Rear brakes and suspension questions

[WallyWest]

My mechanic told me the rear brakes had to be done for inspection, as well as the right rear lower ball joint. Said the joint was "loose".

I believe him about the brakes, the pedal as a bit of travel before it grabs, and the e-brake does nothing. I've looked at the e-brake cable underneath the truck and it seems ok, could be broken somewhere in there but I think the rear brakes are just shot.

Soooo. Have never done drums before. I assume in addition to the shoe it's SOP to get the hardware kit as well. How about the drum itself? Is that typically replaced as well, or only if they're busted up? Mine look ok, aside from being rusty, but I haven't pulled them off to inspect the inside yet. Wouldn't know what I was looking for anyway, which is why I'm posting here.

And is there a brand that's preferred for the parts?

As for the lower ball joint I'm thinking if I need to replace one of them I should probably do both just on general principles. And same question for them, what brand should I look for?

This is a 2002 sport edition. All stock for now.

Thanks for any advice you guys can give.

 

[Fit4Action]

My mechanic told me the rear brakes had to be done for inspection, as well as the right rear lower ball joint. Said the joint was "loose".

I believe him about the brakes, the pedal as a bit of travel before it grabs, and the e-brake does nothing. I've looked at the e-brake cable underneath the truck and it seems ok, could be broken somewhere in there but I think the rear brakes are just shot.

Soooo. Have never done drums before. I assume in addition to the shoe it's SOP to get the hardware kit as well. How about the drum itself? Is that typically replaced as well, or only if they're busted up? Mine look ok, aside from being rusty, but I haven't pulled them off to inspect the inside yet. Wouldn't know what I was looking for anyway, which is why I'm posting here.

And is there a brand that's preferred for the parts?

As for the lower ball joint I'm thinking if I need to replace one of them I should probably do both just on general principles. And same question for them, what brand should I look for?

This is a 2002 sport edition. All stock for now.

Thanks for any advice you guys can give.

Just did my brakes yesterday. I replaced Shoes, Wheel Cylinders, and the drums along with the hardware just while I was in there.

Good brands for shoes and drums would be Centrics

Part #s:

Shoes - 111.07640
Drums - 122.44022

You should measure your drums for thickness when taking them off to how much meat you have left. Here are the measurements.

Standard inside diameter: 295.0 mm (11.614 inch)
Maximum inside diameter: 297.0 mm (11.693 inch)

Should be all info you should need. Local parts houses - XL parts I know for sure carries centrics.

Edit: Just remember for the ball joints: Moog is the best brand for suspension parts due to the gusher bearing style that you can grease them so they last much longer.

K90262 : Left Lower Ball Joint
K90263 : Right Lower Ball Joint

Of course OEM would be the better route if you have the money.

 

[JayRolla]

My mechanic told me the rear brakes had to be done for inspection, as well as the right rear lower ball joint. Said the joint was "loose".

I believe him about the brakes, the pedal as a bit of travel before it grabs, and the e-brake does nothing. I've looked at the e-brake cable underneath the truck and it seems ok, could be broken somewhere in there but I think the rear brakes are just shot.

Soooo. Have never done drums before. I assume in addition to the shoe it's SOP to get the hardware kit as well. How about the drum itself? Is that typically replaced as well, or only if they're busted up? Mine look ok, aside from being rusty, but I haven't pulled them off to inspect the inside yet. Wouldn't know what I was looking for anyway, which is why I'm posting here.

And is there a brand that's preferred for the parts?

As for the lower ball joint I'm thinking if I need to replace one of them I should probably do both just on general principles. And same question for them, what brand should I look for?

This is a 2002 sport edition. All stock for now.

Thanks for any advice you guys can give.

With the brakes I recommend going with new pads and hardware, OEM is best, if you dont go oem get the expensive pads and hardware. If it was me I run OEM stuff. Always seems to brake better than aftermarket pads.

The rear end dont have ball joints but if your front right side is loose then yes you want to go with NEW OEM ONLY ball joints. Some have had theres fail when aftermarket in low miles. If yours is loose you want to quickly change them. Here is what happened when mine failed.

 

[jeremyc74]

Edit: Just remember for the ball joints: Moog is the best brand for suspension parts due to the gusher bearing style that you can grease them so they last much longer.
.

There are a LOT of people here who will disagree with that statement, including me. Everything from Moog I've bought over the last year has been junk. I'd stick with OEM for the lower ball joints at least. The failure mode could be deadly in this case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h9xTCYC6Es

 

[jgue467]

ball joints = ONLY OEM. :cowboy:

 

[Unner]

Don't use Moog ball joints. Your putting your truck, life, and everyone else's life around you in danger by using inferior parts there. Replace both sides as well, I'm going to assume you meant the front LBJ as there are none in the back.

For the rear brakes a lot of people have had issues using non OEM shoes so I have a set of new OEM shoes waiting to put into my truck this weekend hopefully. The drums are most likely still OK.

 

[WallyWest]

The rear end dont have ball joints but if your front right side is loose then yes you want to go with NEW OEM ONLY ball joints. Some have had theres fail when aftermarket in low miles. If yours is loose you want to quickly change them. Here is what happened when mine failed.

See that's what I thought, but he specifically said REAR lower ball joint. Is he just an idiot? I'm starting to wonder, he always did good work for me before but since I got the 4runner it almost seems like he doesn't want my business. He was supposed to be getting parts to do this stuff for me, but that was six weeks ago and I can't get a call back from him to save my life. Hence why I'm doing it myself.

Once I get the inspection issues taken care of I'm going to be looking at the suspension anyway. The ride isn't really harsh, but it telegraphs every tiny imperfection in the pavement. When I'm driving at any real speed it's just a constant jittering around. I bought it recently at 150,000, and I believe the suspension is original. So yeah, ball joints will probably be on the list to replace anyway but I'm not sure what he was talking about on the rear.

I used to own a F*rd, so using OEM parts is new to me. Almost any aftermarket part was an upgrade from OEM on that thing, lol.

 

[Fit4Action]

There are a LOT of people here who will disagree with that statement, including me. Everything from Moog I've bought over the last year has been junk. I'd stick with OEM for the lower ball joints at least. The failure mode could be deadly in this case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h9xTCYC6Es

HOLY CRAP - :jaw: I have been using moog for the past 5 years on all MY VEHICLES!!!! What makes them bad? I know they are expensive, but I have never once had issues with them so I recommend them to alot of people.

Sorry for my ignorance and referring you guys to them, Ive just never had a bad experience.
:cry2:

 

[jeremyc74]

HOLY CRAP - :jaw: I have been using moog for the past 5 years on all MY VEHICLES!!!! What makes them bad? I know they are expensive, but I have never once had issues with them so I recommend them to alot of people.

Sorry for my ignorance and referring you guys to them, Ive just never had a bad experience.
:cry2:

You're not alone. I used Moog parts for years on all my domestic junk and never had any issues, but the parts I've bought recently for the 4Runner (before joining this forum) had some issues.

It seems they're "hit or miss" these days. Some people don't have any problems with them, and some of them fail so quickly it's shocking.

I think the problem is that all these aftermarket parts are being made in China now, and I can tell you from working over there (in automotive manufacturing) that they just don't care about quality control. I would imagine with the ball joints there's inconsistent machining, or heat treat, or some other basic process that just isn't being done to spec, and they're shipping parts anyway.