Brake Rotor Installation?

ndcent

ndcent

New member
I need rotors bad, going to order some Brembo ones probably today.

Question is, is it fairly simple and can I install these myself or should I have the shop do it?

How hard of a job is it? I've done pads, rotors, etc on my various street bikes over the years but never on an auto.
 
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if you are doing a brake job, i see you already have the tundra rims, why not do the tundra brake upgrade, return your stock 4runner calipers as the core. i bought all my stuff at napa auto parts for just over $300 rotors pads and calipers, all brand new with lifetime warranty.
 
Well I'm a little broke at the moment and the thought of paying $100 for new rotors and doing the job myself is most friendly to my budget, or lack thereof.
 
Disk brakes are easy to work on, I'm sure there's multiple DIY's to help you through. You should be replacing the pads with new rotors as well though, as they will be worn to the rotors that are in need of replacing.
 
Pads are newer lifetime ceramic ones I had installed and the the shop just turned the rotors instead of replacing them, which are now total crap (this was a few months ago.)

Sounds like what I've read/searched it's a 2/3 out of 10 in terms of difficulty so I'm going to approach it.

I have yet to find a definitive DIY on this though.
 
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ndcent said:
Sounds like what I've read/searched it's a 2/3 out of 10 in terms of difficulty so I'm going to approach it.
Click to expand...

It's easy. I didn't even look through the forum to find steps. I just removed the wheel and took the brake pads out of the caliper (don't know if that's necessary, but I was replacing them anyway). Then, the only thing holding the rotor in place, is the caliper. Remove the caliper (the hardest part about the whole thing is finding something to support the caliper b/c I didn't want it to hang there by the brake line) and the rotor will slide out. I just had a buddy hold the caliper for about 10-15 seconds while I replaced the rotor. Then, put it all back.
 
why not get the 70$ ones, surely those brembos are gonna cost you a pretty penny. 4runner stock brakes suck anyways. get "ok" rotors and beat em.

IM AGAINST TURNING ROTORS. they warp even easier after you turn them.
 
I had a few minutes, and already had the pictures, so I'll make it easy for you...

Here's your write-up!

Take off your wheel, and you should be looking at this:

b5253c8c.jpg~original


Next, remove the bolt marked in this picture....

fa069c7b.jpg~original


Ignore the pliers and the clamping of the brake line... (I had to re-purpose these photos from my tundra brake upgrade thread). Once you have removed the bolt pictured above, the brake line will be allowed some movement, which allows you to remove the caliper without disconnecting the brake line.

Next, remove these two bolts....Again, ignore the fact that this is a Tundra caliper, the mounting bolts on the stock calipers are in the EXACT same spot...

cd801878.jpg~original


Once those bolts are out, the caliper can be removed... Pull it off the rotor, and use a wire coat hanger to hang it from the upper control arm or another convenient spot. The wire coat hanger can be bent into a double ended hook and is plenty strong to support the caliper.

Now grab the rotor and pull it off. Smack it with a block of wood or a rubber mallet if it's stuck on there.

Put the new rotor on the hub. Put two lug nuts on to hold the rotor in place.

Put the caliper back in place and put the bolts back in.

Put the bolt holding the brake line to the spindle back on.

Put your wheel back on.

Make sure everything is properly torqued...

That's it... you have just replaced your rotor. :trophy:

If you are replacing the pads, do the following before you put the caliper back on... (IGNORE the A, B, C, D, and all the red arrows)

Remove the wire retaining spring circled in green...

Then slide out the pins circled in yellow (there are two pins, I only circled one, but you can see the other one on the right) along w/the pad retainer (flat piece of metal shaped like a cross w/a curve in it)...

Put a c-clamp on the caliper (one side on the outside of the caliper, the other side on the surface of the pad) and use it to compress the pistons back into their seats to make room for the new (thicker) pads. Watch your fluid level in the master cylinder, it will go up as you compress the pistons, and you don't want it to overflow.

Now remove the pads in the direction of the blue arrows...

Re-install the new pads by reversing the sequence. Use your old pads as a reference for how to install any shims that come w/the new pads.

Then put the caliper back on the rotor and finish out the sequence above.

6a7def2f.jpg~original


Any questions?
 
