Is it worth rebuilding calipers? (1 Viewer)

[3rdgenfan]

I did my pass side wheel bearing on Sunday took to get the alignment done yesterday. On my way home after my alignment I noticed puling to the left when braking. I am guessing my driver side caliper is starting to seize up. My pass wheel bearing was bad. I could shake the wheel. Maybe fixing one issue surfaced another? Haven't had a chance to check my tire pressures yet. I am sure that would be step one.

To my question, is it worth the time to rebuild my calipers or just get some factory replacements? I do have a slightly soft brake pedal. Maybe those will help? I have an extend SS lines. Had a land cruiser shop bleed the brakes and still the same.

 

[BILT4ME]

Have you checked the wheel bearings? If they were "torqued to spec" they're probably wrong and not tight enough. Factory states 35 LB-IN and it should be 35 LB-FT.

Yes, you can use factory parts, if it is a factory caliper.

Many have gone with the Napa Eclipse calipers, but there have apparently been poor quality issues with those in recent months.

 

[3rdgenfan]

Have you checked the wheel bearings? If they were "torqued to spec" they're probably wrong and not tight enough. Factory states 35 LB-IN and it should be 35 LB-FT.

Yes, you can use factory parts, if it is a factory caliper.

Many have gone with the Napa Eclipse calipers, but there have apparently been poor quality issues with those in recent months.

I did it by the Toyota FSM. I did the pass side though. Would that affect drivers side if its wrong?

 

[AndrewInf]

A few weeks back I replaced my rear calipers with some remanufactured units from NAPA (more on this in a second). Taking my crusty old calipers apart, they probably would have been fine with just a basic reseal and anything else I wanted to do, like paint etc.

I read a lot on the forums about NAPA being a great place to get reman calipers, namely the Eclipse brand they stocked. Turns out they quit carrying that and now sell calipers from the "Adaptive One" brand and it ended up being a real pain in the ass:

• The powder coating was very thick on the bracket to the point that I had to do some filing to get the stainless spring guides to fit correctly. Not a huge deal.
• The threads in the caliper that the guide pins go into were also jammed up with powder coating (or something) and it caused me some issues trying to get them torqued correctly until I realized what was going on. Didn't have a tap so I just threaded the bolts in and out a few times and cleared out as much gunk as I could until I was able to get the right torque spec
• One of the grease boots was just missing. I had to yank one off my old calipers
• The big problem: they shipped banjo bolts that were way too long. I didn't realize this until after driving it about 10 miles. The brakes smelled like they were burning up on one side and my IR thermometer showed the rotor on that side at over 400F after a short drive. It was dragging real bad. Turns out the banjo bolt was pressing against the piston inside the caliper, making it stick and drag. I basically re-did the brake job and used the old banjo bolts and everything was fine, but it was a real pain in the ass and I'm sure I sucked some life out of the parts on the dragging side.
  

Anyway, all that is to say I wish I had just done the damn rebuild myself. I would have done it right and it would have saved me all the time of doing the job twice and driving across town to the only NAPA in LA (apparently) that would accept cores from an online order. Never again.

This is a post I've been meaning to make to steer users clear of the NAPA reman calipers now that they've switched brands. Do not use Adaptive One reman calipers!

 

[BILT4ME]

I did it by the Toyota FSM. I did the pass side though. Would that affect drivers side if its wrong?

Pulling to one side can mean that side is dragging or the opposite side is not working. So.....both.

Have you replaced the hoses as well? Are the hoses original?

Still worth checking the wheel bearings doing the 12/6 thing.

 

[FJsapper]

I rebuilt all 4 of my calipers about 2.5yrs ago. I rolled the dice on non OEM components. So far going strong. It was time consuming due to the little widgets and whatnot but is totally doable.

This was done in conjunction with front axle rebuild. When inspecting the brakes I found one of the front passenger caliper pistons was seized.

 

[Corbet]

You can comes down to time.

I went with NAPA remains like 100K ago with no issues personally Still running strong. No issues with powder coat with the set I received.

 

[clx16]

I replaced all of mine over a year ago with the Napa eclipse and I had pulling until i managed to get a good bleed and get the abs to actuate.

