brake pad replacement

[mslim]

Just took my 2004 Runner in at 48k for an oil change and the dealership said the front pads have 6mm left and the rear pads have 7mm left. I haven't been hearing any wear indicator squealing yet. I don't have a shop manual so what is the bottom spec for wear? Should I replace them now or milk them a little longer? I don't want to score or warp the rotors.

Wondering??

 

[Uneek]

I would recommend against waiting for the brakes to squeak, unless you checked and know the wear indicators are in position when the pads reach minimum thickness.

My cousin made the mistake of doing that on his Camry and basically was using the backplate as friction material. :bash: Fortunately, he realized something didn't sound right when he heard grinding noises and the rotors were able to be resurfaced. The indicators on his brakes was never set to touch the rotors.

 

[greasefingers]

I believe that new ones are 11mm thick and the minimum thickness is 1 or 2mm. Of course anyone that drives on 1 mm of pad is not too smart.

I would suggest driving them until 75 % of the pad is gone. (0.25 x 11mm = 2.75mm) I would call it 3mm which is an 1/8 inch. I would keep driving for another 10,000 to 15,000 miles and measure them yourself.

 

[Border411]

When you do need to change them, try the Akebono pads from Tirerack. I just put them on my truck with Rabestos front rotor and a new rear and they are great pads. Almost no dust and very linear, progressive bite.

 

[nc211]

After trying to swap out aftermarket pads and rotors on my last car, 95' LS400, I gave up and replaced everything with OEM. I kept running into squeeks, groaning noise, clicking of pads, wobblie hop due to rotors not centerable, etc... Spent probably 3x's of what it would of cost me just to order new oem stuff from one of the online venders off of www.parts.com. The thing to remember is the shim kits and fitment kits. Many aftermarket pads are just pads, that slide into the calipers. I haven't tackled the brakes yet on my 4runner, so I have no idea what's in there, but judging by other Toyota products, I'm willing to bet there are shim kits that attach to the back of the pads to prevent squeeks, groans, clicking "pads shifting around in the caliper", etc...

With that said, my opinion is oem. But, again, I'm bit of a newbie with the 4runner, and haven't gotten to the brakes yet...but soon, as they're needing some attention these days.

 

[greasefingers]

Nope

 

[Koz]

You can't go wrong with OEM!

Koz