Tools needed:

New Rotors (I used Napa Ultra Premium)
New Pads (I used Toyota PN 04465YZZ1A-TM)
New Caliper Slide Pins (I used Napa ones)

(6) pack of beer (soda will work in a pinch)
(1) large breaker bar for 17mm socket
(1) socket wrench for 17mm socket
(1) 17mm deepwell socket
(1) 15/32 socket and socket wrench
(2) pairs of Nitrile gloves
(1) packet of caliper grease
(1) can of brake cleaner
(1) can of BP Blaster
(1) large hammer
(1) pair of needle nose pliers
(1) large jackstand
(1) bucket or box about half as tall as your wheels.
(1) roll/box of shop towels
(1) medium sized c-clamp
(1) old towel



The actual walkthrough:

Pop the hood.

Pick a side and break loose the wheel lugs.

Jack up the front of the truck until the tire leaves the ground half an inch or so and put a large jackstand securely on the frame.

Remove the lugs and remove the wheel.

Open the garage door (if its not already open), put on your Nitrile gloves and spray some PB Blaster into the lug holes on the rotor. Use more than you think you need. Watch out PB Blaster comes out in a pretty fast stream, you don't want splatter getting in your eyes.

Remove the slide pin retaining clips (on back of the caliper) with your needle nose pliers. Put them in a safe place.

Use your hammer to tap the old slide pins out with the new slide pins. Dont lose the M-shaped spring that is on one end. Leave the old brake pads in there.

Using your 15/32 socket remove the brake line retaining bolt from above the caliper and break the small metal plate loose (this should give you a few additional inches of slack in the line).



Using your 17mm deepwell socket (deepwell so it clears the hardline because socket extensions rob torque and can break) and breaker bar, crank off the (2) large bolts that are holding on the calipers. They are on the backside of the calipers and are inward a bit. BE CAREFUL NOT TO HIT THE HARDLINE WHEN WRENCHING AWAY. These will be tough to break loose, probably impossible without a good sized breaker bar... then switch to your ratchet and back them out about half way or until they start to turn fairly easily.

Crack a beer.

Put your bucket upside down (or use a box) under the caliper and wad up the old towel and put it on top of the box, then remove the caliper bolts. CAREFULLY slide the caliper off the rotor and place it on the box/bucket being careful NOT TO BEND OR STRESS THE BRAKE LINE OR SENSOR LINE.



Under the hood, crack open the brake fluid reservoir(I just let the cap sit on the opening).

Place your C-clamp over the old brake pads and back of the caliper to SLOWLY compress the pistons back into the caliper (cross your fingers they are not frozen). The top of the piston should be about flush with the seal when its all the way in. Repeat the process for the other pair of pistons on the other side of the caliper BEING MINDFUL OF THE HARDLINE.

I forgot to take a picture of this step but I found one on google images that's pretty similar HERE: http://supercar-engineering.com/rubb...ad/Image17.jpg

Under the hood, tighten the cap on the brake fluid reservoir.

Remove the old brake pads.

Use your brake cleaner to hose down the caliper and get all the crud off.

Crack another beer while you wait for that to evaporate.

Place a small amount of brake lube on the end of the pistons and piston seals as well as the new slide pins.



Put the new outboard brake pad into the caliper (the one without the funny metal tab) and start to put in the new slide pins. Put the M-spring back in the one end and slide the pins in about 3/4 of the way. Put the new inboard brake pad into the caliper (the one with the little metal tab) and put the pins in the rest of the way. Secure the slide pins with the cotter pins.

Remove the old rotor... This thing will likely want to hold on for dear life so you will likely need to really whack the thing. Using your large hammer and striking into the wheel well (towards the engine)... hit the old rotor 3-4 times on one side in the outer portion (last 2-3 inches) and then alternate to the other side of the rotor and give it another good 3-4 hits there (still hitting towards the engine). The idea is you want to break it loose by knocking it crooked. Be careful not to hit yourself, the side of your truck, or anything else in the wheel well. This may take awhile, just keep at it... it will come loose.

When you hear it let loose, crack another beer and celebrate.

Clean off both sides of the new rotor with brake clean and then put the new rotor on. Put 2 or 3 lug nuts on to keep it straight.

Put the caliper back into place and start the 2 large bolts. Once they are both in, tighten them down with the ratcheting wrench. Once they feel tight, switch to the breaker bar and really tighten them down. Move the bucket or box out of the wheel well and put it out of the way somewhere.

Secure the 15/32 brake line retaining bolt.

Remove the 2 or 3 lugs you put on now.





Reinstall the wheel and finger tighten all the lugs. Tighten them down in a criss-cross pattern until they feel snug.

Using your floorjack, raise the truck a hair and then remove the jackstand and put it off to the side. Slowly lower the truck until the wheel is on the ground and the suspension is starting to compress.

