2008 T4R Ltd AWD V-8 Front Caliper Rebuild?

[lemii]

Has anyone rebuilt a front brake cailper on a 2008 4Runner (or similar) where you had to separate the two halves of the caliper and re-assemble them? I understand Toyota does not intend for owners to do this, but due to an oversight, mistake, blunder (whatever you want to call it) on my part, I need to re-assemble one with a new cross over seal; this is a gasket on the brake fluid channel that runs from one side of the caliper to the other.

I'd like to know why Toyota is against tearing these things apart, they look pretty basic.

Any help or pointers would be appreciated folks.

Caliper

The recessed seat for the cross over seal is in the center:

Thanks.

 

[bluemarlin04]

I would just go buy another one.

 

[lemii]

I would just go buy another one.

There are no other issues with the caliper. I removed it to remove the rotor to have it turned, but I loosened the wrong bolts which allowed the seal to fall out of its seat resulting in brake fluid leaking all over the garage floor. When I re-tightened the bolts I pinched the seal - I didn't know at the time that it had slid out of place.

So, why spend $90 to $200 when all that's wrong is a pinched gasket? I'm getting an aftermarket cross over seal from Carlson Brakes essentially free of charge. As I see it, I simply place the seal back in its seat, and set the one half onto the other half in the vice and properly install and tighten the four bolts. Am I being naive, or is it really this simple?

Thanks.

 

[jdkilroy]

Not sure without taking one apart myself, You could be fine, it's certainly not a complicated piece of equipment but there may be some use of specialized equipment to replace the various seals correctly.

Thing is, its one of those essential pieces of equipment that you really want to be able to count on ....

 

[lemii]

I received the cross over seal from Carlson yesterday as promised. I installed it with the one caliper half in a vice and placed the other half of the caliper on top of it, making sure the seal did not move. I tightened the bolts in three or four increments up to 50 ft-lbs (I did not have a torque spec, but based on the size of the bolts, I used some engineering judgment).

I installed the caliper and filled the brake fluid resevoir, then had a neighbor help me bleed the brake line.

I then took the vehicle out for a test run and hit the brakes very hard several times, even getting the ABS to engage on dry pavement; checked for leaks...nothing.

I hooked up our 4600 lb camper and again tested the brakes, then I removed the wheel and closely inspected the caliper and brake lines for any leaks...everything was nice and dry.

So, thanks to God, it's fixed and ready to roll!

 

[aha2988]

nice! I hate I missed the initial post.. I did the exact same thing the first time i went into my brakes to have the rotors turned. :redbrick: I looked around my garage for a similar o-ring. found one that was pretty close and put it in there. It worked great. All it needs is just a small o-ring just slightly taller than the recessed area.

I later had to replace that particular caliper due to a pesky piston that seized up