Brake wows continue for me

greasefingers

greasefingers

New member
Well I am pissed. I had a pulsation up front like warped rotors. When replacing the rotors & pads I realized one of the caliper pistons was frozen, which led me to buying two new front calipers and delaying the jobs until I had all of the parts.

I bought new calipers (aftermarket re-man ones), dealer pads, and a friend gave me a pair of drilled & slotted rotors (which I was never a big fan of for a street vehicle). I actually ordered Brembo front rotors but TireRack has had them back-ordered. I ordered them six weeks ago.

Anyway, Test driving it today, I feel as if 90 % of the pulsation is gone. This is not good as it should be perfect now. And it probably means that it will only get worse over time.

I did do several slow-downs (without coming to a complete stop) for bedding-in the pads/rotors. I also washed the rotors with plenty of brake fluid to remove the oil that all new rotors have on them.

I did learn one thing: To bleed the brakes you first must turn the ignition key to the second position (On) while pumping the pedal. This activates a servo motor that is important to keep the pressure up.

I have done many many brake jobs in my time. I fro this that if is not perfect from the start then something is wrong. I do not think that it will bed and go away.

Toyota wants a ridiculous amount of money for rotors which is why I accepted the free ones, plus I ordered Brembo
 
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Possible your friends rotors are not running true and made need to be chucked on a lathe? Do you have a dial indicator to check the run out with the disc mounted? Another possible reason are worn front end parts. How about your wheel bearings, maybe worn? How about lifting the front end with jack stands have a friend wiggle the tire side to side and in and out while you are underneath checking for play in the steering parts. Just throwing ideas out.
 
I appreciate your ideas. Yes the rotor quality has been on my mind.

I noticed after one day of driving that there seems to be a lot friction material left on the rotor.

I do not believe that drilled & slotted rotors can be turned down?

I would hope that the front end parts still have a lot of life on them since the vehicle is not that old, but you never know. Jacking the front end up is a good idea to check.

I do have a dial caliper. The Toyota spec is: maximum run-out = 0.0020 inch. This to me is tighter than a ducks ass. I believe every vehicle must have at least this run-out?
 
greasefingers said:
Well I am pissed. I had a pulsation up front like warped rotors. When replacing the rotors & pads I realized one of the caliper pistons was frozen, which led me to buying two new front calipers and delaying the jobs until I had all of the parts.

I bought new calipers (aftermarket re-man ones), dealer pads, and a friend gave me a pair of drilled & slotted rotors (which I was never a big fan of for a street vehicle). I actually ordered Brembo front rotors but TireRack has had them back-ordered. I ordered them six weeks ago.

Anyway, Test driving it today, I feel as if 90 % of the pulsation is gone. This is not good as it should be perfect now. And it probably means that it will only get worse over time.

I did do several slow-downs (without coming to a complete stop) for bedding-in the pads/rotors. I also washed the rotors with plenty of brake fluid to remove the oil that all new rotors have on them.

I did learn one thing: To bleed the brakes you first must turn the ignition key to the second position (On) while pumping the pedal. This activates a servo motor that is important to keep the pressure up.

I have done many many brake jobs in my time. I fro this that if is not perfect from the start then something is wrong. I do not think that it will bed and go away.

Toyota wants a ridiculous amount of money for rotors which is why I accepted the free ones, plus I ordered Brembo
Click to expand...
 
Check the rears

I think you may have some warpage on the rear discs. I had this happen on my 2000 Z71. Replaced front pads and rotors and still had the pulse. Turned rear discs and drum in hat for parking brake too and pulse was gone.
 
Thanks Techwrench, yes I took my Dremel with the wire wheel attachment to the hub portion (the lip part that rusts the rotors onto the hub) and then I placed a very thin film of brake grease on this surface. I also own a torque wrench and set it to 81 ft-lbs.

Kry226, I recently did a rear pad replacement. The rear rotors looked like a nice shinny metal mirror so I did nothing to the rotors. I do believe that the vibration is coming from the front.

This one has me stumped! I am watching the F1 GP right now, so maybe after that it will give some encouragement to get back to wrenching. Then again I may just drive it for a week and see what happens. I plan on bleeding not fronts again but this time I will also bleed the rears just for kicks and to remove some fluid.
 
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greasefingers said:
Thanks Techwrench, yes I took my Dremel with the wire wheel attachment to the hub portion (the lip part that rusts the rotors onto the hub) and then I placed a very thin film of brake grease on this surface. I also own a torque wrench and set it to 81 ft-lbs.

Kry226, I recently did a rear pad replacement. The rear rotors looked like a nice shinny metal mirror so I did nothing to the rotors. I do believe that the vibration is coming from the front.

This one has me stumped! I am watching the F1 GP right now, so maybe after that it will give some encouragement to get back to wrenching. Then again I may just drive it for a week and see what happens. I plan on bleeding not fronts again but this time I will also bleed the rears just for kicks and to remove some fluid.
Click to expand...

Not sure where you should go from here. If your sure you didn't have any vibration before you started the front brakes, then I would also tend to think the problem is in the front, and not the back.

Coincidentally I just finished doing my fronts today. I had checked the pads three months ago, when rotating winter tires off for the summer rubber, and figured I needed to do them soon. So, I picked up a pair of Advance Wearever gold pads this morning. I didn't think I needed rotors because they looked good when I checked the pads the first time. Well, when I pulled it apart, both rotors had more rust rings in the inner surfaces than I was happy with, so I found a set of rotors from NAPA (Advance couldn't get them for a day). The NAPA rotors cost $50. a set more than Advance, but they had them ready to go. I found both lower, inboard caliper pistons somewhat stuck, but they retracted fairly easily with a 'C' clamp, so I didn't worry about them. I checked, and no sign of any fluid leaks. Pulling the retaining pins for the pads was some work, but with the right tools, most anything will come apart, eventually. Cleaned everything up, including the surfaces on the hub the rotor mates to, and put it all back together. So far, no vibration. Pedal is good, and she stops like she should. we will see how it goes in a month or so, but for now I'm happy.

Hope you can solve your vibration issue, keep us updated.
 
Yea those retaining pins can rust-up a bit. My new calipers came with new pins which I placed a thin film of grease on them. I also bought new shims (3 per pad) and lubed them up lightly.

All-in-all the 4runner is easy to do a brake job on. My son
 
I have the same probelm. Replaced the rotors and pads and noticed one of the pistons was seized on the drivers side. I used a press and got the piston back in while I wait on a new caliper. Talked to a mechanic that's extremely knowledgeable on brakes and he made the simple suggestion of rotating the tires. Also said check for play in the wheel when it's off the groud (ball joint). GRRRR!!! I'm not happy to hear you replaced the caliper and still are having issues. I was certain once I took that action things would shape up...
 
Did my brakes yesterday. Both front calipers have a seized piston. That $720 down the drain. The pins were a royal pain to get out. I did the rears too. I can't believe how easy it was. It took more time to get one pin out than it did to change both rear pads.
 
greasefingers said:
Yes it appears that froze calipers is not uncommon on early 4th gen runners (like the first year out 2003)
Click to expand...

I guess that we, gotta have one first, buyers get to 'brag' about.:D
 
Calipers are rebuildable quite easily if you have a source of compressed air to remove the pistons. I had 3 seized pistons total on my '93 4Runner when I bought it. All of the seized pistons were pitted with rust. I bought the 3 pistons and the caliper seal kit from Toyota for approx $100. Only took a couple of hours to rebuild both calipers. No problems since, and it's been almost a year.
 
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