Brake Service

[N8G]

I have an 05 Limited V8 with 67k in need of its first brake service. The brakes are pretty soft right now unless I really step on them. Anyway, the question I have is just replacing the pads (assuming the rotors aren't warped) ok, or I am just throwing money away and will have to replace both sooner that way? Seems like some people are in both camps?

Also, I have read some of the threads about the calipers freezing and it make me somewhat concerned about taking it to a non-dealer shop to get it serviced as they may not know now to deal with those issues. What is recommended? Stick with a dealer for it all? Get the parts cheaper from the internet and have a local shop do the replacements and rotor turning as it something anyone can do easily?

Want to get them done and new tire before the snow flies, which isn't too far off now. Any advice appreciated.

 

[jimithing]

IMO there's no way to tell if your rotors are still good or not. Seeing them in person and feeling how your car drives is really the only way. Do you have any vibration in the steering wheel when you brake? It may be possible to just get them turned and reuse the same rotors. Or they might not need turning at all, it just depends.

Kind of unlikely you have a frozen caliper or you'd probably have noticed it by now. Hard pulling to one side while just driving and poor gas mileage.

Personally if I ever need non-warranty work done I'll be going to a local independent Toyota mechanic. That's what I used to do when I owned a Honda too. I found the service and prices to be much better than the stealership. You might try to see if you can find one around your house.

But brakes really aren't that hard to DIY if you've got a couple extra hours one weekend. I'm sure there's a writeup on this site somewhere for brakes.

 

[N8G]

No pulling or poor gas mileage so likely no stuck calipers. Rotors feel ok when braking, no vibrations, and I don't see any scoring. Ok, to just put new pad on then?

 

[SUBTEGRAL]

Resurfacing the rotors is (should be) always done when putting on new brake pads.

Just have these two things done.