brake ?

[mike_m]

Hi all,
New to the forum. I have a couple of questions regarding my 4runner. I bought my 2000 4runner back in 2003 with 30,000miles. It currently has 123,000 miles. As of now, I have never had to replace the brakes on either the front or back. Not sure if they were replaced before I bought it or not, but regardless, I've gone over 90,000 miles and I'm surprised that I haven't needed to replace the brakes. Is this normal?

Also, my 4runner has a v6 with 5 speed. I have notice that if I shift fast or down shift into third gear at a high RPM, it will grind going into 3rd. Are these tranny's known to have weak synchro's in 3rd gear? I have replaced the gear oil (85 -90 weight) every 30k and it has looked great when drained. No filings or parts. I noticed this problem at about 50K, but for all I know the vehicle could have always had this issue. Not sure. Is there a better oil I should use? Tranny shifts smoothly in all gears, no noise and as long as I shift slow going from 2nd to 3rd, no issues. Just wondering is all.
Thanks

Mike M

 

[techno]

Having the manual transmission will help explain the long brake life, but unless you are a particularly aggressive or spirited driver then they do seem to have very good wear characteristics.

Last week I inspected my front pads that have 40k on them and they still have what looks like half the pad remaining, and I have an auto tranny. I will be replacing the rear shoes this weekend and I believe they are the original ones. I'm at 120k now.