DIY brake job? Level of difficulty?

[amheck]

Hi all,

I recently took in my 2004 Limited for an oil change and tire rotation and the dealer told me that one of my front brake calipers isn't engaging at all, and they quoted $800+ to replace the two front rotors, calipers and pads. Talking to a buddy, he said this is a pretty easy DIY job.

As I've said on the forum before, while I considering myself somewhat handy, I have little to no experience with automobiles. So how easy of a job is replacing all of that SAFELY?

 

[MACT4R]

Pretty easy just take your time. You can buy caliper rebuild kit. Youtube have the how to's. I did tundra upgrade on my 3rd gen and rebuilt it. It's not hard at all.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[eelliiss]

Research on this forum and/or YouTube. Call said friend and schedule a time for him to come by and help. Get parts, beer, and pizza. Crack the job out in a couple hours. Save $650.

 

[leftyguns21]

its easy. time consuming but easy. I did mine recently (rotors and pads) first time ever. I had some assistance from someone who has done them before which helped but overall easy.
bought all 4 pads/rotors on Brake Rotors Brake Discs Drilled Slotted Rotors got the dimpled rotors. $340 shipped.

only thing to watch out for, maybe im the only one this has happened to, the rear drivers side. the spring inside the emergency brake set up broke loose. took forever to get that assembly back together. minus that hiccup it was a 4hour job

 

[Bob22222]

Research on this forum and/or YouTube. Call said friend and schedule a time for him to come by and help. Get parts, beer, and pizza. Crack the job out in a couple hours. Save $650.

Tell him you'll have it securely up on jack stands and the wheels off when he gets there. Good time to get some decent stands and a floor jack if you don't already have them.

 

[trey99ek]

I just re-did both front calipers, all 4 rotors and pads for about $500 plus my own labor. It does not take a lot of demanding work. A little PB blaster to loosen the caliper mounting bolts up and a few beers. The hardest thing for me was getting the old front rotors off.

 

[trey99ek]

its easy. time consuming but easy. I did mine recently (rotors and pads) first time ever. I had some assistance from someone who has done them before which helped but overall easy.
bought all 4 pads/rotors on Brake Rotors Brake Discs Drilled Slotted Rotors got the dimpled rotors. $340 shipped.

only thing to watch out for, maybe im the only one this has happened to, the rear drivers side. the spring inside the emergency brake set up broke loose. took forever to get that assembly back together. minus that hiccup it was a 4hour job

I had the same problem. I backed off the parking brake and once I took the rotor off I noticed the retaining clip on the spring came off. That one part took about an hour to get back on.