My 05 4Runner has about 41,000 miles on it and I am going to replace all the pads. The rotors still look like I can get some more usage out of them so I am on the fence about replacing those too. I called the dealership since I intend to go with the Toyota OEM pads and the guy I spoke to was telling me I might need pins which run about $4/each and some type of other kit which cost about $30. Now I have been doing my own brakes on my cars over the past 20 years, but this is the first time I will be doing it on the 4Runner. I only anticipated buying the pads and shims and maybe the rotors if needed once I do a closer inspection, but not all this other stuff this guy is telling me about.
Has anyone ever had to replace anything additional in a routine brake job on the 4runner other than the pads, shims and rotors provided that nothing is broken. I have not taken anything apart yet, but plan to do so sometime this weekend so I just wanted to get some feedback from the other members so see what your experience has been. Thanks in advance for any input/comments.

Run your fingers thru the rotors. If there are any rough spots (uneven) then get them re-surfaced.

Torque the bolts and lugs to spec to ensure everything comes together.

The pins the dealership are trying to sell are the retaining pins for the front pads (two per caliper), which have a bad tendency to get badly rusted. This can make them very difficult to remove. In some cases, you will have to sand/grind the excess rust scale build up from the pins before they can be driven out of the caliper, so you can remove the pads. I don't know what the other $30 dollar kit is, might be a spring kit. In any case, you might, or might not need it. It depends on what you find when you acutally start to take things apart.

Front & rear pads (OEM) changed at 52000k miles, no squealing yet, had about 20% left but a friend explained to me that if you wait till the indicators tell you to change the pads then your rotors are slowly being dug into by the indicator clips which is no good. Same friend who helped me do the maintenance told me the shims were still good so now I have front & rear shims sitting around.

Make sure you take a good look at the backside of the rotors before you decide to re-use them. Run your finger across the inside outer edge.

The pins you FOR SURE want to replace and be sure to use some brake lube on them. Not sure what the $30 kit would be unless its shims though or something.

Front pads & rotors replaced at 18k miles. I just bought the car from someone who rarely drove it. It had the steering wheel shake when stepping on brake, don't know why this happened at such low miles but mechanic checked out all the other components and said they were fine.

Can someone provide a step by step walkthrough link for replacing the front pads on a forth gen? This will be my first brake work, and I want to make sure I have a good go-by.

Thanks in advance.

I think I may be able to find one for ya...

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/mainte...lkthrough.html

Awesome. Thanks. I read this one a few weeks ago and thought it was more rotor centric.

I'll give it a shot.

Cheers.

Same deal pretty much, you won't need a hammer though

Again I would strongly suggest a careful examination of the back of the rotors before you decide you are going to re-use them.

Take a few minutes sometime BEFORE the night you decide to do the pads and put it up on stands, pull the tire with the wheel turned and get under there with a flashlight and check the inner face of the rotor before you decide you are going to reuse them.

My 2 cents is you are gonna be in there anyway already and the stock rotors are nothing special. Treat her right and get some Napa Ultra Premiums.

You convinced me. I ordered a set of ceramic pads and centric rotors. Looking forward to the install...

Projects ordered:
Brakes - Hawk ceramic pads/Centric rotors
Bilstein 5100 adjustable shocks
Bushing replacements

Thanks again for all the help.