Frozen Calipers - How many others had this problem?

[Joe_2004SE_NY]

Yep Same Problem

Front Callipers seized on my truck. Luckly I had the warrantee that covered the new ones. They had to replace both of them in the front. I am mostly on the beach fishing. Come to think of it my warrantee expires in 3000 miles. Oh boy!!:redbrick:

 

[SV_Dude]

So, I just had my little round with replacing both front brake calipers and pads...

Here's a little scoop of info:

My 4 runner is the limited with 17" wheels, the calipers I had were stamped 13WG which are the expensive ones. I went to autozone and looked at the 13WL calipers and didn't see a bit of difference (other than they're half the price). I even made many measurements with a micrometer and everything was within 1mm, mainly 1mm smaller on the old ones due to junk build up. So, I took them (mainly because that's all they had and I was in a time crunch to get the brakes done) and installed them.

After bleeding brakes and test driving... everything works fine. No difference in braking power or the feel of the brake pedal. I thought maybe the internals on the calipers are different, maybe something with the pistons? But they fit fine and worked great!

If you have the 13WG calipers, you can use the 13WL calipers. The stamp indicates the wheel size and rotor size but at least between the 13WG and the 13WL there isn't any difference except the cost.

Anyone have any other input on this or comments? I am curious to see if anyone else has used calipers that had different stamps.

btw: Total cost for all new parts including pads, fluids and brake parts cleaner was just under $200.

 

[Jed]

So, I just had my little round with replacing both front brake calipers and pads...

Here's a little scoop of info:

My 4 runner is the limited with 17" wheels, the calipers I had were stamped 13WG which are the expensive ones. I went to autozone and looked at the 13WL calipers and didn't see a bit of difference (other than they're half the price). I even made many measurements with a micrometer and everything was within 1mm, mainly 1mm smaller on the old ones due to junk build up. So, I took them (mainly because that's all they had and I was in a time crunch to get the brakes done) and installed them.

After bleeding brakes and test driving... everything works fine. No difference in braking power or the feel of the brake pedal. I thought maybe the internals on the calipers are different, maybe something with the pistons? But they fit fine and worked great!

If you have the 13WG calipers, you can use the 13WL calipers. The stamp indicates the wheel size and rotor size but at least between the 13WG and the 13WL there isn't any difference except the cost.

Anyone have any other input on this or comments? I am curious to see if anyone else has used calipers that had different stamps.

btw: Total cost for all new parts including pads, fluids and brake parts cleaner was just under $200.

Are you sure you weren't comparing a left side and right side caliper?

 

[SV_Dude]

Are you sure you weren't comparing a left side and right side caliper?

Yup! At first I just took the drivers side caliper to the store and compared. No difference. I took it home and installed and everything looked okay, so I took the passenger side over and swapped it to finish the job.

I forget, I did have to kinda adjust one thing. The brake lines on the calipers were at about a 10-15 degree angle difference so I had to convince the brake lines to go in a little bit.

 

[Jed]

Yup! At first I just took the drivers side caliper to the store and compared. No difference. I took it home and installed and everything looked okay, so I took the passenger side over and swapped it to finish the job.

I forget, I did have to kinda adjust one thing. The brake lines on the calipers were at about a 10-15 degree angle difference so I had to convince the brake lines to go in a little bit.

Hmmm....that's really weird. I would have thought the calipers were very different. Now I wonder why they even have the different casting numbers in the first place. And even more importantly, what is the reason for the big difference in price if they are virtually identical?

 

[SV_Dude]

Hmmm....that's really weird. I would have thought the calipers were very different. Now I wonder why they even have the different casting numbers in the first place. And even more importantly, what is the reason for the big difference in price if they are virtually identical?

That's what we were wondering at the store... I wonder if it's just because the casting for a larger rim is for a more expensive model and they know that people will expect a higher price for a part for a more expensive car?

I used to work at a body shop and the same type of thing happened all the time. For example: We had a Cadillac Escalade (sp?) that needed a door handle ($700 part), we used a door handle for a GMC 1500 ($150 part). EXACT SAME part, just more expensive because it was for an escalade.

 

[phillipah]

Both my fronts were frozen i just had them repaired last week and the roters turned for less 200 bucks.... the guy at the shop told me they were rusted out. He told be the salt had really done a number on them. I bought my truck in Michigan about 2 weeks ago and I knew that I had to get the bakes fixed before I bought it. i bought the truck with 57000 miles on it.

 

[boston_kevin]

I just replaced both of my front calipers due to seizing at 60k, plus rotors due to excessive amounts of rust from winter driving in New England. Much too quickly compared to other vehicles I have owned in the same environment.

