My 4th Gen Front Brakes walkthrough

[tomayto]

Bleed?

When I've done brake jobs in the past, I've had to bleed the brakes and add more fluid. There's no mention of this, is not necessary if these steps are followed?

 

[leftyguns21]

When I've done brake jobs in the past, I've had to bleed the brakes and add more fluid. There's no mention of this, is not necessary if these steps are followed?

it is my understanding that you only need to bleed the brakes if you are changing calipers?? (some one will need to correct me if im wrong)if you are just doing the pads/rotors no need to

im tempted to tackle this job myself but also little scurred

 

[TechOp]

In the dark again

I have done these so many times NOw I'M DOING it at night in the dark. Always have trouble opening the inner piston.

 

[Presta24]

I have never heard of using locktite on the caliper bolts. I actually use ant seize. Thoughts?

 

[Whiskytangofoxtrot]

bolt snapped on me

I broke this rusty bolt holding the small metal plate (brake line retaining plate?) while snapping the hardline on the downstroke.

Half the bolt is still in. Whats some advice on what i should do next. I was able to zip tie the plate so it holds everything out of the way but this is only temporary.

I'm not sure where to start... get the bolt tapped out or get the piece

replaced that the bolt is stuck in? (not sure what those pieces are called either)

thx

 

[eliask08]

Wow, sorry to hear that! I always spray some PB Blaster before working on these exposed parts as the salt here makes things utter hell. Your best approach would be to use PB Blaster or something similar, and let it soak the remaining bolt for no less than 45 minutes before having it tapped out. Sorry to hear about the brake line as well, must have been quite a swing!

 

[LakeRunr]

Just did my front brakes at 68k miles (first time for this truck). Thanks to this thread it was easy.

I've done a ton of front brake jobs over the years, most recently several on my track Supra. Two things struck me about the 4Runner:

1. The hard line going to the caliper, which necessitates unbolting that bracket (it's a 12mm bolt by the way...not 15/32).
2. There are no threaded holes in the inner rim of the rotors. These are present on my Supra rotors, because some genius Japanese dude knew that banging on rotors to dislodge them is bad. You just remove a bolt in the fender well, and screw it into the threaded holes, which "pulls" the rotor loose from the hub. Anyway, on the 4Runner, OP was right about banging on the top and bottom of the rotors to dislodge them. It took me 3 sets of 3 hits to break them loose. I used a piece of scrap wood between the hammer and the rotor since I was having mine resurfaced instead of replaced (this time...next time they'll be replaced).

Does anyone know the proper torque for the lug nuts?

 

[46runner]

Just did my front brakes at 68k miles (first time for this truck). Thanks to this thread it was easy.

I've done a ton of front brake jobs over the years, most recently several on my track Supra. Two things struck me about the 4Runner:

1. The hard line going to the caliper, which necessitates unbolting that bracket (it's a 12mm bolt by the way...not 15/32).
2. There are no threaded holes in the inner rim of the rotors. These are present on my Supra rotors, because some genius Japanese dude knew that banging on rotors to dislodge them is bad. You just remove a bolt in the fender well, and screw it into the threaded holes, which "pulls" the rotor loose from the hub. Anyway, on the 4Runner, OP was right about banging on the top and bottom of the rotors to dislodge them. It took me 3 sets of 3 hits to break them loose. I used a piece of scrap wood between the hammer and the rotor since I was having mine resurfaced instead of replaced (this time...next time they'll be replaced).

Does anyone know the proper torque for the lug nuts?

83 ft lbs

 

[AZ4]

Thanks to this thread, another successful front brake job here at 119,200 miles.

Acquired 2007 SR5 4WD two months ago, and the brakes started pulsating and making noise shortly thereafter. Service logs in the glove box showed rear rotors/pads were replaced at 110,000 miles by a no name shop. Front pads were replaced and rotors resurfaced at 68,000 by a dealer.

I used NAPA Ultra Premium rotors (I also have 17" wheels and the smaller 12.5" rotors) and NAPA Adaptive 1 pads.

$250 for parts. First side: 2 hours. Second side: 20 minutes. No stuck/seized pistons.

I'm very happy with it.

Even though they are new, I want to replace the rear brakes now too. The found receipt shows that cheap CTEK rotors were used and they appear to be rusting after 10k miles. The warped front ones (OEM I believe) were not rusted at all, causing me to initially second guess my decision to do the fronts. In the end, doing the fronts was the right call and fixed my braking issues.

Questions:
1) Are you supposed to use/re-use the two part Toyota OEM shim kit with aftermarket pads? I did, and do not seem to be having issues. There seems to be no clear answer to this.
2) How worried should I be about brake grease being 'compatible'? In the FSM, it states to use a lithium soap based glycol grease, but none of the stores seem to have that explicit thing. I used the grease that came with the pads (grey, opaque) as well as a few extra packets of synthetic grease from the NAPA counter (blue, transparent).

 

[CookieRoe]

Great thread! Subscribed.

 

[Nunya Biznass]

Ducman, thanks for the illustrated guide.

My 2006 Sport had 92,600 on the original brakes, and I was getting a nasty grind from the front passenger side:

That's the outboard pad. The inboard side had maybe just over 1mm left on it. The driver's side was pretty similar, with maybe half a mm left on the outboard pad.

I dodged a big ol' bullet with the calipers, as none of the pistons were frozen.

I ended up ordering the PowerStop Z36 kit (419-K2421-36) with drilled & slotted rotors from JEGS:
[NOTE: This kit has the larger 339mm/13.3" rotors for the Sport Edition vehicle]

The hardest part of the whole operation was getting the front wheels off! I had to whack the hell out of them both with my rubber mallet to break them free of the rotor hats. Oddly enough, my passenger rotor came right off with no fuss, but I had to beat the crap out of the driver's side rotor with my 3# maul to get it off the hub.

One thing I'd consider adding to your write-up is the torque spec for the wheel lugs (82-84 ft-lbs). I had to go search other threads to find it (with greasy hands) when I was putting the whole works back together.

Anyhow, thanks again!

 

[snodgrass]

Just changed the brakes on my 04 T4R and like a lot of other people here I had the 17" OEM rims but the smaller rotors. Other than that things went pretty smoothly, great post and worth following! Thanks OP

 

[4wordSOUL]

I broke this rusty bolt holding the small metal plate (brake line retaining plate?) while snapping the hardline on the downstroke.

Half the bolt is still in. Whats some advice on what i should do next. I was able to zip tie the plate so it holds everything out of the way but this is only temporary.

I'm not sure where to start... get the bolt tapped out or get the piece

replaced that the bolt is stuck in? (not sure what those pieces are called either)

thx

I broke this same 12mm bolt, where can I find a new one? What is the complete spec of it?

 

[AuSeeker]

I broke this same 12mm bolt, where can I find a new one? What is the complete spec of it?

At a autoparts store or Home Depot/Lowes, you need to take the old bolt with you and match it up to a new one.