where do you guys change your brake pads?

[girlonfire]

so when i was checking my brake pads today its kinda hard to tell if there are any left. i believe only a about 5cm thickness left in the pad

i went to the service dept and asked, they told me

75$ for inspection, 299 front pads, 299 rear pads!!!

omg, anywhere else does it cheaper than these sf toyota guys?

 

[Jed]

Dealerships are usually on the high end with their pricing. Try an independent shop in your area if you want to save some money.

I do my own brake jobs, so my only concern is the price for the parts!

 

[Ducman]

parts

I don't wait till they are just about toast. I keep an eye on them and when they are looking pretty thin I change them.

I figure brakes are cheap and my life depends on them.

I buy all my Toyota OEM oil filters, crush washers, and brake pads from Frank Motors Group

Pretty sure front pads were like $55 and rears were $50 or something last time I bought them.

 

[Elton H]

3rd gens are easy they slide right out from the top easy job and the rotors just pop off too

 

[mac777daddy]

The rear pads are very easy to replace yourself. I just jacked up one side of the rear sprayed a little liquid wrench on the caliper bolts and the bolts came right out. Swapped the pads then reinstall caliper. It took me about 15 - 20 mins per side on the rear to do them.

I changed the fronts as well. The caliper bolts were really on there so I had to use liquid wrench as well as quite a bit of muscle to get them loose. But once loose its not hard to swap out the pads. Get yourself a Haynes manual if you need pics and steps to follow.

 

[fourwd1]

where do you guys change your brake pads?<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

I change mine in my garage.

 

[brian2sun]

I change mine in my garage.

Driveway here. Brakes and oil changes are where most people start when they're learning to work on their own cars. You'd be surprised how much money you can save by doing your own brakes. The fronts on a 3rd gen take about 10-15 minutes per side. The rear shoes take more like 30 minutes per side, but I only have to do my rears once every 5 or 6 years (my fronts last about 3-4 years) as a DD.

 

[qballjr13]

I always change my own in the driveway but the past couple times I have had to replace the calipers because one of the front pistons is frozen. This seems to be a pretty common issue with the 4th Gen's. Other than that, it's easy!

 

[techno]

so when i was checking my brake pads today its kinda hard to tell if there are any left. i believe only a about 5cm thickness left in the pad

5cm???? Holy long life pads.... :wow:

5cm = 50mm = almost 2 inches! I'd say you have about 200,000 miles left on those babies.

 

[1000MPH]

Service limit on the 2010 T4R is 1mm. In my experience, dealers are always suggesting brake service prematurely.
YMMV

 

[brian2sun]

I just wait till the feelers start making noise and then change them within a few days cuz that's what they're there for. I do look at the pads to see about how long I have whenever I rotate my tires though.

 

[techno]

I also wait for the audible warning from the indicator thing, but I have had them break off prematurely without any warning, probably from corrosion, so periodic checks are the way to go.

 

[flyte74]

I change mine in the garage. I wait for the indicator then do it relatively soon after that. I take a look at them every now and then, but not on any type of routine. Took me about 1.5hrs to do the rears. I haven't done the fronts on my 4Runner yet but am kinda thinking I will be doing them soon. Haven't looked at them, just a feeling.....

$675.00 is up there, but that's about right for a dealership. If you're not going to do them yourself, a local shop will do it for a bit cheaper for sure.

 

[shuly]

If you don't mind wrenching yourself....just do them in your garage. It is really easy to work on disc brakes. I recommend turning or purchasing new rotors .. there are a few that don't ...but I would recommend it.

Ducman was kind enough to provide a very clean walkthrough. I just did my front brakes yesterday.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/maintenance/63934-my-4th-gen-front-brakes-walkthrough.html

 

[BamBam]

My rules are:

1- Change your own brakes.
2- Do your own lubes and check fluids regularly.
3- Change your own air filters, wiper blades, and other high mark-up disposables.
4- Wash and wax your own vehicle.
5- NEVER try to rebuild your own transmission. Leave it to somebody that looks at transmissions all day.
6- Oil changes are up to you (because it is cheap and fast to get somebody else to do it and get messy), but if you're going to pay somebody to do it.... watch them the ENTIRE time.

Other than that I pretty much just play it by ear. I'd never let a shop do my brakes though. I've seen way too many foul-ups from dealers especially on brake jobs that I've had to try to repair for people. Mainly they tend to strip out the caliper bolts or snap off lugs, or else overtighten them and end up warping the rotors. They also don't like to make sure they get the pads on the correct side so they may have mismatches (some vehicles take one thick and one thin per wheel, but they may put both thins on one side or both thicks on one side if that makes sense). They want to use an air hammer for everything, and brakes should be done BY HAND with a torque wrench to factory specs at the end.

Once you do your brakes the first time and follow factory guide specs you'll never trust anybody else to do it. Plus it may take you 3 hours on the first wheel, but you'll get exponentially faster from there on out. I can do a complete brake job on a front end in under an hour, and that is totally taking my time, torquing properly, and cleaning the garage after.

 

[Jed]

... They also don't like to make sure they get the pads on the correct side so they may have mismatches (some vehicles take one thick and one thin per wheel, but they may put both thins on one side or both thicks on one side if that makes sense)....

What vehicle uses thick/thin pads that are different on each side of the caliper? In all my years of working on cars, I've never once seen that!

 

[mole177]

Are sport and non-sport brake pads the same size?

(339mm rotor v 318mm rotor brake pad sizes)

 

[BamBam]

What vehicle uses thick/thin pads that are different on each side of the caliper? In all my years of working on cars, I've never once seen that!

Some Chevys from the mid-80's did. It wasn't required, but they were an option. They were available through the aftermarket chains and trust me... I've seen them mixed up. You also have pad sets that are slotted on one side and not the other due to avoiding "heat buildup" and all sorts of junk. It depends on what the aftermarket is pushing that year in order to try to get their pads into retail channels. Didn't you ever see Tommy Boy?!

 

[Uneek]

My driveway. :frog:

 

[04Rmsboy]

brakes

i recently got the brakes done at midas.
new rotors(front) > pads (front)> installed for about $350. (with oil change and tire rotation)

sometimes it's worth it for me to have someone else do it and i don't have to worry with it or spend my time away from my kids. plus when it's 105 outside and feels like 115, i'd rather someone else sweat. :naughty:

edit: also, i took by the guy about 40k miles earlier and he said we were good on the brakes, so for his honesty, i took it back to him when they were due.