Yesterday was a pretty interesting day - TBU

[Scramble]

I did the TBU yesterday which was pretty easy. I've read so much about it here that I felt like I've done it before. I've only done front pads & rotors once before in '96 on my '78 Coupe Deville.
We did it in my neighbor Butch's driveway. He's a retired bus mechanic of 25 years & has 2 huge Matco tool chests & compressor in his garage.

We're not even finished taking apart the drivers side & he gets incoherent on me. He couldn't figure out what sockets to pull out. He kept saying, "I'm thinking, I'm thinking". I thought it was the heat because it was 100* out. So I made him sit in the shade & continued working. He was getting worse & I thought maybe he was on drugs (heroin) because it looked like the dope nod. Then his other neighbor came by & said it was Diabetic shock. We got him into the house with A/C & fed him some cookies to get his sugar up. He was back to normal within 2 hrs & came back out to help me just in time because I broke one of the caliper brake lines. He has a bender so I took his '93 Jeep Cherokee to the only auto parts store open on a Sunday afternoon & got a new line. That was my first time driving a Cherokee & it sucked. The steering was so loose & could move the wheel 4" left or right & the truck stayed straight. LOL Reminded me of my old '64 Sedan DeVille.

But the day ended good. I didn't have to call an ambulance & my brakes work insanely good. I took it for it test drive & when I hit the brakes I didn't expect it to stop so suddenly & all of my tools that I had in the back came flying forward LOL. I was like holy shlt! Definitely a different feel but I love them. And because pics are mandatory...
I used POR15 Blue Caliper paint, Rustoleom Aluminum for the rotor & Valvoline Dot 3-4 Synthetic fluid. I drained all of the old fluid out.

 

[habanero]

Like the color. I have not had another warped rotor since doing the TBU in Jan 2010....

Glad your other neighbor came out and got your other neighbor sorted. We used to keep some orange juice in the fridge for one of my co-workers because he kept pushing too far and would pass out on us if we didn't watch him careful. I can see how you'd think your neighbor was drugged up. The co-worker did eventually in his early 30's die when he passed out while driving, luckily he was the only one.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Blue is a nice touch. Red is my personal favorite and what I've got.

It's shocking at how used we get to terrible, warped rotors up front huh? It really is a world of a difference. I used to have to mash the pedal to stay stopped at a stoplight otherwise the 4Runner would want to creep forward at idle. And coming down the pass on I-80? That was downright scary with those brakes.

 

[Scramble]

Blue is a nice touch. Red is my personal favorite and what I've got.

It's shocking at how used we get to terrible, warped rotors up front huh? It really is a world of a difference. I used to have to mash the pedal to stay stopped at a stoplight otherwise the 4Runner would want to creep forward at idle. And coming down the pass on I-80? That was downright scary with those brakes.

Thanks, everybody uses Red so I wanted to be different but not flashy. I didn't think Black or Silver would be noticeable enough. I also did my new Alt with the same paint & will be doing my new starter & the TRD logo on my S/C.

Like the color. I have not had another warped rotor since doing the TBU in Jan 2010....

Glad your other neighbor came out and got your other neighbor sorted. We used to keep some orange juice in the fridge for one of my co-workers because he kept pushing too far and would pass out on us if we didn't watch him careful. I can see how you'd think your neighbor was drugged up. The co-worker did eventually in his early 30's die when he passed out while driving, luckily he was the only one.

Thank you, I like the color too. Wow, that sucks. I never never knew anyone with Diabetes before but I can see how that could happen now.

I've read all of the complaints here about warped rotors & I've never warped one in 17 years of ownership.

My original rotors & pads lasted 133,000 miles & never gave me a problem. In 2010 it was finally time for new pads. I was out of work from the great recession & I had my mechanic throw on cheap Napa rotors & pads & they've been fine. Maybe because I have a 5 speed & downshift? There's not many original owners here & people could have bought their trucks with cheap aftermarket rotors? I also keep the rear drums clean & adjusted. It's only $20 when you have your truck in for some other service. I think people forget about those & leave them as is for many years.

Last night around midnight coming home from work I bedded my brakes. I got up to 60mph & hit them hard dropping to 10mph & then doing it again 10 times. I was waiting for some hiding cop to pull out of nowhere & ask me what the hell I was doing!? LOL
It was good practice to get the feel of the truck under emergency conditions too, like Deer. There was no pulling & I could get the 33" MT's to squeel & slide a little. I didn't feel the ABS at all. There's no light on the dash & I didn't disconnect the sensors to perform this mod.

But the breaks work awesomely (is that a word?) & I just have to be careful not to slam them as hard as I used to.

 

[thor999]

Blue is a nice touch. Red is my personal favorite and what I've got.

It's shocking at how used we get to terrible, warped rotors up front huh? It really is a world of a difference. I used to have to mash the pedal to stay stopped at a stoplight otherwise the 4Runner would want to creep forward at idle. And coming down the pass on I-80? That was downright scary with those brakes.

LOL I went the whole way down I-80 from Iowa w/ stock brakes and a loaded 5x8' trailer that SUCKED

 

[thegipper]

I cannot explain why but my 4runner has had the same set of rotors and pads on it for 7+ years and 35k+ miles and they still work great! They are not warped at all and brake really well.

I must be lucky or something.

Either way, nice work and glad your neighbor didn't flat line it on you, that would suck....

 

[Kmurt]

Where did you end up ordering the OEM parts?

Install looks clean!

 

[amalik]

nice man. No junkyard parts for your TBU

 

[Scramble]

Where did you end up ordering the OEM parts?

Install looks clean!

Thank You, I found them in the classifieds one night by luck. A member here bought a truck with those parts in the back. The PO never installed them & the new owner had no intentions of installing them so he put them up for sale. I paid $550 for over $1200 worth of parts. :whoo: I intended to do the TBU someday but I couldn't pass up this deal & the guy was close enough for me to drive to.

I cannot explain why but my 4runner has had the same set of rotors and pads on it for 7+ years and 35k+ miles and they still work great! They are not warped at all and brake really well.

I must be lucky or something.

Either way, nice work and glad your neighbor didn't flat line it on you, that would suck....

Yea, I'm not sure why so many people warp their rotors. Towing? Not downshifting going down hills & mountains? Too much speed? Cheap rotors? Auto Trans?

nice man. No junkyard parts for your TBU

I wouldn't buy rusted calipers from a junk yard. If I didn't get a good deal on the OEM's I would have bought remans from Napa, EBC Black slotted & drilled rotors & shims & pads from Toyota. The Stop Tech SS brake lines I got from E-Bay. They were cheaper than Wheelers.

 

[Bcpolno23]

Tbu

Did the upgrade yesterday. Took most of the day in an air conditioned garage, thankfully. Found junkyard calipers & rebuilt & painted myself. Bought StopTech slotted rotors, Wagner pads, & Wheelers Off Road ss braided red brake lines.
Install went pretty smooth except we had to grind down the calipers a bit to get the stock 1998 wheels to fit over the larger rotors. Brakes work great !
1998 Limited RWD. This pic is before we started grinding !

 

[ToyotaBrah]

Classy work, sir! Glad you were able to get your neighbor the help he needed.