Advice needed on brakes

[OSS]

An easy way to repair those exhaust insulators is to just wrap them multiple times with either wire or nylon twine. New ones will just rip in half again. The nylon won't be affected by the heat because it doesn't get very hot. And (nylon) twine is elastic so you can cinch it up real tight. That's how I've fixed all of mine. Lasts for years even when driving on intense washboard dirt roads. New ones (that haven't been wrapped) can split in a day.

 

[fjgdk]

Rebuild kits are available from Toyota I believe, if not from just about auto parts store. Rebuilding them is a bit time consumptive but overall a simple job (not much different from what you just did). I would recommend doing a full rebuild on them when you have a little more time.

I second the rebuilding idea only if you completely soak the caliper body in a de-rusting agent like evapo-rust AND but new caliper pistons.

The kit comes with all the rubber parts and should have a small amount of the Toyota Red Rubber grease (aka Lithium based glycol grease). I recommend getting a full tube of the Toyota red rubber grease (about $10) as that is the type of grease you want to maintain rubber as well as when grease with no metals is needed (such as the parking brake housing). Lube the rubber and the pistons with that grease.

New pistons are expensive if purchased oem in the US. I got them half price a year ago shipped from japan from amayama.com. Megazip.com probably has a good price on them too. The downside is both sites ship from the UAE or Japan so you’ll have to wait.

 

[fjgdk]

I second the rebuilding idea only if you completely soak the caliper body in a de-rusting agent like evapo-rust AND but new caliper pistons.

The kit comes with all the rubber parts and should have a small amount of the Toyota Red Rubber grease (aka Lithium based glycol grease). I recommend getting a full tube of the Toyota red rubber grease (about $10) as that is the type of grease you want to maintain rubber as well as when grease with no metals is needed (such as the parking brake housing). Lube the rubber and the pistons with that grease.

New pistons are expensive if purchased oem in the US. I got them half price a year ago shipped from japan from amayama.com. Megazip.com probably has a good price on them too. The downside is both sites ship from the UAE or Japan so you’ll have to wait.

Here are pics of the four oistons and a tube of the oem red rubber grease. Hopefully you can zoom in and get the parts numbers.

Remember that the rubber grease is NOT for the caliper slide pins, that is what the typical “break caliper grease” is used for.

 

[Frkens]

@forestdan7 that is some sweet advice. But I just got rid of the old ones though. It is noted however!

 

[Frkens]

@fjgdk I'd love to order new parts and install, but I'm on the move towards Argentina from LA. And I'm rarely staying anywhere more than two days at the time. So it's just too complicated for me to order stuff online. I have to get what I can at Toyota dealership and crooked mechanics.