Rotor resurfacing & brake job for my 2003 Sport 4runner.

I have 43,444 miles on it.
If you are just replacing the pads then do not remove the calipers.

Tools used: flat blade screw drive, 12 mm, 17 mm, sockets, rubber mallet, torque wrench, jack stands, bungee-cords, needle nose pliers, regular pliers, Emory cloth, C-clamp, & Fake Lizard

1- Place the parking brake on
2- Loosen front wheel lug nuts
3- Support T4R on jack stands and remove the wheels
4- With needle nose pliers, remove the two small clips that hold long pins in place (figure 2)
5- Remove pins and then the anti-rattle spring (figure 2)
6- Remove caliper bolts with 17 mm socket (figure 2)
7- Disconnect brake hose bracket with 12 mm socket (this provides room to hang caliper)
8- Hammer top & bottom of caliper to remove caliper from rotor. (because the pads are smaller (width) than the surface area of the rotor and an outer rust ridge forms.
9- Support caliper with bungee cord
10- Remove rust from area on rotor around the lug nuts. This will make it easier for the next job. The rotors can stick/rust onto the hub in this area. One of my rotors fell straight off. The other required a lot of pounding with a rubber mallet.
11- Bring rotors into shop to have them cut/machined for a true flat surface, or replace rotors with new ones. My cost $ 20 for both rotors.
12- place some 3 in 1 oil on the mating surface of the rotor to hub interface. This will burn off if any excess actually makes it to the rotor. I did not want to use anti-seize here. Has anyone else used anti-seize here?
13- remove the master brake cylinder reservoir fill cap.
14- using a C-clamp and the old pads squeeze the brake pistons back into their cylinders. This will allow room for the new brake pad thickness. Caution: watch the reservoir. It can overflow during this step. If the level is near the top then remove some fluid.
15- Install everything in the reverse order. Torque caliper bolts to 91 ft-lbs. My ceramic pads cost $ 55 total.

Many shops will not cut rotors today. I was told by the shop that this is because the manufactures use thinner rotors today to save money? And that often a cut rotor will warp over time because a thin rotor will not dissipate the heat as well. The Toyota has a minimum spec on this thickness. That value is 26 mm (1.024

Good write-up, did you do this outside in the rain?

No the rainstorm was quick and furious, in New Jersey today. About a

GreaseFingers...


Outstanding bro! Im glad that toyota gives us decent rotors that can be cut a few times.. Here on base I can get the rotors cut for 5 bucks each! WHile I wait!

Let us know how those wagner pads settle in.

Jake

can you post pics of the old pads? what prompted you to do the brake job? Where the brakes fading? Or was this kind of on the preventative maint side of things?

Did your rotors have any nasty grooves?

Great write-up. This should be a sticky.
Now we all know what we have to look forward to.
Thanks!

I can't thank you enough for the detailed description and pictures of your brake job. I am just about to do mine and needed some of the information and small details you included with this posting. By the way, in comparison to the Toyota brake pads are the Wagners better or cheaper? Fantastic pictures, I didn't know the gecko helped you with the job? I hope it doesn't work for GEICO!

Sticky material!!!

How did you go about "bedding in" the new pads? I hear that they have to be correctly done so the pads can wear correctly...

The reason why I decided to change them was because I felt a slight pulsation under heavy braking, it was not the ABS. So in order to inspect the thickness, you really have to remove them. You can try to place a scale on the rotor and measure the pad thickness, with the caliper in place, but it is not a great way to do this. As you can see from the photo below, I still have 2 to 3 mm of pad. But minimum thickness is 1 mm; this is because the rivets will start to grind into the rotor at this thickness. I could still get a few thousand more miles out of them, but my Gecko told me to Do It Now.

The new Wagner ceramic pads cost $ 55 at a local auto parts store called RPM. I did not price the dealer Pads as Wagner has been making Pads for a long long time. There were no special instructions that came with the box, so I guess there is nothing to do as far as a break-in period is concerned?

Nice job. I have 2 questions:
1) You make the statement above about not removing the caliper if you only change the pads. How can you do this without compressing the cylinders?
2) You used ceramic replacements. Any idea what the original OEM pad material is? Is the braking distance different? What's the advantage of ceramic?
Thanks.

This is the first time I have ever owned a vehicle with four piston brakes. With 1 or 2 pistons, the caliper floats on slide pins. Here, one can use a very large C-clamp on the caliper itself to drive the pistons back in. I have no idea how it would be done on our vehicle without removing the calipers, since they are fixed to the steering knuckle and do not float/slide. The FSM states that the calipers do not need to be removed when changing the pads. I always have my rotors cut when replacing the pads, so I always completely remove the calipers. I like a completely smooth finish on the rotors since new pads are absolutely flat. I do not want the irregular surface of a worn rotor to wear the new pads faster. Plus I bet it will stop much better if both surfaces are new/flat.

The ceramic pads look exactly like a regular pad. You cannot see the ceramic material. This leads me to believe that it is a composite. They probably mix bits of ceramic in with whatever a regular pad is made out of. They do appear lighter in color (a light grey) than a regular pad. But they are by no means a brittle material simular to China. I have only driven to Duncan Donuts so far with the new pads. So I can not comment on them other than they feel like new brakes.

I do not know what material the OEM pads are. I do not believe the ceramic pads will make much of a noticeable difference. For all I know it could be a marketing scam. I guess time will tell? I should know more the next time I need to replace them. I will see if the ceramic extended the life of the pads and see if they wore the rotors faster or not. This is the first time that I have used them.

How do you push the pistons back in if you are just changing the pads without taking off the calipers? That sounds hard, considering the fact that there isn't much space left between the caliper and the rotor to put any tool.

The FSM did not explain how to push the pistons back into the cylinders. It just stated to remove the pads after the retaining pins and anti-rattle spring are out of the way. The old pads could be tapped out using a screw driver and hammer, but you cannot get the replacement pads back in with out squeezing the pistons completely back in. Once the pads are removed, there is a gap between the pistons and the rotor. I have heard of people wedging a screw driver in-between this space and forcing the pistons back in this way. However I do not see this working well and one could gouge the rotor? Also the force on the piston with a screw driver is not distributed evenly. So I would worry about jamming the piston or getting it cocked (meaning tilted slightly in the cylinder) I do not know exactly, I am only expressing my concerns here.

I thought so, it's better to take the calipers off and push the pistons the right way than trying to do it iwith a screw driver. The only dilema I have is what kind of pad should I use, Toyota or Wagner?