Replacement brake options

[MB Flatlander]

Paraordance - Caliper Question

Paraordance - What did you use for calipers on the front? I want to go with the Power Stop setup.

We have a 2003 which we purchased in 2005 with just under 40000 miles on it. The 1st time we had the brakes done was at the dealership and we found out it had the larger calipers already on it. When I use Power Stops website there is no option for larger calipers through them.

The issue I'm having is that a local garage replaced the calipers, rotors and brake pads and now my breaks are worse than before. I'm going to have to take it back and have the issue resolved. They have already bleed the system for a 2nd time, prepped the pads and we still have hardly any breaking power and what is there comes in the last bit of pushing the pedal to the floor.

I personally feel the 4Runner has soft breaking to begin with and grown somewhat accustom to it but right now its even worse. What brought this all in to being was the fact we where experiencing a shake in the steering wheel after 65mph. The garage found seized pistons on both front sides. The rotors and pads weren't in the best of shape so all of it was replaced and as soon as I drove away I new there was an issue with almost no brake pedal. Next day it went back they bleed the system again and prepped the pads. This made a slight improvement but its still falling short of what it was before it was replaced.

At this point I want to be prepared with what I think should be on there for brake components when I go back in. Not sure if the issue is from inferior aftermarket parts or faulty parts out of the box. In the end I don't really care what the reason is I just need to get it fixed properly with only 1 more trip.

 

[Gdmeadors]

I personally would stick with Toyota OEM brake parts and make sure the system is properly bled per the Toyota service procedures. It sounds like you have air in the brake lines somewhere which will cause a soft pedal. I have a 2006 with factory brake components and they perform perfectly.


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[CruzadoBlanco]

I personally would stick with Toyota OEM brake parts and make sure the system is properly bled per the Toyota service procedures. It sounds like you have air in the brake lines somewhere which will cause a soft pedal. I have a 2006 with factory brake components and they perform perfectly.


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Are you still stock or close to it or are you running a 33"+ tire? and do you have skids and or bumpers aswell? there are a ton of things that factor into brake performance. i run 35" tires with skids, sliders and i tow on a semi regular basis. The OEM brakes just didnt cut it, im currently on the powerstop z36 truck and tow pads with their rotors and the difference is night and day. i can stop my fat heffer on a dime and not have a trailer push me through my brakes, i can also hold my self when in 4 Low first gear, something i couldnt do withe OEM brakes. my next course of action is to upsize to the 338mm brakes to get even better performance out of my system.

now if someone is stock or close to it then OEM brakes work great and arent an issue,they might need a different pad if they tow or something but besides that theyre fine for all they do.

 

[Morphyne]

I didnt read through the entire thread, but I priced out a full 5th gen retrofit (calipers, rotors, pads) for the front only on RockAuto the other day. It came to about $200 after core charges. This is dependent on the rotors and pads you buy.

That has to be the absolute cheapest parts available. I just paid $350 for autozone's best rotors, pads, and e-brake shoes. Or your math is wrong.

Why go through all that effort just to put on cheap gear. Take the savings you incurred from doing it your self and get something to good.

 

[Morphyne]

Just a note on what this service costs. my wife's gx470 was at the dealer getting the dash fixed (yay!) and they said that the rear pads needed changing and the rotors turned. total price would be $340 and change. so i ordered the best that autozone has (duralast max ceramic pads and duralast gold rotors with e-coatings) for $349 delivered. and that included the front pads, rotors, and ebrake shoes as well.

 

[vastano]

That has to be the absolute cheapest parts available. I just paid $350 for autozone's best rotors, pads, and e-brake shoes. Or your math is wrong.

Why go through all that effort just to put on cheap gear. Take the savings you incurred from doing it your self and get something to good.

Centric Calipers are $55 apiece, Centric front rotors are $33 apiece, that's $176. That leaves money to be able to buy whichever pads youd like. Of course all this is before shipping. Regardless, anyone should definitely be able to stay under $350.

 

[Morphyne]

Centric Calipers are $55 apiece, Centric front rotors are $33 apiece, that's $176. That leaves money to be able to buy whichever pads youd like. Of course all this is before shipping. Regardless, anyone should definitely be able to stay under $350.

Sorry. You are doing two wheels. I was thinking four. That's where the math breaks. Yiu are correct. $200 is a reasonable budget to do the fronts.

 

[MB Flatlander]

Update

Just letting everyone know that I took my 4Runner into the dealership to have them go through the front brakes and check the hydro/boost. I wanted them to go through what the other garage had done and check on the hydro/boost.

The night before I dropped it off the brake pedal was real soft and just about made it to the floor before the truck would stop. The morning I took it to the dealership brake feel was better and braking could be felt when the pedal was about halfway down.

Mechanic could not find anything wrong with the hydro/boost unit, no pending errors and no present errors. He did take it for a drive and felt that the pedal seemed soft and the pedal had to be pressed further then what he felt it should before braking occurred. He pulled the front brakes apart the reman calipers where working fine, he did notice some residue was still left on the rotors so they cleaned them up but other than that could not find an issue with either the work or parts put on by the other garage.

His suggestion was to replace the pads with a set of OEM and give that a try. He replaced them and it was a night/day difference. When I picked it up the brakes responded almost immediately upon pushing the pedal. I drove it around for the next week and brakes worked flawlessly so I went back to the garage that did the work, I showed them the bill from the dealership and they reimbursed me for it and apologized for the my inconvenience.

The pads the garage put on where Raybestos mid quality that they use all the time so they are unsure if the pads where bad from the get go or someone at the garage contaminated them before they could be installed. Anyways I was happy they reimbursed me.

 

[ZebRuaj]

Anyways I was happy they reimbursed me.

Congrats to you OP for getting your money back. Seems like you found a good shop that values return customers.

 

[joefbtg28]

I thought the drilled and slotted were for race cars and cracking was an issue with them. Is that no longer the case?

My understanding is that slots are always good. Drilled matters how the rotors were forged. If they were forged with the holes, then no added weak points. If drilled after forging, then weak points can arise. I prefer slotted only rotors given the choice. DBA 4000s will not warp. Ever.

 

[inscarguy]

here's my 2 cents.

I have always used OEM parts for brakes. always had an issue with rotors warping or excessive pad material build up on the rotors. I went with Powerstop and got the z36 truck and tow package with 5th gen calipers. no issues since. pedal travels a little further than I like but no more issues with rotors. pads are a different material than OEM. got the whole kit from rock auto for about 350.00.

 

[Bumbo]

Avoid the drilled and slotted... it's not going to do anything for you except make ur wallet lighter.

Keep it simple.

I went with Centric premium rotors and Akebono pads, and Centric calipers.

I did make the mistake of getting the 141 series... for a little more I should have paid for the 142.

That said, everything works very well and went together without any problems.

I also added a 6 line set of stainless steel braided brake lines. It took me a little while to warm up to them because the feel was so different, but after having them I absolutely love it. The braking input is very linear to what is going on in the peddle area.

Before / After