Haven't driven the Runner in about 2 months. I was driving along when the steering wheel was giving some tire shake. I figured this was because the tires could be slightly flat spotted from being parked so long. That's when after about a 1/2 hour the truck was pulling hard when I braked. When I came to a full stop, then started, I could hear a bit of grinding and it took some gas to get going fully again. I feel like possibly it's the drivers side caliper that is seized up. Anyone else had issues with a caliper just locking up after driving normally? I replaced the rotors and pads about 6K miles ago.
Driver's side caliper locked up?
- Thread starter LIVEVIL
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RunnerLimited
New member
seized caliper?
soupkitchen
New member
check out your brake hose too...if its collapsed on the inside it can cause them to lock up. I've replaced calipers before and it ended up being the hose that caused them to stick. gl
fblainen11
New member
Time for TBU.
poleclimber63
Member
almost any vehicle
When my son bought his car, it had sat for 8 months before. His brakes weren't working very well. When I took them apart I found the guide pins and 2of the 4 pistons had seized. And on the rear the ebrake,,,lever had also seized. When I picked up my TBU Calipers from the wreckers, all the pistons were frozen, as they'd been sitting awhile. A few years back I had my 4runner off the road for a few months and my ebrake froze. Stuff happens.
When my son bought his car, it had sat for 8 months before. His brakes weren't working very well. When I took them apart I found the guide pins and 2of the 4 pistons had seized. And on the rear the ebrake,,,lever had also seized. When I picked up my TBU Calipers from the wreckers, all the pistons were frozen, as they'd been sitting awhile. A few years back I had my 4runner off the road for a few months and my ebrake froze. Stuff happens.
This is what was wrong with my bmw. The drivers side caliper locked up (so i thought). As soon as i unhooked the hose from the caliper it moved freely.
Even though the hose looked good on the outside (1994) it was swelled shut inside.
At this age for $12 each replace your brake hoses and flush your brake fluid wether you tjink you need it or not!
Buckaroo
Member
If you want to know if your caliper is seized, just check the surface temp of the wheel after driving comparing it to the other wheel. You can use a non-contact thermometer to quantify the difference (which is interesting) but you can likely just feel the difference with your hand an inch or so away. Calipers can seize because the brake whip hose is broken internally as others have said. Pinching these hoses using pliers to avoid fluid dripping when disconnected can lead to this issue. The more common cause is lack of lubrication or corrosion on the pins such that the caliper does not slide. The fix is to replace the caliper. Suggest looking at a rebuilt caliper at RockAuto - note that you can send the core back for refund.
Buckaroo
Buckaroo
