NorCalVP

I've had my 96 runner for a few weeks now, and one thing is really bothering me about this thing. The brakes are very mushy. I also get a vib at the pedal and in the wheel. The brake pedal goes about half way through it's travel before it starts to activate the brakes. Now this is the first vehicle with ABS, so maybe that's the way it's supposed to be.

I've also got a 97 Tacoma, with a Dana 44 under it, and it brakes better than the 4runner. (both before and after the SAS),

I took the wheels off and ran a dial indicator over the rotors, and the passenger side rotor is .003 out of round, and the Drivers side is .002. I don't thing that it's a warped rotor, cause it should be more than that for me to feel.

I also got the calipers and rotors off of an 03 Taco (thinking they were the same) but the Taco rotors were about an inch smaller in diameter, but the pads were the same.


What should i look into next?

Steve

CTB

Maybe try bleeding your brakes to see if that helps with the mushiness.

I'm not sure if those numbers are enough to notice, but if you have plenty of life left on your rotors (thickness), why not get them turned to see if it alleviates the problem?

MTL_4runner

Try adjusting the rear drums to see if that helps. If you don't use your ebrake much then that could certainly be it. You could also bleed the brakes but if they got mushy over time I doubt that is the problem. I bet the shoes are just very retracted and in need of adjustment. Also look at any of the rubber brake lines for signs of damage or deformation. Could be the master cylinder also but I would go step by step before I came to that as the root cause. Hope this helps.

TOR

Yeah it doesn't sound like the rotors to me. If they were warped then your steering wheel would be shaking or vibrating a little. I agree with MTL_4runner, it sounds like the shoes need to be adjusted. I defninitely would bleed the brake lines though, if they are mushy this cetainly won't hurt you to do.

Todd

Sucellus

I have had a similar experience with mine. I had the rotors remachined and the pads replaced. This seemed to fix the vibration problems--Except where the road is messed up from too many people with bad rotors...

The master cylinder seems to be barely sufficient to move enough fluid. I believe it is possible to replace the master cylinder with one off a FJ80 (see www.offroadsolutions.com)--This would move a lot more fluid. Also you might check your brake push rod adjustment.

I replaced the brake lines with some nice braided stainless-steel ones and that did help out the mushyness significantly. My brakes are still not 100% high and tight but when the brakes do engage they work very well and can stop the car VERY rapidly.

If you solve the problem let us know what it was. I am always looking for ways to improve the pedal feel.