Help: I need an OEM brake calipers rebuilder

[Bkt4runner]

I need new brake calipers on my 2003 4Runner SR5 and need to find someone who has the oem brake calipers with oem seals. I called the dealer and they said it's on backorder indefinitely and there are 176 people ahead of me. Is there any way I can source NEW somewhere else? I am not interested in the ones that uses the Centric seals or any aftermarket calipers.

 

[MyFirstRunner]

Junkyard.


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[JTsanchez]

Ebay? Wouldn't shipping a brake caliper two times be pretty expensive?

 

[bob3dsf]

What do you mean by needing "new" calipers? Just get a rebuild kit from the parts dept. Aren't re-manufactured calipers all just rebuilt and refinished OEM's? Are there outfits making true 3rd party castings?

The Toyota kit has new square-cut seals, new dust boots, new C-rings, and some rubber grease (pink silicone based stuff). The kit has all the stuff to do both front calipers. Its really pretty easy. If it's due to a frozen piston, you'll probably need a new piston. I rebuilt both my fronts. Both needed it a different times and in both cases it was 1 stuck piston, and I had to replace those pistons. They were pitted. I bought new pistons from rock auto and they were centric brand, about $9 each I think. I measured them against my OEM pistons and they were the same size. If you try to get just the pistons from Toyota, they'll probably say they are only sold as part of a new caliper assembly. Not true. There another older thread on a rebuild and has the piston part number. I gave that to the parts guy and it came up as $60+ each (!!). Hence, my decision to go with rock auto. I just got home from a family trip and have about 1000 miles on my rebuilt calipers. No issues except from rust (see further..) which was my fault.

It's an easy process, just a little tedious if you clean up all the grime and any corrosion, and it's a bit messy. I soaked mine in some metal rescue to ensure I removed all the corrosion (there wasn't a lot). Couple things I learned:
1. Get a tube of the toyota pink grease. The pouch that comes with the kit is tiny. Maybe I used too much, but that pouch wasn't enough.

2. You should probably count on painting the calipers. The OEM's must have some kind of anti-corrosion coating and I must have removed it when I cleaned them up. I didn't realize that. Now there is rust staining. Right now I think it's just surface rust, but I don't want it ti get any worse. Now, I need to take it all back apart, clean off the rust, prep the calipers and paint them.

Now having said all that, if you have damaged calipers, I'd pull some off a wreck at the junk yard. The only issue with that is if there are enough yards nearby to where there could be a 4th gen out there.

Trying to buy new and there's a wait list at your local dealer? Order online from a different dealer?

 

[Too Stroked]

What do you mean by needing "new" calipers? Just get a rebuild kit from the parts dept. Aren't re-manufactured calipers all just rebuilt and refinished OEM's? Are there outfits making true 3rd party castings?

Unfortunately, there are plenty of aftermarket caliper castings out there - generally sold as complete new calipers. But as they get removed and turned in as cores, they end up out there as rebuilt / remanufactured calipers. And unless you buy OEM remanufactured calipers, you'll end up with aftermarket rebuilding hardware - which is inferior in quality to OEM.

My son recently bought a fancy set of (supposedly) red powder coated calipers for his Scion tC through RockAuto. I suggested that he might want to buy an OEM rebuilding kit and he did. The stuff we took out was clearly el cheapo. At least they were OEM castings.

 

[Bkt4runner]

I wouldn’t trust myself doing this or even a mechanic to rebuild it. I have never rebuild my own calipers and don’t wanna do it. You have to use some sort pressure test to test them before you install them. I had a bad experience with a mechanic who rebuilt a set of calipers for my other car and it leaked and started seizing after several months. I rather get it from a reputable place. It has to be all oem parts.

 

[Bkt4runner]

Forget about getting it rebuilt. I found a great deal from TRD Shop in Mississippi. It’s better and more affordable. They use oem seals. These are Toyota remanufactured calipers that you find at the dealership. It cost less than those cheap Centric rebuilt calipers with their made in China seals. The only thing Centric is good at are their cryo treated high carbon brake rotors...I feel that is their only competitive advantage.

 

[bob3dsf]

Unfortunately, there are plenty of aftermarket caliper castings out there - generally sold as complete new calipers. But as they get removed and turned in as cores, they end up out there as rebuilt / remanufactured calipers. And unless you buy OEM remanufactured calipers, you'll end up with aftermarket rebuilding hardware - which is inferior in quality to OEM.

My son recently bought a fancy set of (supposedly) red powder coated calipers for his Scion tC through RockAuto. I suggested that he might want to buy an OEM rebuilding kit and he did. The stuff we took out was clearly el cheapo. At least they were OEM castings.

Right. I had a rebuilt one from NAPA. The OEM kit is the ticket, so long as your cylinder bores aren't messed up. So far, I'm having good results with 2 centric replacement pistons.

 

[bob3dsf]

I wouldn’t trust myself doing this or even a mechanic to rebuild it. I have never rebuild my own calipers and don’t wanna do it. You have to use some sort pressure test to test them before you install them. I had a bad experience with a mechanic who rebuilt a set of calipers for my other car and it leaked and started seizing after several months. I rather get it from a reputable place. It has to be all oem parts.

Rebuilding is pretty easy. The only pressure test I did was put them on and use them. A-ok so far, no leaks. I used an OEM seal kit from the dealer parts counter. The only bad thing about it is the little pouch of lube isn't enough to do both calipers (at least I'd love to see how someone make that little bit work for both). I got a bigger tube of toyota pink rubber grease from ebay. As I said.. I used 2 centric pistons because the toyota price is really steep. The centric ones measured the same in all dimensions. I guess the possible point of failure would be if they are plated and the plating fails, leading to leakage and damage of the square-cut seal.