Frozen Calipers - How many others had this problem?

[Sonnystile]

time for brakes...

Looking at the Red Powder coated Powerstop caliper sets, but I don't see the tow rated sets available with the larger rotors?


Are the calipers rotor size specific, or could I mix and match? I've seen some black rotors that look pretty sweet...

 

[Terminator03]

Looking at the Red Powder coated Powerstop caliper sets, but I don't see the tow rated sets available with the larger rotors?


Are the calipers rotor size specific, or could I mix and match? I've seen some black rotors that look pretty sweet...

You should put your model and year into your sig line, or at least say what it is so people can make recommendations. That being said, if you want the larger rotors, you will also need to get the 5th gen calipers (and rotors) for the front. In the rear, you are best using the 4th gen replacement rotors, as they are the same diameter, but fit better. You can use the 5th gen calipers if you wish though, and they have slightly bigger pistons, so have more clamping force. There are dozens of threads regarding the 5th gen brake swap, so I’d suggest doing a bit of research to familiarize yourself with what you need to do if going that route. I personally have the Powerstop red 5th gen calipers, their drilled/slotted rotors, and z36 towing/heavy duty pads. Very pleased with the looks and function of the setup.

 

[RoyBell]

I just purchased a powerstop setup from Rock Auto https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=9663984&cc=1434457&jsn=396

Calipers, pads, rotors for $340 seems awfully cheap so hopefully they last a couple years. On my '10 Tundra I would take the slide pins out and grind them down and grease them up once a year. I started doing this after my first brake change on that truck. Those pins were so seized in I couldn't believe it. I just picked my 4th gen up, but I could tell on test drive they needed replacing.

 

[andreylights]

Just had a rear driver caliper failed on me. Worst part is that I was on my way to pick up a friend from the airport so smelled not only the overheated brakes but also the embarrassment...

Have replaced both rear calipers with callahan refurbished calipers from amazon -- will see how long they last. I am glad the pads and the rotors looked okay as I just replaced them 4 months ago with some brembo rotors and oem pads lol.

Wondering if I should replace the front calipers as well or wait till the fail and do that then? Or may be I will get lucky and they will be fine.

 

[Sonnystile]

You should put your model and year into your sig line, or at least say what it is so people can make recommendations. That being said, if you want the larger rotors, you will also need to get the 5th gen calipers (and rotors) for the front. In the rear, you are best using the 4th gen replacement rotors, as they are the same diameter, but fit better. You can use the 5th gen calipers if you wish though, and they have slightly bigger pistons, so have more clamping force. There are dozens of threads regarding the 5th gen brake swap, so I’d suggest doing a bit of research to familiarize yourself with what you need to do if going that route. I personally have the Powerstop red 5th gen calipers, their drilled/slotted rotors, and z36 towing/heavy duty pads. Very pleased with the looks and function of the setup.

I have a 2008 V6 4wd Limited. It had the 18” wheels but I moved to the 17” TRD wheels.

I’ll do some more digging...


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[eleven14]

I have a 2008 V6 4wd Limited. It had the 18” wheels but I moved to the 17” TRD wheels.

I’ll do some more digging...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You'll have to check the casting on the backside of your front rotors to determine which size rotor you already have. The Limiteds were mix/match so that's the only way to confirm.

Also, I have an '08 Limited with 17" TRD wheels and the larger rotors and have had no issues.

 

[Sonnystile]

You'll have to check the casting on the backside of your front rotors to determine which size rotor you already have. The Limiteds were mix/match so that's the only way to confirm.

Also, I have an '08 Limited with 17" TRD wheels and the larger rotors and have had no issues.

So if I am understanding correctly: by buying the entire Powerstop kit, it essentially doesn't matter what size I am currently running, as the new kit will be replacing everything that would be rotor size specific? ie: calipers will match.

 

[Terminator03]

So if I am understanding correctly: by buying the entire Powerstop kit, it essentially doesn't matter what size I am currently running, as the new kit will be replacing everything that would be rotor size specific? ie: calipers will match.

Partially correct. You can’t just buy the whole kit because the rear rotors need to be the 4th gen ones. What I did was buy everything ala cart so I got everything I needed. I bought the front rotors and Z36 pads for 5th gen (2010), rear rotors and Z36 pads for 4th gen, then ordered front 5th gen calipers (pair), and rear 5th gen calipers (pair). I bought everything on Amazon. Rotor and pad combos come in pairs anyway, so that makes it easy. Word of caution though... the front calipers are extremely hard to get, and even though they showed as “in stock” when I ordered them, they weren’t. It took like 2-3 months to actually get them. Rotors and pads came in 2-3 days, and rear calipers maybe a week.

