New brakes ALL AROUND at 21,500 miles???

[Zaraspook]

I had my brakes done around 57k and the rear were fine. They told me I needed new rotors in the front because they were below spec. after they turned them. I thought it was odd that I didn't get at least 1 re-surface out of them.

 

[Derek]

I just hit 30K miles on my '05 and my front brakes have been the biggest nightmare for me. I had the pads changed back in December and the rotors resurfaced but ever since I had that done they would vibrate at different speeds and I was having all kinds of problems with rubbing that was creating 'clicking' while driving with my foot OFF the brake.

After 5 trips to the service department and being told that nothing looked out of the ordinary, they finally agreed that the rotors needed replacing. So about a month ago I had new rotors installed and the brakes have been perfect ever since! I never thought I'd need new rotors before I even hit 30K miles.

 

[Casper]

wow....


even with much more aggressive pads than stock, ill still see at least 30-40K miles out of my front and rear set

 

[RamThis]

I havent really looked at my 4Runner's brakes yet, but a floating caliper is a bit easier. Typically, just to replace pads, you remove two bolts from the caliper itself, and pry/lift it up out of the pad cradle, and it will have a lip on one end that will lock it in, and the other end will lift up and off the pads. There is a large, U-shaped cradle the pads slide into, and they put their stopping force against this cradle and down in to the spindle/axle. If you need to remove the rotor, you just have two more bolts to pull the cradle out and pull the rotor off the studs. I'll see if I have some pics of my Ram's brakes, Im sure they are similar to my 4Runner's in their basic design.

Brakes are one of the easiest things you can do to save yourself ALOT of money. People get scared of brakes, but once you just sit down and pull one off, you'll be an expert at it. they're that simple now.

 

[NCSCOTT]

I just did my brakes for the first time a month ago at 67000 miles on the original pads. They still had 1/4 to 1/3 of the pad left and I did not turn or replace the rotors. I believe there are fairly detailed instructions right I this site somewhere. A search for Brakes or Brake Job should turn them up. I sure sounds a little extreme that both front and back need to be replaced so early.???:wtf:

 

[mkaresh]

That's wierd that both f/r need replacing. Did you check yourself or are you just going by the word of the mechanic? Normally the fronts wear faster than the rear because the fronts do most of the braking work.

On my Mazda the rears wore out as soon as the fronts, which surprised me for this reason. Then I learned that on some cars the rear pads are much thinner than the fronts. No idea if the 4Runner is the same way.

Definitely call around and check brake job prices at multiple places. They vary a lot. I ended up finding a special at a shop I'd used before and trusted, $90 per axle for lifetime warranty pads. (Would have been $70, but like most cars mine required the premium pads.) This was for a Mazda, but I wouldn't expect the price to be much different for a 4Runner.

 

[scott78945]

I asked the stealership again about how all 4 brakes could be worn out. He told me that with the new ABS, equal pressure is given to all rotors now. It used to be that there was more on the front of the vehicle but he said that changed some time ago. How true that is, who knows.

 

[RL Lemke]

Something is really wrong here. I replaced my brakes at 85,000 miles because I wanted to. There was still a lot of pad left to go too.

My average speed is less than 30 mph with all the stop and go traffic here in Dallas. So, I am on the brakes all the while I'm driving.

Again, there is something wrong when 4Runner pads wear so quickly.

 

[sharp4runr]

I asked the stealership again about how all 4 brakes could be worn out. He told me that with the new ABS, equal pressure is given to all rotors now. It used to be that there was more on the front of the vehicle but he said that changed some time ago. How true that is, who knows.

If all 4 receive equal pressure, wouldn't the rear tires lock up any time you got on the binders? It's common physics that the fronts do most of the braking. The car dives when getting on the brakes and the rear end gets light so if equal pressure is going to the rear tires it'd be easy to lock up. I think he's blowing smoke up your arse.

The 4Runner does have EBD (Electronic Brake Distribution) though. Depending on the weight of the rear, the 4Runner adjusts the braking force so it doesn't dive as much.