Get some Wagner rotors from Advance auto, google some coupon codes, buy online pick up in store, they are warrentied for life if they ever warp...
 
bfad u r a bamf, thanks for the assistance i will totally do this myself.

I mentioned brembo bc I saw a dozen or so sets on eBay for around a hundred bucks, same with ebc and centrics premium line bit that's a good idea about wagner/coupon/warranty.
 
Make sure to torque the caliper bolts back to 90ft/lbs. A bungee cord works well to hold the caliper.
I just put some PF pads and Brembo 25488 rotors on my friend's wife's 4runner. I had to get new slide pins since one was rusted onto the caliper. Make sure to lube them when reinstalling as well as all contact points. If your brake fluid is clean, just suck some out of the MC when you press the pistons in. If dirty, crack open the bleeders.

I knew there was a link. Here you go. Save the pennies for the Tundra brakes. Do take the time to bed the pads into the rotors. And don't over torque the lug nuts.

4x4Wire - Toyota 4WD, Off-Highway, & 4x4 Information

Order from these folks, they were fast:
http://www.importrp.com/product.php?productid=113368&cat=0&page=1
 
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ndcent said:
bfad u r a bamf, thanks for the assistance i will totally do this myself.

I mentioned brembo bc I saw a dozen or so sets on eBay for around a hundred bucks, same with ebc and centrics premium line bit that's a good idea about wagner/coupon/warranty.
Click to expand...

No problem. Good luck w/the job.

LittleCaesar said:
Make sure to torque the caliper bolts back to 90ft/lbs. A bungee cord works well to hold the caliper.
I just put some PF pads and Brembo 25488 rotors on my friend's wife's 4runner. I had to get new slide pins since one was rusted onto the caliper. Make sure to lube them when reinstalling as well as all contact points. If your brake fluid is clean, just suck some out of the MC when you press the pistons in. If dirty, crack open the bleeders.

I knew there was a link. Here you go. Save the pennies for the Tundra brakes. Do take the time to bed the pads into the rotors. And don't over torque the lug nuts.
Click to expand...

^^^^^ This too. I was typing it up real quick at work so I didn't have time to go nuts, but Lil' Ceez covered the finer details very well.
 
ndcent said:
Sounds like what I've read/searched it's a 2/3 out of 10 in terms of difficulty
Click to expand...
Replacing rotors is actually a 1 out of 10. If you go with ceramic pads, get the grease stuff for the back of the pad and it will keep them from squealing. Do NOT put the grease on the braking surface or you will not be happy with your new brakes at all.
 
So the brake job was fairly easy for this total n00b.

I ran into a couple things I was unsure of...one the caliper didn't want to go over the new rotor. Called my buddy and he said put old rotor back on, caliper back on and open pistons with a screw driver a little. That worked fine.

Next issue was the other side rotor didn't wan't to come off - I read here hit it with a block of wood but that thing was stuck on there. Called my buddy again and he said since I was replacing the rotor it was fine to give it hell with a hammer directly, at 3 then 6 o'clock - took probably 20 hits but then finally came off.

Also the bungee cord tip was helpful. Also helpful was having a 18v impact driver, would have never gotten those calipers off with my crappy ratchet.

Truck is stopping smooth as ever, fun to hear those AT's bark.

Thanks for the help folks.
 
ndcent said:
So the brake job was fairly easy for this total n00b.

I ran into a couple things I was unsure of...one the caliper didn't want to go over the new rotor. Called my buddy and he said put old rotor back on, caliper back on and open pistons with a screw driver a little. That worked fine.

Next issue was the other side rotor didn't wan't to come off - I read here hit it with a block of wood but that thing was stuck on there. Called my buddy again and he said since I was replacing the rotor it was fine to give it hell with a hammer directly, at 3 then 6 o'clock - took probably 20 hits but then finally came off.

Also the bungee cord tip was helpful. Also helpful was having a 18v impact driver, would have never gotten those calipers off with my crappy ratchet.

Truck is stopping smooth as ever, fun to hear those AT's bark.

Thanks for the help folks.
Click to expand...

Future reference, I've hammered many rotors off, more than 20 hits sometimes, i hit directly on it, i was concerned the first few times, but its like "meh" now.

Secondly and more important, when pushing the pistons back make sure you dont "c0ck" the piston to one side or else your screwed, i usually get a C clamp and just slowly twist to get the pistons back in place.
 
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