 

[atalarico]

Just replaced the 5th gen seized calipers with new painted powerstop calipers. Hopefully these should last more than a few years! Just need to bleed them again in the morning since it wasn’t enough after a short/scary drive. Really hoping this solves the braking issues I was experiencing. The guy at Oreilly said one of the rotors showed signs of high heat (the seized side).

 

[firebirdguy]

Just replaced the 5th gen seized calipers with new painted powerstop rotors. Hopefully these should last more than a few years! Just need to bleed them again in the morning since it wasn’t enough after a short/scary drive. Really hoping this solves the braking issues I was experiencing. The guy at Oreilly said one of the rotors showed signs of high heat (the seized side).

can you clarify the first sentence? you said you replaced the seized calipers... with powerstop rotors. did you mean calipers?

 

[Terminator03]

can you clarify the first sentence? you said you replaced the seized calipers... with powerstop rotors. did you mean calipers?

I had to reread that too, but he obviously just mistyped that since you can see old, but resurfaced rotor, but new red caliper in the photo.

 

[firebirdguy]

yeah i figured thats what he meant, just wanted to be sure.

 

[TNFISHRMAN]

I think most 4th gen 4runner owners have seen a sticking caliper or two if you keep them any length of time. The good thing is the fronts are not hard to bleed. They will usually bleed themselves just opening the bleeder screw and keeping the fluid reservoir full.

 

[RoyBell]

Did my brakes over the weekend. Rotors were warped bad & the truck pulled pretty hard on braking.

Just went with the standard powerstop affair and then painted the calipers.

There was a clunking when coming to a stop that I thought may have been a caliper. It persisted after the brake change. Google led me to greasing the ujoint and slip yoke. Pushed the old stuff out and the clunking is gone now!

 

[atalarico]

can you clarify the first sentence? you said you replaced the seized calipers... with powerstop rotors. did you mean calipers?

Yep, fixed, thanks.

My brake pedal feels worse now though. There's just a weird hiccup in the first bit of travel and then long travel before it bites well. I had a friend help me bleed them twice now and it got better each time but still not as good as they used to be. I went out to the country and tried bedding them in with 4x 60mph-20mph hard brakes until I smelled the burning, and I'll probably do that again since the rotor surface still doesn't look proper per se.

Also I kind of think O'reilly screwed up my rotors. They called to let me know they were going to be taking quite a bit off of one since it was really warped and wanted to make sure there was bad vibration during braking. There really wasn't terrible vibrations before, but they said one of them showed signs of heat which was probably the one with the seized pistons. Now I feel like I get worse vibrations.

I'm over dealing with this so I'm taking it to Firestone (was going for an alignment anyway) and going to ask them to check the rotors for warpage, and if they're good I'm just going to have them do a brake flush/bleed and be done with it. If the rotors are bad I'll be ordering the Powerstop rotors, doing that, and then going back for the flush/bleed.

 

[RoyBell]

If you have vibration when stopping I think you need new rotors. They are pretty cheap online so I always change them. Every time you cut them they loose material which inhibits warping quicker.

 

[Kai-runner]

Hi,

Do the PowerStop calipers, or any other new aftermarket caliper, make a difference regarding the seized/frozen caliper issues with the 4th gen? i.e. is the seizing just a OEM caliper flaw / reman issue or is the seizing caused by the 4th gen’s overall design?

TIA

 

[firebirdguy]

Hi,

Do the PowerStop calipers, or any other new aftermarket caliper, make a difference regarding the seized/frozen caliper issues with the 4th gen? i.e. is the seizing just a OEM caliper flaw / reman issue or is the seizing caused by the 4th gen’s overall design?

TIA

from what ive read on here & other forums, its just a caliper design flaw. have read of problems with new & reman calipers on 4th & even some 5th gens. also seems to be related to the environment the 4runner is used in... such as winter areas with salted roads or heavy off roading with big mud puddles etc.

 

[Kai-runner]

from what ive read on here & other forums, its just a caliper design flaw. have read of problems with new & reman calipers on 4th & even some 5th gens. also seems to be related to the environment the 4runner is used in... such as winter areas with salted roads or heavy off roading with big mud puddles etc.

That's what I was wondering. So there isn't too much difference between ordering new 5th gen OEM calipers from Toyota versus the 5th gen aftermarket remans. About the same chance to seize up with both I presume.

 

[firebirdguy]

That's what I was wondering. So there isn't too much difference between ordering new 5th gen OEM calipers from Toyota versus the 5th gen aftermarket remans. About the same chance to seize up with both I presume.

i cant comment on the chance or odds of seizing up, havent researched it enough to say. but i think the consensus is that the 5th gens are better or less chance of issues, but it still happens. i think going with the higher end plated versions of aftermarkets are the best option since it limits the corrosion or whatever it is that happens on uncoated ones. do some searches on here for this, there are all kinds of threads on it.