Tighten down the lugs in a criss cross pattern.

Lower the truck the rest of the way.

Repeat these steps for the other side.

Seriously appreciate this! I'm going to be undertaking this in the next few months. Need more pics though!!


Thanks again though, this will definitely help.

Added more images.

Awesome!:bowdown: Link added to the sticky at the top of this section.

awsome thread.!!! looks complicated to me if i do it myself. props. good work

Good job on this walk though! wish there was one on the SR5 upgrade.

91ft-lbs for the brake caliper mounting bolts.

First off, thank you for the very detailed instructions.

I just changed my rotors/brakes on our 03 V8 Limited (EBC slotted, with Hawk LTS pads) and what a difference over stock. I've already changed the calipers last year (actually dealer did) due to frozen pistons (both sides).

Your instructions saved me well over a few hundred in labor at the dealership. In addition, I know for a fact they don't use a torque wrench on my wheels. Nearly broke a nut trying to get them off. And the caliper bolts..... ya... I needed a beer after that ordeal. I torqued them per this thread and next time they should come off much easier.

Totals (AutoAnything):
$183 EBC Slotted Disks Front pair
$70 Hawk LTS Break Pads
Free Shipping

Northern Tool
$30 20-125lbs torque wrench
$25 Breaker Bar (without this, no way would I have been able to get the caliper bolts off)
Free Shipping

Thanks again,
Scott

3.5 Hours of my time (next time I should be able to cut at least an hour off)

Glad it helped. Congrats on the brake job!

Nothing better than doing a job like that yourself... knowing its done right and that you saved some money doing it.

Thanks for the write up and pics!! I also need to do this, with 90k on factory pads and rotors I think im due. I have been debating about doing this myself, the write up is encouraging.

I also just hit 90k... Been hearing a noise out of the front right... Took it into Brakes Plus for a "free" inspection... They came back saying there was only 1/32's left on all 4 and that the rotors on the front need to be replaced... They proceded to qoute me over $500 for the job... I said yeah right and told them to put my truck back together I'll do it myself!!! I've changed my old cars brakes before... It was pretty easy, this doesn't seem that much more complicated... I ended up buying ceramic Duralast pads from AutoZone for like $60... They were the best they had and rated as "original equipment replacement". But wondering if I should return em and just go to the dealer and buy OEM? Also was going to buy Duralast rotors for $60 per... Again would I be better getting OEM? My truck is my baby... As well as my transportation to make an income. However Unless its incredibly affordable, I don't think I can budget for upgraded pads/rotors, but open to suggestions. Also I HAVE to drive about 300 miles more at least! Before I can do the replacement! At 1/32's am I pushing it to far? Any suggestions on good money saving sites?
Thanks!!

Excellent write-up. I probably would not have undertaken this task without a write-up this clear. I literally had my tools, a print out of this thread, and a couple beers, and it was enough to get me through my first pad/rotor change. Felt great to do it myself instead of having the mechanic do it.

One issue I had that you might want to watch out for:
My 4Runner came from the used dealer with 17" wheels on it. I bought 31326 rotors (337.8mm diameter) and proceeded with the swap. Getting to the last step, the rotor would not fit in properly with the caliper. I measured the one that came off at around 319mm, which was the spec on the 31327, meant for 16" wheels. My only guess is that my vehicle came from the factory with 16" wheels and was later swapped to 17" without regard to the brakes.

Glad to hear you got it done!

Yeah, for some reason all parts stores think the larger rotors are some how associated with the size of the wheels.

As far as I know the Sport model is the only one that got the larger rotors. My SR5 came with the optional Toyota 17" wheels but still has the smaller rotors also.

Make sure you only take out 2 caliper bolts on each side. I have a 04 4Runner and I took all 4 bolts out on one side which takes the caliper apart. I had brake fluid all over the damn place. I was able to find the little o rings that popped out and got the caliper back together and all was good. I did not do it on the other side....haha

Ducman thank you so much for your walkthrough! Used it today and got my brakes changed out myself, it was much easier than I expected and as usual, all my pre-job dread was for nothing.

Pretty much everything came apart much easier than I expected based on your instructions (though living on So Cal and not Wisconsin meant I didn't have as much rust to contend with as you did), and the only deviation I made was to wait to remove the pins until I put the new pads in. Old pins came out very easily (despite some slight surface corrosion) but I replaced them with new ones anyways since they were inexpensive. I also used a rubber mallet to remove the rotors since I was saving them.

On that note, I had bought a new set of rotors to have just in case, and it turns out i'm glad I had them. I called a number of places to try and get my old rotors turned, and many told me atleast 60-90 minutes to do it. I understand retail time lines (I work in retail) but that seems like a really long time to me. Anyone else get quoted similar wait times for 2 rotors?

What I decided to do was use the new rotors I bought, and I'll get the old ones turned eventually and put them back on down the road at the next change.