5th Gen Brake Upgrade

[88Center]

2008 4Runner Sport V6 4WD

5th Gen Brake Upgrade for 4th Gen 4Runners

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In 2018, I upgraded to 5th gen brakes. Used Centric Rotors and Centric Calipers on all four, with Akebono Pads. Never had a problem with them since installation.

But this past week, the piston froze on the right rear caliper. It caused a bad clicking, scraping sound, which was not constant. It only scraped every rotation of the tire, so perhaps my rotor was warped when the piston initially locked?

Went to fix, but Centric no longer makes the caliper, so I ordered two new OEM 5th gen calipers to replace both rears, as well as two new rotors. Found them on holiday sale from a dealership in NY.

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PARTS

Brake Pads (from Amazon)

Akebono ACT976 (front) - 54.24
Akebono ASP606A (rear) - 52.78

Shipping: 0
Tax: 0
Total: 105.02

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Brake Calipers (from Toyota Dealership online)

Toyota 47730-34030 (rear right) - 160.64
Toyota 47750-34030 (rear left) - 168.80

Subtotal: 329.44
Tax: 0.00
Shipping: 40.22

Discount: -49.42 (holiday code: 15OFFDEC25)
Free Shipping: -40.22

Total: 280.02

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Brake Rotors (from TH Motorsports)

StopTech 126.44174SR (front right) - 158.88
StopTech 126.44174SL (front left) - 156.82
StopTech 126.44175SR (rear right) - 122.26
StopTech 126.44175SL (rear left) - 122.26

Shipping: 7.99

Total: 615.09

Not happy with TH Motorsports. Their shipping system sucks. At first they said it would come in two packages, (3 rotors + 1 rotor). Then a package arrived with 2 rotors. Check website again and now it said 2 more packages were coming, with 3 rotors (2 rotors + 1 rotor). Second package arrived with 1 rotor. I check website again. Says another package coming with 2 rotors. Third package arrives with 1 rotor.

Yes, I received all four rotors, but their shipping emails/tracking had my quite confused on what was going on. Also, I never got a response from them on multiple questions I had before I placed order. Multiple emails, no response. Would have tried calling but could not find the phone number on their website. Went to their contact page and it shows only email addresses. Eventually found their phone number in small print on their website footer, but the phone number disappears if you go to their contact page.

TH Motorosports also doesn't do core returns like RockAuto, so I probably just pissed away some extra money there for the rotors.

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Brake Grease (from Amazon)

Permatex Ceramic - 16.90

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018PSASU

Brake Silicon (from Amazon)

Permatax Silicon - 10.51

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F1DLWCHX/

 

[88Center]

Brake Lubrication, Cleaning, and Components

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Lubrication

Watched many videos on brakes and it's interesting the different ways people choose to lubricate and clean the components.

Method 1: Care Care Nut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcGPRntO2Ws

Method 2: TRQ (Tech 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt3V6jXEACA

Method 3: TRQ (Tech 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXGSY62oD98

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Cleaning

Method 1: Car Care Nut

Again, I prefer to follow Car Care Nut. He uses a wire brush on the wheel hub assembly, and a parts washing machine to clean the calipers. He specifically calls out mechanics who use abrasive pads on mini-grinders on the hub. He says you should avoid using these on rotors. The rotors need to be as dead flat as possible so they mate perfectly with the rotor. Using a grinder could create micro waves on the surface. He suggests using only a wire brush to clean the hub. I don't have a parts cleaning machine so I just used a wire brush and some brake cleaner on the calipers. Worked like a charm.

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Wear Indicator Clips

Wear indicator clips (squeeler clips) are tiny little metal clips that attach to the ears of the pads. Some Toyota models come with two clips per caliper (one per pad), and others come with one clip per caliper (one for the inside pad only).

Watch the Care Cut Nut. He makes an important point. Wear indicator clips go on the top of the pads in the front brakes, and on the bottom of the pads in the rear, on most Toyota models.

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Plug for Rotor

Car Care Nut (time stamp 30:30), he discusses a rubber plug for a hole in the rotor. The hole is used as the access point for adjusting the e-brake / parking brake.

If you buy aftermarket rotors, you're not going to get this plug. But I've not been able to verify if this plug comes with OEM rotors, or if 4Runners ever had this kind of plug in the rotors. I've not been able to confirm if 4Runners should have this rubber plug or not.

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[88Center]

Will add more info here.

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[Drcoffee]

Rockkauto for everythng. Toyota calipers are known to seize. Why pay extra for that feature?
The only thing I buy from stealership are seals. Aftermarket suck

 

[88Center]

Rockkauto for everythng. Toyota calipers are known to seize. Why pay extra for that feature?
The only thing I buy from stealership are seals. Aftermarket suck

17 yrs with this vehicle, the only piston I've had seize is a caliper from Centric. I guess I've been pretty lucky. I've seen all the posts about frozen brake pistons over the years.

I only plan to keep this another 2-3 yrs. Then I'm selling probably for GX 550 or Land Cruiser. And the Toyota ones with discount were pretty much same cost.

And yah, Rockauto from now on. Still not sure why I went with someone else this time around. I have ordered plenty from RockAuto in the past and never had a problem.

 

[Cezar]

Rockkauto for everythng. Toyota calipers are known to seize. Why pay extra for that feature?
The only thing I buy from stealership are seals. Aftermarket suck

Just the rebuilt ones cos the only factory doing the work sucks.

Protip: it's way easier to just pop the piston out and clean it up than to go get another pair of rebuilds that will end up having the same issue.

 

[Drcoffee]

I rebuilt a caliper once. When I got inside, there was pitting, and corrosion and then trying to get it back together without damaging the new seals was a challenge. Considering there is no redundant braking system on the truck, Id rather buy rebuilds and just install and go.