jacksonpt

I'm going to be changing my brake pads tomorrow night for the first time. I'll be upgrading to the Performance Friction pads that TRD used to use and that Gadget recommends.

Anything I should know a head of time? Any tips?

Also, do you have to brake in pads at all? If so, how?

delboy

Nope! Very simple to do. Pull out old ones, push back pistons and slie in new ones. Assuming your calipers are in good cond. which mine were not, you will have no problems. May take a couple of days for them to seat correctly to match the small grooves in your discs, but once you bleed the brakes correctly, you should be ok. I just got mine finished today as i repacked the bearings and put new calipers on. Never knew i had brakes until today. The old ones were well and truly f@*£$d. Good luck!

SLC Punk

I put in the same pads about a month ago.

Are you planning on turning your rotors?

I would recommend you put some of the "brake quiet" on the back of your pads.

Other than that, its pretty easy.

Mad Chemist

There shouldn't be any need to bleed the brakes if you're just changing the pad. For pushing the piston in, I've always used a large C-clamp. If your rotors are grooved much, I'd get them turned before putting the pads on, no use wrecking a new set of pads!

ssbogger

About how much does it cost to get your rotors turned? Just about any local shop can do it right?

Hyperlite

NAPA will turn them for cheep

SLC Punk

I got mine turned at a local muffler/brake shop. It ran $20 for both rotors.

UNLIMITED96

i've always loosened the bleeder screws a bit when pushing
back the calipers to keep the fluid from coming out of the master cylinder lid. it pukes out a little from the screws but keeps the master cylinder seals from blowing out.
no need to bleed brakes when finished, just add fluid

eric

AgRunner06

I have a few words of advice about working on cars at night, especially if you haven't done it before.

Be careful. Most auto-parts stores aren't open at night. If something gets screwed up, you can't get any parts until the next morning. That means you are out of a vehicle until it gets fixed. Been there, done that.

I've done a few brakes before, not necessarily on Toyotas, but it's the same principle. I've never opened the bleeder when compressing the calipers and have not had any problems. To me, it sounds like a good way to get air in your brake lines. For someone that has never done brakes before, bleeding the brakes can be a little more than trivial. You also need another person to help you do it. If you decide to open the bleeder, I strongly recommend bleeding the brakes just to make sure you get all the air out of the lines.

Definitely use a C-clamp when doing brakes. It makes the job sooooooo much easier.

Rotors also aren't very hard to do, but it helps to have someone there that knows what they are doing because it involves bearings and stuff like that. Rotors usually run $10 a piece to get turned.

I've never used any of the "Brake Quiet" stuff. Does it work pretty good? Do you just put that stuff on the surface of the pad?

Well that's all the $ that I have on this issue.

NOTRUB

Jackson, if you are going to be working on the brakes might as well bleed them!! Iis simple with a helper, 10mm wrench, piece of hose and a water bottle. I belive its driver rear, passenger rear, passenger front, then driver front.

FattyCBR

If you've never done it before and you have more than 60k I'd flush your entire brake system. You can get Valvoline synthetic brake fluid very cheaply an Autozone or someplace like that. Also you don't need to crack your bleeder valves to push the pistons back in, just open the reservoir cap and use two large screwdrivers to pry the pistons back slowly. If you have trouble pulling out the two pins holding the pads in make sure that the flat spring (you'll see what I mean when you pull off the wheel) isn't putting tension on the pins.

Bennito

To avoid overflowing your master cylinder, try removing half (if you're just compressing calipers) or all (changing fluid) with a turkey baster (can't remember where i saw that tip, but i think it was a link from this forum).

Bleeding brakes isn't too bad, but I wouldn't touch the bleed line unless you're planning on changing fluids and have help standing by.

Takes about 5 minutes per wheel to turn a waterbottle into a black and tan (or whatever color fluid yours is)

EDGE

How exactly do you bleed the brakes, I have an idea but not 100% sure.

Do you open the bleeder on each caliper, pump the brake pedal then move to the next wheel then you put the new fliud in and pump the brake, someone clear this up for me

AgRunner06

Here's what to do when you bleed brakes.

1. Start with the farthest wheel from the master cylinder...I think it should go RR, LR, RF, LF.

2. Pump the pedal three times. Then hold it down while someone opens the bleeder. Hold the pedal until it goes down to the floor. Then the bleeder should be closed. Let up on the pedal.

3. Move on to the next wheel.

4. Repeat as necessary.

5. Refill reservior.

There you go.

Cmar

Can you use copper grease for the brake slip/anti squeal?

Also, when you push the pistons back in, do you have to push both together on a twin piston caliper?

Highland Runner

Another comment on doing brake jobs. The ony tool you will need is a 2 flat screwdrivers.
Remove some brake fluid with turkey baster etc if needed.
Remove wheel.
Take out pins and flat spring.
Wedge flat screwdrivers between pads and caliper and push pistons all the way back into caliper. I used to do the c-clamp thing, but you need to remove caliper. Not needed.
Put old slotted shims on PF pads and install. Make sure to get the pads right because the two sides are sligthly different.
Put pins and flat springs on with a small amount of the brake grease ($1 at front desk at Autozone).
Reinstall wheel.
It takes me longer to remove the wheel than to change the pads doing it this way. If the rotors need to be turned; 3rd gens are very easy. Just remove the caliper (two bolts) and the disk slides right off. There are no bearings to worry about. I don't recommend bleeding brakes by pushing pedal to the floor either. The bore is usually pitted below where the piston slides. When the piston slides through the pits it will scratch the seal. I never need to bleed the brakes during a brake job. Its best to use a power bleeder to do this job. That way works the best and you can do it yourself. I made mine fron a small garden sprayer filled with brake fluid and a cap instead of a the spray wand.

jacksonpt

Thanks for all the info everyone. Got it done, piece of cake. I can't believe I've been paying people for the last 7 years to do that for me.