02_Limited

Okay so I have had my 02 for a good seven years now, and something about it has always perplexed me. How could I go through two new sets of front rotors / countless numbers of pads, yet still be on original drum pads in the back? The backs I guess have never been a problem, although I'm sure at 120k they are ready for replacing, especially with my aggressive driving style. I am now on my third set of front rotors, since I have had major warping problems with all the others. Shaving/turning them did very little to help. Luckily my service department connect is a nice guy, and when he realized I only got 10k out of a set of rotors, only charged me for the labor to install new ones. My question is this -am I getting poor brake life from the front because the back drums are barely pulling their own weight? I know I warped one set from multiple trips to the Badlands, driving through water and doing a lot of high speed stopping, but have had 2 more sets of disks since December of a year ago.

Also, on a side note, how much pitch/weight shifting should I be experiencing when braking and accelerating? I'm trying to determine if its time for new shocks and springs, since those are still original

dbcx

You answered your own question. You will always go thru more fronts than rears usally like 2or3 to 1. Your driving habits is your cause. Maybe you need to upgrade and let of the gas sooner and do some coasting instead of hammering the brakes all the time. Oh you could check to see if your rears are staying adjusted

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

We used to live on a very curved road. My wife would hammer the brakes in the turns instead of slowing down before the turns...3 sets of front brakes/warped rotors in a year and she had to change her driving habits.

Driving habits determine brake life.

James Dean

Rear brakes hardly do any of the braking. If you have a lift and didn't reposition the proportioning valve, they will work even less. Although most of what you describe sounds like over braking.

atistang

also the harder you stop the less the rears are gonna do, proportioning valves proportion the hydraulic force from the brake pedal to where it is needed, the harder you stop the more percentage of power is gonna go to the front brakes because thats where all the weight is going. if it was 50/50 all the time under hard braking your rears would lock up

02_Limited

Yeah I will admit that I used to have a much more aggressive driving style than I do now, but I feel that I have to lay hard on the brakes because they just aren't big enough for the application. I feel like when I am coming up to stop lights, I put on the brakes plenty ahead of time, but the closer I get to the intersection the heavier I break since they feel so weak. If I had the money, I'd do the Tundra upgrade, but I can't convince my parents that the brakes on my truck now aren't adequate. If I could get them to understand my reasoning , I would be much better off. Thanks for the responses

okie81

I rarely hear of proportioning valve issues on newer vehicles. If you have ABS, it's the bypass valve type and those usually don't go bad.

On a side note, a guy at Les Schwab told me the rotor warping he see's on toyotas is mostly due to improper torquing of the front lug nuts. Although it's hard to take advise from the people at Les Schwab, It was definately was a point to ponder.

86tuning

Driving habits and load (towing etc) determine brake life.

Hard braking, as noted by somebody else, transfers weight forwards, and therefore uses MORE front brakes.

It's a truck, not a sports car. Driven nicely, I've seen 70k miles out of a set of front pads and rotors. On the 3rd gen 'runners we always change rotors when we do pads.

You might want to try an actual performance brake pad next time you do brakes. Porterfield R4S pads will give you better brake life with the harsh conditions you put your vehicle through. We use them on all of the street cars at our shop.

We've tried dozens of pad compounds, and have settled on this one, as it's the best for aggressive street use. Other 'performance' pads aren't really performance at all. It doesn't mean you won't warp the rotors if you continue to abuse the vehicle, it just means the pads will last longer under severe street use. Typical life is 2-3x that of genuine Toyota pads. They're gentle on rotors too. So if you don't warp them, these may be the last brakes you ever put in.

ARB1977

The fronts will always wear out before the rears. Which reminds me awhile back my father inlaw paid 1200 to have my wifes 97 Jetta brakes done at the dealer California)...rotors and pads, front and rear. This last time there was some sqweeling going on in the rear so i had the tires rotated and load and behold the rear pads were pretty much shot.

Im thinking when the last time this was done the dealer never touched the rears...just the fronts.

Sorry for the long story.

02_Limited

What I was saying was that during the time starting about a year ago, and lasting for about four months, I went through 2 different sets of rotors. After totaling my M5, it took me a while to adjust to the braking habits of the 4Runner vs my old car. This is probably the cause of one of the warped sets. But then my driving habits changed significantly (less aggressive) yet I still go through another 2 sets of rotors? I just feel that this is a sign that the rear drums need to be checked out

SoCalPaul

I put a little over 200K miles on my '92 4Runner & never changed the rear shoes. I have never replaced the front rotors on any of my vehicles. My 96 4Runner was purchased with 120K miles & the rear shoes were paper thin.

Are you using OEM or aftermarket? What pads? I have used many different pads over the years & nearly always get the longest life from the OEM.

Main reasons for excessive front wear:
Air and/or water in the fluid. (expansion will cause the pads to drag, heating & warping the rotors)
Poor quality pads and/or rotors. (excessive wear & heat)
Improperly adjusted rear brakes. (makes your fronts work harder)
Problems with the front calipers. (not retracting properly, dragging the pads)

I would start with a full fluid flush & rear shoe adjustment.
Put the front on jack stands & remove the front wheels. Turn the rotors by hand. There should be a light drag but the rotor should not be difficult to turn.
Install OEM rotors & pads.
If you still have problems, rebuild or replace the front calipers.

Good luck,
Paul

02_Limited

Thanks for the response.

I am using OEM rotors and pads in the front, and like I said, the rears have not been touched so they are still original OEM pads. I am taking the truck in tomorrow for a 120kish service, so I will ask them to check out the rears. I know the service department well (luckily) so I don't expect them to try to sell me something I don't need (they haven't yet so far in 8 years of going to the same dealer), but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they said I needed new rear pads

TheDurk

I have 120 k on my front rotors. I changed pads only at 75k. I always hand torque lugs to spec when I rotate or any time I have a wheel off. Nobody else wrenches my rig except once (for a clutch at 90k--I have no lift.) Rears are untouched since 20k, when junior left the e-brake on coming back from his driving test. My bad for not noticing until I smelled it. Talk about a buzzkill for junior. So 100k on rear shoes and drums and plenty left. I like the weak power assist--I think I can be more precise about how much is applied but I can still go to full ABS lock instantly if called for.