Earlier this week I noticed my rear brakes making some squealing and grinding noises, and sure enough it turned out to be a sticking caliper on the right rear. I honestly didn't know these calipers are prone to sticking until I searched the forums and found all of the issues...
Granted, I've never checked the rear pads since I've owned the truck, so that certainly didn't help matters. The right rear pads were worn completely down to the backing plate, so I guess I just found the source of my recent horrible gas mileage!
The left rear pads have much more life left in them:
Now I have never worked on brakes before other than changing pads, but after glancing at the procedure in the Haynes manual, I didn't think it would be very difficult. So far I have replaced both the front CV axles and installed the Daystar spacer kit by myself, so this should be a piece of cake.
I made sure to loosen the parking brake adjuster all the way, and started threading in my 8mm x 1.25 bolts to back the rotor off of the hub. When the face of the rotor passed the front of the hub and I still couldn't get it off, I knew something was wrong.
So I turned to the best sources of all 4Runner related information, and after carefully reading a few DIY threads here (and toyota120), I discovered that I had inadvertently
tightened the adjuster for the parking brake. As it turns out, the instructions in the Haynes manual are very unclear and their definition of "up" is not the same as mine, or anybody else for that matter.
So after properly loosening the adjuster, I still had a little difficulty removing the rotor. I eventually got it off and some loose parts fell out, which I later identified as pieces of the rear shoe holding spring:
They had probably come off while I was fighting with the rotor the first time around, and were apparently lodged in the assembly somewhere preventing the rear shoe from completely retracting. This is the resulting carnage I discovered after I finally got the rotor off of the hub:
The washer at the top of the backing plate where the shoes pivot is completely bent from the rear shoe (left side in this picture) trying to pull off of the hub with the rotor. I also stretched the pin that holds that shoe to the backing plate, which is why those parts fell out when I removed the rotor.
Below is the hardware kit from NAPA, with the stretched pin placed in the center. I didn't realize how bad it was until I saw the new one in the hardware kit:
As a result, what started as a rear brake noise turned into:
-New calipers (NAPA Total Eclipse w/lifetime warranty)
-New pads (Hawk LTS)
-New rotors (Centric Premium)
-New parking brake hardware (NAPA)
So I spent most of the week stockpiling parts:
In the meantime, I went to my local dealer and picked up a new washer and bolt for the top of the backing plate where I messed up the original washer. However, I realized while trying to change it earlier today that I can't replace them without removing the hub! The bolt is longer than I expected and it hits the back of the hub before coming out all the way.
So, I guess my question is: How critical is that washer? Obviously it needs to be flat and straight in order to do its job, but I don't think I want to deal with removing the rear hub just to change it. Instead, I carefully beat it back into a flat shape so I can rebuild the parking brake and finish up the rear brakes this weekend. Anybody have any thoughts on this? Here's what it looks like after a few minutes with a hammer and chisel:
I will start replacing everything else tomorrow morning, and I'm hoping to get it finished by the end of the day. I'm working in my driveway on jackstands, and the weather this week as been a little too cold for my liking, but tomorrow should get into the 40s again. It was in the low- to mid-20s earlier this week, so I'll take what I can get!