L33T35T 4Runner

I love working on my car... but im not very fond of touching something that might make me stop in time in order to save my life. I need the front disc brakes changed on my 95 toyota 4runner. I can get it done at a toyota dealership for just about 98 bucks. is this a good price?

RgrChu

L33T35T,

$98 bux sounds like a good deal...Is that only for replacing the brake pads? I have a '94 4R and for a complete brake job-front and rear....pads, machining the rotors, and repacking the wheel bearings (does your '95 have repackable bearings?).....the complete job was a couple hundred $$$. You might also check around....In the NW, we have shops like Les Schwab who specialize in tires and brakes and they generally can do a quality job at $50-$100 cheaper than the dealers......good luck.

rimpainter.com

That depends on what that price consists of.

You would want to have the system flushed, the rotors turned, and new pads installed. If it includes all that, then its a good deal.
If its just R&R of the pads, then its not a good deal.

What does this price consist of?

L33T35T 4Runner

the guy is also looking into the head gasget recall. When he calls back with that info on my car, i'll ask him what it consists of

rimpainter.com

Just a note to all:

Midas screwed my brakes up big time. They tried to fix the problem 4 times, and every time the brakes squealed just as bad. They blamed it on a manufacturing problem.

I will NEVER go to MIDAS again.

To make it worse, their "Customer Service Area Manager" called me "bud" all the time. I hate that. Dont these people take communication in school?

RgrChu

L33T35T,

$98 bux sounds like a good deal...Is that only for replacing the brake pads? I have a '94 4R and for a complete brake job-front and rear....pads, machining the rotors, and repacking the wheel bearings (does your '95 have repackable bearings?).....the complete job was a couple hundred $$$. You might also check around....In the NW, we have shops like Les Schwab who specialize in tires and brakes and they generally can do a quality job at $50-$100 cheaper than the dealers......good luck.

RigRunner

I wouldnt go to les scwab. Seems like they are always more expensive. At least that's what i found out when i needed a new brakes put on.

channer

I did the job myself, but I called around to check prices.

New rotors, new pads, new rear shoes, turned discs, bleed, and repack bearings was around $900 from Toyota Stealership.

I got a quote from ToyoTechs, a local Toyota "Specialist" (they can't use the word specialist because Toyota put a C&D on them) wanted around $550 for the same job.

I did it myself for about $300 and now I have some nice new tools!

CTB

Just curious...why did you have both new rotors and turned discs??

Churnd

Yeah, I'm wondering that too... new rotors are already "turned".

L33T35T 4Runner

turns out 98 bucks is just for new pads. he said if i had the rotors machined, it would come to a max of 194.

supascout

Wow...

All the money! DIY for cheap with pads from the local parts store, there just as good for a lot less! Also there are places that will turn disks and drums for $6ea or less! There is no good reason to flush the lines, there pressurized many times a day, if there not leaking and the resevoir is full then nothing is able to go bad! The Jap cars are really really easy, 2 spring-clips and 2 pins... Not even a screw! The hubs are easy as well, 2 14mm bolts, 2 17mm bolts, dust cap (try a straightedge steak knife), snap ring, 6 10mm(?) bolts, hammer on the hub to popout the cones (watchout these puppies got distance), then the 52mm bearing retainer nuts (good luck finding a thin walled socket! For free use a chisel or a screwdriver to knock them loose) and shazaam whatch out the inner bearing will always fall on your pants or the tow of your shoe! To install read this backwards! My buddy made me do this blindfolded!!! I fell asleep twice and still finished in under an hour.

cheers

_travis

94 First Responder

Im going to have to say toyota brake parts all the way. Everyone i know seems to say non toy brak parts squeek and squeal very early.

channer

Whoops, I meant to say turned drums.

channer

I don't have many miles on my PF pads, Brembo rotors setup, but I will be sure to write a review for the forum when I have had them a while longer.

One thing I will say is that carbon metallic pads seem to put out about twice as much brake dust. Might need to look into those metal covers that PerfProd sells.

supascout

Buy the pads you wand there all made of the same thing! Its what you put on them that makes them squeel! Autozone will giveyou these packets... applie the goop liberally to the back of the pads, the clips, the springs and the surface of the break peddle and youll never hear a peep from them! Also rember to reload your backplate springs!

_travis

williemon

Get new pads from the dealer and change them out yourself. Very easy. I can do it blindfolded. Just a couple spring wires, pull the pins, pads fall out. 1 hour job max. Dont turn the rotors. If it stops fine with no pulsations now, just change the pads. If your getting the pulsations now, get new rotors. Been there, done that. Turned rotors = redoing it in 6 months to a year. The standard pads from the dealer cost me 40 to 45 bucks. Good luck. If you do try to repack the bearings, dont use a chisel or screwdriver on the large nuts. Do it right or take it to the man. They are supposed to have a certain preload to them when you put them back together. My runner I bought used and the that had it before me used a screwdriver on them, gouged them pretty bad, and reused a bent bearing that he had bent by punching it out the back so the seal would come out. I went through turning those rotors cause they were warped( had installed lifetime metalic pads and it thined the rotor)they warped again, bought raybestos rotors and lifetime organic pads, they warped also, turned them, warped again, then finally replaced with Toyota rotors and pads. All this within 1 year. Yes, 1 year. Once the Toyota stuff was on there, its been 6 years now, no problems since. Ive replaced pads with toyota pads twice now. Again, have fun.

L33T35T 4Runner

so its best to go get toyota OE pads and put them on myself?

supascout

Yes, yes the factory will always work! But it will cost 4 times as much! And yes the 52mm socket is the best way to go, but done properly the chisel method will snug the bearings down nicely without causing too much damage to your nuts! The time to turn the rotors is when they have ripples in the surface on any side. One of the most common reasons for warped rotors is uneven heating due to uneven pad friction caused by uneven textures between the two sides of the rotor! Also the thickness of the rotor must be semetric for semetric heating! As for packing bearings, the man can do it as well as you can with some practice! Buy a bearing packer or do it by hand its not a hard thing to do. But remember when changing bearings to change the crowns and seals at the same time. If you install a bearing race slightly crooked in a worn crown the bearings are donefore! The process is really easy, do it how you like, just make sure that it gets done right. I just have better things to spend my $ on then a fluncky in coveralls who doesn't give a flying... hoot about me or my truck!

_travis

(BTW just kidding about greasing the brake peddle!)

L33T35T 4Runner

i noticed people keep mentioning packing the bearings... is this just an option? does this even have to do with changing brakes? cant i just change the pads and thats it?