brake job

[Previologist]

My brakes have been squealing for quite a while but a clutch job on my 4runner had me without a 2nd vehicle for weeks. Finally got the clutch done and that very day the squeal turned to an ugly grating sound, but only for a minute. I took it home and took the wheels and rotor off.

That grating noise was so awful I was almost expecting to find a broken pad or something, but I didn't really find anything obvious. The squeal was obviously the wear squealer because the outside pad (and only that one) was badly worn, but there was still noise after the pads were out. There was a bright shiny band of wear from the parking brake inside the rotor, which seemed odd because I rarely even use it.

But nothing that would have obviously made that grating sound. The parking brake shoes still have meat on them but look quite old, and at the top center both had irregular end-edges. Looks like some little pieces have crumbled off, and maybe that got ground into the rotor causing the grating sound and the shiny band? Sounds logical, but I don't know if its right, and I can find no other explanation. At any rate, the noise was gone with the rotor off so it looks like I am doing a parking brake shoe job now too. That's unfortunate because I still have a big timing belt/valve cover, brake job and total parking brake replacement on my 4runner to get finished this summer. Sigh. I guess that's what you get when your vehicles are a combined 54 years old.

[Previologist]

Interesting that Oreilly's doesn't even list e-brake shoes for Previas. WTH? Don't really want to spend 100 bucks for OEM.

Here's what I mean about the crumbling and apparently recent wear. It also looks uneven. I don't think I've used the ebrake in months so unless the crumble caused it I'm not sure why it would appear this way. The shoes don't appear to be worn unevenly

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I think I will just use powerstop pads on the parking brake. They have decent reviews although some people have had to mod them to fit other cars. I had them ordered in and will compare them to mine, and send em back if they need mods.

[Previologist]

I changed my mind. I cleaned up the edges of the parking brake shoes with a file and will leave them alone unless they cause trouble again. If indeed they have.

The caliper on that side still seems to work, so hopefully I can get by with new rotors and new pads and new silicone grease. I think I will get good quality pads, but I'm not sure expensive rotors are worth the extra money.

[John Kaufmann]

Sounds like the right choice. Aside from the crumbling at the end (never seen that), thickness seems more than adequate.

[Previologist]

It happens with old shoes/pads. I've heard of vintage motorcycles locking up because of the shoes degrading, which is why it concerned me at first. But after some thought i decided the risk with a 4000 lb all wheel drive vehicle is probably near zilch.

However I'm now more nervous about the 42 year old shoes on the rear wheel of my motorcycle!

[Previologist]

Good news, my front brakes are fine, so I'm just going to replace the rear pads and rotors. I'm ordering Advics ceramic pads and Centrics rotors. We'll see how those rotors do, they have mostly good reviews. I was hoping to get by using my old ones but they are right at the limit. i might have close to the 300 lb minimum limit for my scrap metal buyer now, mostly in rotors and drums.

[tbuyan]

Somewhat off topic, but I just got a pair of front rotors from NAPA. They appear to match the take-offs and bolt on OK, but they severely rub the caliper bracket. Apparently mis-machined, so back they go. New OEM rotors are on the way from Toyota. FWIW, that will leave only 3 rotors remaining in Toyota inventory in the US. I suppose some dealer somewhere could have them on the shelf, but highly unlikely.

[Previologist]

Yikes, what did the OEM cost ya? Let me put my fingers in my ears..OK, tell me.

I may change my mind. Money is short and I need to spend a TON this summer on 4runner parts and strut job/possible front end work on the Previa. I may put my old rotors back on and just throw a cheapie $20 set of pads on the rear for now to burn up the rest of these rotors. I ordered Advic pads already, so I will be prepared when I want to do a proper job. I certainly want to pair them with new rotors when its time.

[tbuyan]

OEM rotors were about $100 each, which is $35 more than the NAPA rotors that don't fit.

[Previologist]

That's actually not a terrible price for OEM rotors.

[Previologist]

As usual, I encountered some complications to a quick and easy pad change job. I realized 2 of the slidr boots, one of the sliders and 2 of the slider bolts had to go, and I decided i should replace the retaining clips or whatever they are called today. I had to order $47 bucks worth of parts, argghh!
Then I couldn't get the new brake pads on, they just wouldn't fit. I finally realized there was rust and other buildup on the torque plate, preventing the new clips from seating fully and cleaning that up took care of that. Now I have new clips, which I probably won't have to replace when I replace the other sliders and boots and bolts when i redo this job with new rotors and the Advics ceramic pads sometime in the next year.

[tbuyan]

Where did you get all those clips, sliders, bolts, boots, etc?

[Previologist]

Oreilly's, unfortunately. I didn't really research other sources, they said they could have em the next day and I wanted to get back on the road asap to start my next big job, 4runner timing belt.

[tbuyan]

Thanks. Toyota couldn't supply them, so I reused the old ones. Seem OK, but I think I'll get new ones and redo.
I also had some clips and springs in my junk assortment, so apparently I got them somewhere in the past, or maybe they were included with the pads in the old days.