully retracted.
Mine was stuck like this just due to age and the grease being dried out. If necessary, you can get it out, take it apart, add some lube in both ends, then reinstall. May not be easy but I think it can be done without disassembling the whole thing, which you should avoid if at all possible.
jacksheadache
New member
You’re very welcome. IMO your best option is to remove the caliper and rotor then check whether you can turn the star wheel when it’s more accessible. If it’s functional (not stuck), you should be able to turn it by hand, though not necessarily easily.
In case you’re not familiar, this is what it looks like. Both ends have the notch that fits into a matching notch in the brake shoe. One end just slides into the middle cylindrical part (the bottom, partially visible one here) while the other end is threaded. The threaded end isn’t obvious here b/c it’s fully retracted.
Mine was stuck like this just due to age and the grease being dried out. If necessary, you can get it out, take it apart, add some lube in both ends, then reinstall. May not be easy but I think it can be done without disassembling the whole thing, which you should avoid if at all possible.
Much appreciated again. The trouble I'm having at the moment is getting the rotor off (on either side). I am able to see the star wheel through the service hole at the bottom, but neither side will budge with a screwdriver.
Is there anything I'm missing here? or is this really this difficult? :beer:
Bluesky 07
Senior Member
Hard to know without seeing it, but if the rotor has been on a while, could be a little rust between it and the hub. Maybe some gentle taps with a hammer or rubber mallet, then wiggle.
jacksheadache
New member
Many gentle taps with a hammer and mallet and neither side is thinking about moving. Form what I have read here in this thread and elsewhere, if the e-brake pads are held up they must be released before the rotor will come off?
Bluesky 07
Senior Member
Not sure as I didn’t have that issue. Hopefully others with experience will chime in.
AuSeeker
Elite Member
With the rotors pushed all the way onto the axle, can you turn the rotor??
If so does it even move outward at all when you try to remove it, even a little, if so does it then get very hard to turn the rotor?
If it doesn't move outward at all I would say it rusted to the axle, have you tried to use the 2 "bolt holes" that are in the rotor in the axle flange area, those bolt holes are there to use the proper size bolts to help get the rotor off, screw the 2 bolts inward a little at a time while tapping on the flange area of the rotor, which is where the rust would form between the rotor and axle flange, keep doing this until the rotor frees up and comes off.
if the rotor does move outward a little bit and get hard to turn tells me it's not rusted to the flange but must have a bit of a lip causing the parking brake shoes to get tight at the lip, in this case the only way to remove the rotor is too retract the shoes some with the adjuster, if you can't turn the adjuster as you say it most likely rusted in the threads, you maybe able to spray some penetrating oil in the hole and hopefully get some to get in the threads to free the adjuster up so you can turn it, otherwise the only way you will be able to remove the rotor/s is to force them off using the 2 aforementioned bolts and BIG hammer time, unfortunately this will mess up possibly the rotor if you have to hit them really hard and mostly some of the mounting hardware, namely the retaining pins/springs and the locking cap for the retaining pin, but most likely just bend the crap out of the pins.
Working on the parking brakes on these T4Rs is a BIG A$$ pain as you are becoming aware of, and you have only just begun to experience the pain, most usually only have issues with remounting the shoes/retaining pins and getting locking caps on the pins!!
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Bluesky 07
Senior Member
^^^^ This - I completely forgot the threaded bolt holes.
jacksheadache
New member
Thanks!
With some help and a few additional tap, rotate, tap, rotate, tap, rotate, rinse repeat, the rotors eventually came off. As mentioned above, I did adjust the e-brakes as well, so not sure if that contributed to any of this. Come to find out that star adjustment wasn't moving at all, because it was completed seized up on the threaded side.
Got everything put back together and took it out for a test drive - brakes work great but there is a pretty bad squeak from one of the wheels now. So I took the calipers and rotors off again to play process of elimination (so easy when things aren't all seized up!) and it's still there.. not sure this was related to this thread at this point so I started a new one for that issue.
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Nice write up. I'd like to add...
...somewhere along the line I learned that when pushing the pistons back into the rotors its not a bad idea to open the bleeders and push that old fluid out rather than back into the system.
Of course you'll need to avoid getting air into the system. I use the bleeder hose into the "soda bottle" with enough fluid in the bottle to cover end of the hose. Fill the bleeder hose with a mighty vac or turkey battery. Plug the end of the hose that will go onto the bleeder with a finger. While holding the same level or slightly higher than the bleeder nipple slip it on allowing as little air as possible (preferably none) to enter. But any tiny amount of air that does enter should be pushed right out when you spread the pads. Have a pail of sudsy warm water near by in case it gets messy. A good idea whenever brakefluid us involved.
...somewhere along the line I learned that when pushing the pistons back into the rotors its not a bad idea to open the bleeders and push that old fluid out rather than back into the system.
Of course you'll need to avoid getting air into the system. I use the bleeder hose into the "soda bottle" with enough fluid in the bottle to cover end of the hose. Fill the bleeder hose with a mighty vac or turkey battery. Plug the end of the hose that will go onto the bleeder with a finger. While holding the same level or slightly higher than the bleeder nipple slip it on allowing as little air as possible (preferably none) to enter. But any tiny amount of air that does enter should be pushed right out when you spread the pads. Have a pail of sudsy warm water near by in case it gets messy. A good idea whenever brakefluid us involved.
Thank you for the post. I think Inha e created a problem…
In the process of removing the rotary on the rear, I realized that the car was too far forward in the garage and I turned it on and backed it in more…with the rear brakes disassembled. Fluid came out. After I got the rotors off and the caliper replaced with new pads, I went to depress the piston and fluid came out of it. Did I screw this up?
In the process of removing the rotary on the rear, I realized that the car was too far forward in the garage and I turned it on and backed it in more…with the rear brakes disassembled. Fluid came out. After I got the rotors off and the caliper replaced with new pads, I went to depress the piston and fluid came out of it. Did I screw this up?
Great write-up. Is torque confirmed?
.. just wondering about the posted torque value (77 ft-lb) for the caliper bolts. Other posts specify torque values of 67, 81, 99, and 137 ft-lbs. I suspect it's not critical in the 67-91 range (77 is a nice intermediate value) but at some point you'll do damage.
Does anyone have a factory manual, and is torque the same for all 4th gen years?
Great instructions and photos here -- I'm sure this thread will continue to see a lot of use - many thanks to the OP!
.. just wondering about the posted torque value (77 ft-lb) for the caliper bolts. Other posts specify torque values of 67, 81, 99, and 137 ft-lbs. I suspect it's not critical in the 67-91 range (77 is a nice intermediate value) but at some point you'll do damage.
Does anyone have a factory manual, and is torque the same for all 4th gen years?
Great instructions and photos here -- I'm sure this thread will continue to see a lot of use - many thanks to the OP!
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