brake job question

[thejuice]

2012 Limited, looking to change rotors/pads on all 4 wheels this weekend and I have a couple questions:

1. What are the torque specs for the caliper bolts?
2. Just for fun, I got a quote from a dealership, and the service desk warned me that the front calipers tend to break on 4R's.. anybody else hear of that? They didn't elaborate on what exactly breaks, frozen pistons maybe?

To share some data.. 4 OEM rotors & pads were $410 shipped. Dealer wanted $1100 for parts & labor. At 40k miles my pads looked like they had plenty of life left, so I planned to reinspect at 50k. The pads wore unevenly. My 4R, bought new, is at 47k miles and 2 rotors developed gouges after a trip last weekend. I was surprised that they only lasted this long since I drive mostly highway, get 21-22mpg summer, tow short distances maybe 4 times per year. Did the winter road salt contribute to premature pad wear? It seems like most owners are getting ~70k miles on their pads.

 

[Intruder]

Torque specs are probably in the FSM linked here http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/92594-modifications-write-ups-quick-links-faqs.html

 

[thejuice]

D'oh, didn't check the Factory Service Manual link. Will look there tonight, office firewall is blocking the link.

 

[FrontRange4Runner]

2012 Limited, looking to change rotors/pads on all 4 wheels this weekend and I have a couple questions:

1. What are the torque specs for the caliper bolts?
2. Just for fun, I got a quote from a dealership, and the service desk warned me that the front calipers tend to break on 4R's.. anybody else hear of that? They didn't elaborate on what exactly breaks, frozen pistons maybe?

I believe it was the 4th gen that had an issue with frozen calipers. This, so far has been a non issue on the 5th.

 

[BobsTrail]

Torque

From TIS for my 2013. 91 for the front and 65 for the rear.

 

[thejuice]

thanks! I’ll try to take some photos for a how-to when I swap them this weekend.

 

[JayceeP]

I just had my 2012 LE with 38,500km in for an oil change and brake seevice. They advised me at my last oil change that my rear pads were wearing fast. Anyway, glad I agreed to pay $100 for the brake seevice (which should have been done last oil change). Turns out my rear rotors were scored and they replaced everything under warranty. I only paid $50 for the front brake seevice instead.

40k miles though, might just be out of warranty?

 

[Cinic]

2012 Limited, looking to change rotors/pads on all 4 wheels this weekend and I have a couple questions:

1. What are the torque specs for the caliper bolts?
2. Just for fun, I got a quote from a dealership, and the service desk warned me that the front calipers tend to break on 4R's.. anybody else hear of that? They didn't elaborate on what exactly breaks, frozen pistons maybe?

If you're yanking the rear rotors, there is a second pair of bolts (beyond the slide pin bolts) that attach the 'rear disc brake cylinder mounting' bracket to the axle hub. You have to remove that 'mounting' to pull the rotor. The torque spec on those two is 105 N-m or 77 ft-lbf.

 

[nevada]

I just had my 2012 LE with 38,500km in for an oil change and brake seevice. They advised me at my last oil change that my rear pads were wearing fast. Anyway, glad I agreed to pay $100 for the brake seevice (which should have been done last oil change). Turns out my rear rotors were scored and they replaced everything under warranty. I only paid $50 for the front brake seevice instead.

40k miles though, might just be out of warranty?

under warranty? I have never seen brake pads/rotors covered under warranty. it is a wear item.

 

[JayceeP]

under warranty? I have never seen brake pads/rotors covered under warranty. it is a wear item.

Yes, under warranty. Instead of paying $100 for the brake service I paid $50 for the fronts.

 

[Americas High Five]

thanks! I’ll try to take some photos for a how-to when I swap them this weekend.

:clap2:

I just ordered new front rotors/pads for my '10 LTD with about 75K miles. Photos would be great and please let us know if you have any advice after the fact that will make the job easier

 

[thejuice]

I will post a video soon, hopefully this week. Here are some notes:

• Easy job, but not as easy on some other vehicles.
• Toyota recommends 3 types of grease for various brake components. I stopped by a couple dealerships and called some more, and nobody had the correct Toyota grease. The techs on the shop floor of a couple dealerships showed me what they use, essentially CRC and Permatex.
• The dealerships around here reuse brake shims. I read on a Toyota forum that Toyota recommends replacing shims with each brake job, but the techs said that as long as they don't see significant rust or heat damage, they just reuse the shims.
• The 'proper' grease debate pops up in a lot of Toyota forums, but I couldn't find a definitive resolution, just a lot of 'this works for me' answers.
• I understand why the techs don't use all 3 types of grease since it's nearly impossible not to mix the 3 greases when putting the pads in place.

My rear pad froze because of rusted pins, which damaged my rear rotor. One of my front rotors had very uneven wear and needed to be replaced, even though the pads and rotors were otherwise well within spec. It seems lots of other owners get 70k miles on brakes, and a friend in new england has almost 70k hard miles on his taco's original brakes, so I'm a little annoyed that my brakes didn't make it to 50k. Oh well, the new OEM pads/rotors feel great. Hopefully they last longer than the original set.

 

[Kennyr44]

70,000 highway miles for one owner and 70,000 city miles are not the same. My wifes got 12k already and leaving for Florida keys from Denver tomorrow. We will have over 20k in one year, 2/3 highway miles. Those pads will most likely be like bran new. I had a Isuzu trooper that went 110k miles and the pads were still 20% left. A trooper mechanic told me that was normal. The motor was worn out at 50k though. They are oil drinkers. I have heard taxi cab drivers go through brake pads a bunch. The Volvos I worked on ate pads every 25,000 miles and the rotors wore thin and out of specs in 50,000. Great for me but not the owners.

 

[Intruder]

70,000 highway miles for one owner and 70,000 city miles are not the same.

Exactly. Also things like VSC and ATRAC use the brakes. If you live somewhere with lots of icy roads or off road a lot with ATRAC on you'll wear your brakes faster as well.

 

[thejuice]

70,000 highway miles for one owner and 70,000 city miles are not the same.

I totally agree, which is why my first post was partly a question asking if I got unlucky. I stated that I drive mostly highway, get 21-22mpg summer, and rarely tow. I wish I could play offroad like I used to in other trucks, but this 4R lives on pavement. (Ok, it has seen fire roads a few times, but that doesn't really count )

47k seems a little low for a highway commuter compared to the other reports in this forum. I'm not trying to come off as complaining and I'm not bashing 4R's, I just wish I could have gotten more miles out of my factory brakes.

I'll post a how-to video soon..

 

[pobando]

We need a tutorial

I'll post a how-to video soon..

Would love to check out that video whenever you get a chance... In need of at least a rear brake job sooner than later. Dealer wants nearly $300 for resurfacing and new pads, again just for the rear. I have done a brake job (rotors and pads) on Volvo s60 R... super easy, but had watched several videos and saw many photos prior to completing the work. Thanks in advance! :beer: