[jfnall]

First, I want to say thank you to all of you on this forum that give your vast knowledge and advice. It has been an enormous help. I have had my 60 for about a month now. I will get some pics up when i get my roof rack back from the sand-blaster and Arma-coater.

I am in desperate need of a front rotor replacement. After many hours of research, I can't decide what I actually need. I have read and printed the pages on knuckle rebuilds, etc.

The hubs are fine and I don't really need to rebuild everything. But, my thinking is that if the rotors are that hard to get off and replace, I might as well go ahead and replace everything else that is there.

Are the "birfield re-pack" instructions what i need to follow? not really sure. trying to save many hundreds from paying a shop to do it.

if there is a simpler way to just replace rotors, please let me know.

again, thanks for the great info.

how do i get a picture by my name like everybody else???

Jeff

[Hank]

Have you checked your wheel bearings yet? If not, plan on repacking them when you replace your rotors . You won't get all the way in to the birfs. Buy your rotors, brake pads and grease seals for behind the wheel bearings at the parts store and go for it.

Oh, and purchase a silver star I think to get a pic by your name. Not sure you have to, check your user CP and see if it gives you the option to upload one.

[Cruzerman]

I went with the Brembo rotors. Well respected, name brand at a decent price. Didn't want to buy the cheapy $25 rotors nor did I want to spend $100+ rotors. I thought that these were a good middle ground on price while still getting good quality. Got mine at autopartswarehouse.com for something like $50 each with free shipping.

Now is the time to decide what you want to do while you have things apart. The minimum will be to repack the bearings as you move them to the new rotors. Now would be the time to replace inner axle seals, rebuild knuckles, change felts, etc. Also, you may want to replace your front calipers with 4 runner calipers for a little extra braking.

Doing the knuckle rebuild isn't hard, but it's messy. If you haven't done it before, now is a good time to learn how. All new bearings, gaskets, and seals cost less than $100. Crusier outfitters is a good source. I think that is everything except new wheel bearings. Less than $100 more if you need those.

I did the 4 runner caliper upgrade at the same time since I already needed pads and replacing the entire caliper was cheap. Got mine at Auto Zone for $85 for the pair, fully loaded.

So none of it is too expensive or difficult. Just have to decide what you want to do now and what you don't. I think the hardest part of the entire thing is getting the wheel studs out and into the new rotor.

[Tinker]

Ditto cruz 'cept I wouldn't buy safety items from VatoZone. Their idea of rebuilding is scrambling the parts of used components together until they don't fall apart. Of course they're "guaranteed" so if they don't work, you get another pair of rescrambled rotors. I had to take the alternator back to them twice on my 1st HiLux until I got one that actually worked. That's when I realized real Toyotas get real Toyota parts.

My Toyota dealer will let me trade the 60 calipers in as cores on Toyota remanufactured 4rnr ones (claims that they just go in a shipping container & Toyota doesn't care).

[CruisinFJ60]

Originally Posted by Tinker

Ditto cruz 'cept I wouldn't buy safety items from VatoZone. Their idea of rebuilding is scrambling the parts of used components together until they don't fall apart. Of course they're "guaranteed" so if they don't work, you get another pair of rescrambled rotors. I had to take the alternator back to them twice on my 1st HiLux until I got one that actually worked. That's when I realized real Toyotas get real Toyota parts.

My Toyota dealer will let me trade the 60 calipers in as cores on Toyota remanufactured 4rnr ones (claims that they just go in a shipping container & Toyota doesn't care).

haha i think thats what everyone calls them.

so 2 questions while on the subject. what year 4 runner calipers do i want to get and do they just bolt right up?

its about time for brakes on the 60 and would like to upgrade while there.

[jfnall]

are there inner and outer bearings? or just outer? and do i need to get new races too?

so all that stuff on the birfield directions is WAY more than I need to worry about.

how about the lug bolts, do i need to rent a press for the day or just pound them out?

[CruisinFJ60]

inner and outters and yes races would be a good idea if you are replacing the bearing i allways do them together. and you can just puond the studs out just dont bugger up the threads put a nut or bolt on the end and hit that. and some rotors will come with new studs but not always.

[Poser]

Make sure that when you are done with the front brakes, that the rears are functional, adjusted properly, that the parking brake functions, and that you use it to keep the rear brakes properly adjusted, or you could end up damaging your new rotors from being over worked, because the rear brakes are not doing their part in the stopping equation.

[Cruzerman]

Originally Posted by Tinker

Ditto cruz 'cept I wouldn't buy safety items from VatoZone.

I totally agree and tend not to buy anything there except maybe things like oil and grease. However so far so good with the calipers. They've been in there well over a year. I recently took the front apart to install a 4.11 third member and the calipers / pads looked good.

All the bearings I have bought for the front end (I always get Koyo) have come with new races. This is both wheel bearings and trunion bearings.

[jfnall]

are there any gaskets in the hub that need changing? you look at the breakdown on the SOR page and it seems pretty complicated. i just want to make sure i have everything lying there ready when i dig in to it.

thanks again. you guys are a huge help.

jeff

[CruisinFJ60]

so yes the 4 runner brake calipers are a direct bolt on mod?

and what year 4 runner?

[agent orange]

Check the FAQ, i did i write up a while back.

[CruisinFJ60]

well since we were on the same topic and the since the calipers were mentioned i figured i would ask. it was easier ands simpler than doing a search that i would have to thumb through for a while to find what i needed. but whatever....

[Hank]

89 v6 will work, 95 v6 will work, have to drim dust shield a bit. No big deal.

[agent orange]

91-92 have slightly smaller pistons, 93-96 have the biggest ones.

[CruisinFJ60]

thank you.
i didnt mean to be an ass before either by the way.
Sorry

[agent orange]

No prob, you still may want to check that thread, i tried to make it as thorough as possible.

[beatdown83fj60]

Just remember you get what you pay for. I have carquest cheapies that I got for 20 bucks a piece, and after 2 months they need to be turned, and I am not the type of person that rides my brakes, in fact I try to use them as little as possible. On my old rockrig, I had NWOR Specialties crossdrilled rotors paired up with their HD pads and I only put pads on that truck once and never turned the rotors over the course of 4 years. My buddy is still running the rotors off that truck and hasn't turned them yet, still no warpage. I'm gonna buy the most badass rotors I can find when I need new pads and huck this carquest crap as far as possible.

[Zack1978]

I purchased new OEM rotors at the dealer, with a discount. I can't remember what I paid for them, but I don't think it was much for than the aftermarket parts.

Zack

[land crusher]

I've had NAPA's $25 rotors for over a year now and they're still in great shape. I'd probably go with toyota next time, though, now that I now about CDan. There's just something exciting about openig up those read and white boxes.