Get the abs to actuate before you start replacing stuff as it is free and fast.

 

[PZLCruiser]

I rebuilt all 4 calipers with a toyota kit. All good 4 years later. No complaints.

 

[COYS]

Good thread here - no brainer for me to go Toyota reman with all the OEM trimmings.

NAPA Eclipse Calipers

Awesome - thank you. From an old @beno post: 90430-10074 for the high pressure gaskets. 90401-10015 for the high pressure fittings.

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[3rdgenfan]

I rebuilt all 4 calipers with a toyota kit. All good 4 years later. No complaints.

Do you remember where you got the rebuild kit from?

 

[3rdgenfan]

Good thread here - no brainer for me to go Toyota reman with all the OEM trimmings.

NAPA Eclipse Calipers

Awesome - thank you. From an old @beno post: 90430-10074 for the high pressure gaskets. 90401-10015 for the high pressure fittings.

forum.ih8mud.com

Great info. Thanks

 

[smritte]

I rebuilt all four of mine last year. I think I spent 45.00 for all from one of the online Toyota dealers (don't remember which). The hard part is popping all the pistons out if you don't know the trick.

 

[ppc]

Repairing only one wheel on an axle is a trail fix or something to get you on the road for a few days. Proper repair is to replace both left and right sides with identical parts using the same procedures. Matching side to side on an axle is very important whether it is the front or rear.

 

[flintknapper]

IF you don't need new pistons when doing a rebuild then the 'kit' is a reasonable way to refurbish the calipers. BUT if pistons or bores are pitted or crusty in any way....then the cost to rebuild approaches that of a Toyota reman (which are very nice).

**The NAPA units are no longer viable IMO**

Toyota reman brake calipers:

Front… 47730-60060-84 and 47750-60060-84

Rear…. 47730-60070-84 and 47750-60070-84

 

[COYS]

IF you don't need new pistons when doing a rebuild then the 'kit' is a reasonable way to refurbish the calipers. BUT if pistons or bores are pitted or crusty in any way....then the cost to rebuild approaches that of a Toyota reman (which are very nice).

**The NAPA units are no longer viable IMO**

Toyota reman brake calipers:

Front… 47730-60060-84 and 47750-60060-84

Rear…. 47730-60070-84 and 47750-60070-84

To pile on flint’s good post for the uninitiated rookies like yours truly, the Toyota reman calipers front and rear *come with new pistons* plopped in.

I posted a pic in the thread I linked.

 

[OGBeno]

IF you don't need new pistons when doing a rebuild then the 'kit' is a reasonable way to refurbish the calipers. BUT if pistons or bores are pitted or crusty in any way....then the cost to rebuild approaches that of a Toyota reman (which are very nice).

**The NAPA units are no longer viable IMO**

Toyota reman brake calipers:

Front… 47730-60060-84 and 47750-60060-84

Rear…. 47730-60070-84 and 47750-60070-84

47730/47750-60110-84 will work on the rears as well.

Do not forget 90430-10074 (2 per caliper) when you replace calipers.

 

[OGBeno]

the Toyota reman calipers front and rear *come with new pistons* plopped in.

Not always. I have seen plenty of reman OEM calipers with used pistons.

Piston damage has a tolerance as do bore consistency in the caliper casting; once those tolerances are reached or exceeded, pistons and/or housings are replaced.

Otherwise, they are cleaned up and reused.

But as these part numbers continue to increase in age and decrease in quality, we will see more and more new OEM parts used in remanufacturing process.

 

[COYS]

Not always. I have seen plenty of reman OEM calipers with used pistons.

Piston damage has a tolerance as do bore consistency in the caliper casting; once those tolerances are reached or exceeded, pistons and/or housings are replaced.

Otherwise, they are cleaned up and reused.

But as these part numbers continue to increase in age and decrease in quality, we will see more and more new OEM parts used in remanufacturing process.

my late 2019 dealer purchased Toyota remans came with new pistons all four corners.

 

[fjbj40]

I have tried the P/N's in Canada and no luck