Rear Brakes & Rotors(?)

[Brentbba]

Took the beast in for a minor service at dealer this morning. Cheaper to have them change the oil rotate tires and inspect things than it is for me to do it by the time I dispose of the oil properly.

Rear pads down to 1mm. Need to replace. That, by itself isn't a problem and I've done it before. Quick call to Dan in a few minutes for the pads.

Service writer stated that tech said the rear rotors were showing some signs of a slight warping (and motioned - concave) and suggested having them machined. Forgot to ask what the specs (thickness) were on the rear rotors. They are still the originals w/156K on them. They quoted $465 for the 'rear brakes'. I'd have to assume that is the pads and removal, machining and replacing the rear rotors.

I came straight to work so I've NOT done my reading in the FSM - yet. What's involved wise to remove rear rotors? I know general consensus on this board is that it's not advisable to machine the front rotors. What about the rears? Should I just replace them with this kind of mileage and what's involved?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

They must be replacing the rotors with gold alloy ones. Removing the rear caliper is a 2 bolt job, the rotor slides right off, new one slides on, replace caliper. 10 minutes max per side. Or, you could just replace the pads and see if there is any shudder suggesting warping. Wearing a bit concave is normal.

At 156K, it would not hurt to replace the rotors, rebuild the calipers and replace the pads. All of those jobs are pretty easy. If you want quick, dirty and cheap, just replace the pads.

 

[Biff]

Just replaced the rear rotors and pads myself, total was $250(parts from cdan) not a very hard job. Just remove the calipers, use a 8mm bolt to push the rotor out, and the rotor comes off easily- don't forget to release the parking brake when removing the rotor. Next thing for me is rebuild the calipers, and replace the ebrake pads.

I'll help you do it if you feel up to a drive.

 

[Tools R Us]

Do you have brake peddle pulsation? If not, "The rear rotors were showing some signs of a slight warping (and motioned - concave) and suggested having them machined" is tech speak for "more of your money into my pocket"!

Slap some new pads on, bed them in and call it good.

 

[Brentbba]

No brake pedal pulsation at all Kevin. Very smooth. Told service writer I'd take care of the brakes myself (loved the shocked look on his face). Tech is just doing his job. Some of me just wants to slap on new pads, measure the thickness of the rotors and if in spec, be done with it. The rest of me says replace the rotors, if easy enough while caliper is off and replace pads at the same time.

What's involved in rebuilding a caliper Andrew? You might be asking a lot of my confidence on that one!

 

[Rich]

In addition to replacing pads and rotors (rotors if needed) add cleaning and greasing the slide pins - special brake grease required. Also add inspecting, adjusting, and replacing any required parking brake components. Plus thorough flushing and bleeding of brake fluid throughout the system. And not to mention checking that the caliper piston seals are in good shape and the the pistons are not sticking. And not the least, inspecting the flexible brake lines for cracks or bulges.

That would be proper rear brake service of the sort that you could then be reasonably confident that your rear brakes are good to go for another 50K miles or so.

All in all a bit more work than just slapping in a new set of pads.

 

[Brentbba]

Just ordered pads and rotors from the man. May as well replace rotors at 156K.

I remember from last time the grease on the pins. Recommendations?

 

[turbocruiser]

Just ordered pads and rotors from the man. May as well replace rotors at 156K.

I remember from last time the grease on the pins. Recommendations?

Just did a lot of research on this recently, permatex makes a great grease, here's a post from a thread. HTH.

Guys, thanks so much for all the advice. This really was a wild goose chase. After calling the two local toyota dealers and two local toyota independents I had about four different answers ranging from silver anti-sieze to copper anti-sieze to synthetic disc brake grease for the pins and the shims to something called "sil-glyde." I also asked Dan the man and got some great advice and verified that this stuff IS sold with the caliper kits and some other kit but IS NOT sold separately.

then I found something special ... it is labeled "Permatex Ultra Disc Brake Caliper Lube Synthetic Brake Lubricant" and it advertised its ability to apply to virtually every component of the brake system (except for the pads and rotors of course)!!! Its specifically recommended caliper pins, retaining pins, antisqueel shims, pistons, seals, etc etc etc as proper places to put the stuff. It also specifically advertised that it would not damage or degrade rubber componentry. It has a super high melting temp and a good -45 degree freeze temp and all in all appeared perfect for the applications I wanted.

BTW the Permatex product number is 20356 if anyone else ever runs into this problem. Anyways, thanks again for the help and I hope this follow up helps others.

Here's the thread: https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=57824&highlight="brake+caliper+grease"

 

[Boston Mangler]

Hey Brent

If you want, i could head your way and help you with the brake job. I just did mine about a month ago and it was super easy!

I need to replace my fronts also. I am thinking of DBA's all the way around.

 

[turbocruiser]

I need to replace my fronts also. I am thinking of DBA's all the way around.

Go For It!!!!! I think you will love the DBA's.

 

[Brentbba]

Hey Brent

If you want, i could head your way and help you with the brake job. I just did mine about a month ago and it was super easy!

I need to replace my fronts also. I am thinking of DBA's all the way around.

I may give you a shout if I run into problems. Will read FSM this week with plans on doing this Saturday afternoon.

Turbo - IIRC I've been using Mobil One red Moly-D on the front brake shims w/o issue so far. Will see if I can find the Permatex product tho! Thx!!

 

[NorCalDoug]

I may give you a shout if I run into problems. Will read FSM this week with plans on doing this Saturday afternoon.

Turbo - IIRC I've been using Mobil One red Moly-D on the front brake shims w/o issue so far. Will see if I can find the Permatex product tho! Thx!!

Front rotor replacement is a messy PITA...not difficult, just messy and kinda involved.

Rear rotor replacement is easy...very easy...


If the rear rotors are within spec and you're not getting any pulsing, I'd leave them alone for a while...

that said, replacing them wouldn't hurt either -- how many miles do you have on your rear rotors?

 

[Brentbba]

-- how many miles do you have on your rear rotors?

156k - I haven't ever had them replaced IIRC so they are original. Last time I replaced the rear pads I measured and they were well within specs and that was about 30K or so ago. Front rotors were replaced at 90K, so they've still got some life.

Will measure for specs on the rears, but since they are warping (according to the dealer tech and service writer), I may as well replace them.

 

[whodat]

I'm getting some pulsing when braking, how do I determine if it's the front or the rear?

 

[Brentbba]

I'm getting some pulsing when braking, how do I determine if it's the front or the rear?

I'm a 1/2 mechanic. I'll leave this one to the experts here.