Honda Accord - 90k for rotors, calipers were fine
GMC Yukon - never - sold it at 150k miles after 8 years
Jeep Wrangler - never - sold it at 130k miles after 9 years

As someone mentioned previously, the durability/longevity of the brakes seems to be a common issue on 4Runners.

 

[4RunnerStunner]

Are the calipers covered under an extended warranty?

 

[gizmopt2002]

The '04's had to be replaced at 80k, both sides, I also had a hell of a time finding the right casting, but it ended up costing $300. 2 New calipers, Hawk Pads in the front and rear, and new Frozen Rotor's in the front.

 

[jstutz101]

The '04's had to be replaced at 80k, both sides, I also had a hell of a time finding the right casting, but it ended up costing $300. 2 New calipers, Hawk Pads in the front and rear, and new Frozen Rotor's in the front.

I had the same problem finding the right casting number. Autozone does NOT stock the right casting number. I got mine from NAPA. Not cheap!

 

[SkylineGTRracer]

What size brakes does this happen to? the SR5 or the Sport and Limited. is it also a "Salt" state problem or does it happen everywhere?

 

[mtnet2000]

2004 4Runner and found out today that the front inner lower driver side piston on the caliper is frozen solid!! I suspect that this is do to rust by the amount of it on it's surrounding. This should be a recall with the amount of hits I get just for searching "4Runner Caliper Seizing". I will be filing a complaint with NTHSA.

 

[V8Limited4wd]

i have the plat warranty until 3/2011... should i take it to the dealer to have it looked at? I don't have any brake issues so far but when I looked at the pads while rotating I noticed that one side of the pads were a little more worn (~2mm) than the other side on the same caliper. I also noticed some rust surround the part of the piston sticking out where there was more pad life.

 

[Redstone8]

I am having the same problem described here. My driver side inner lower piston is frozen. I was going to change my front pads and resurface the rotors. I was able to compress three of the four pistons, but the fourth one just would not budge. However, the front passenger side was fine on all four. I bought the car pre owned with just over 18,000 miles two years ago, and bought an extended warranty that would cover me for another 100,000 miles at the time of purchase. Now I have just over 42k. Called up the warranty place and told them what happened and they said it is covered. So I will be taking it in to the dealership to have it replaced. If it wasn't covered then this bake job would cost me few extra hundred dollars out of pocket for the replacement caliper. Totally unacceptable for a car like this. Never had a car with a frozen caliper before, even cars I drove well over 100k.

 

[jstutz101]

The only upside (if there is one) is this is a farly straight forward do it yourself job. The calipers arent cheap but are easier to change then say a transmission or something! It is strange that brake calipers have been around for a long time but Toyota hasnt figured out how to make one that dosent freeze up. Even the domestic auto makers figured out how to do that!

 

[Mike07SE]

Just did new front pads on my rig. Did it because I felt like my braking was really starting to lack the bite I was used to and figured they were worn.

Took a picture of what looks like the inner pistons (this is a driver's side view) were seized. Notice how much more pad there is to the outer side:

Sorry about the photo quality, but i hope you can make it out.

I cranked them back in and put the new pads in. Seems to be stopping ok with the bite I'm used to again. Passenger side was the same story. I wish I remembered all these issues 4Runner's have with this and left it alone to take to the dealer. I have extended warranty and no doubt they would've swapped out the brakes. I have 55K btw. I'll keep an eye on this and may still take this in to get scoped out.

 

[Redstone8]

The only upside (if there is one) is this is a farly straight forward do it yourself job. The calipers arent cheap but are easier to change then say a transmission or something! It is strange that brake calipers have been around for a long time but Toyota hasnt figured out how to make one that dosent freeze up. Even the domestic auto makers figured out how to do that!

I agree very easy and straightforward indeed. The only thing is that most people without some type of extended warranty that covers this are usually very upset once they discover that they will need to buy an additional part that is not cheap to do a routine brake job. And in the case of people with both font calipers stuck, I can only imagine their frustration.

 

[jstutz101]

I agree very easy and straightforward indeed. The only thing is that most people without some type of extended warranty that covers this are usually very upset once they discover that they will need to buy an additional part that is not cheap to do a routine brake job. And in the case of people with both font calipers stuck, I can only imagine their frustration.

I havent had a chance to check out the rears yet. Do they tend to freeze up as well?? If all four were to freeze that would really suck!

 

[cograw]

what does it feel like when you are driving -having calipers freeze on you I mean? Is it just a constant pulling at all speeds?