butnut

My son has been waay up at his friends house to practice music. (Had to...cops kept coming over to shut them down at my house). It's a long steep road and I usually put it in 2 to keep my speed down while driving down. Last night, we got into talking, so I left it in drive and just braked all the way down. Near the bottom, the steering wheel starts really shaking, like I'm on a bad bumpy road...I'm not. So I take my foot off the brake, step on it again, and it starts to shake. What's happening? I'm close to 100k...original pads. Thanks.

CTB

Warped rotors possibly? And check out your pads - they are probably close to done with 100K on them.

Eighty7ToyTruck

i can tell you exactly the problem you are experiencing...
your rotors, which have probably been machined more than once in 100k miles, are very thin by now, and the excessive heat from braking all the way down that road caused them to get so hot they pulsated, now your rotors are extremely warped, id give a look at a set of new rotors and pads....

Jason B

Most likey the rotors. A very COMMON problem with 3rd gens.

butnut

Thanks guys...I kinda was thinking the evil warped rotor syndrome...:cry: will it do the shake all the time now (have'nt drove it since) ? Never had the brakes done yet...original rotors so the're still meaty. Probably time to have the brakes checked. I have heard of factory brakes going way past 100k...

CTB

My rotors are doing the same thing unfortunately...and yes, I think they are probably going to do it all the time. I had mine turned in the summer of 2001, and for about the past 6 months, once they start getting heated up, I can definitely feel a vibration. Anyway, I am planning on a big bill come summertime:

new rotors
new pads
new shoes
bleed the brakes

That bill should only take me about a week of summer work to pay off!!!

Eighty7ToyTruck

Stock brakes? 100k? you must drive like an 80 year old grandma... lol, if you have stock rotors, they arent meaty anymore, if you dragged one piece of metal against another with 3200+ lbs of pressure on it for 100k, think it would be the same thickness at the end? time for brakes.... lol

butnut

hehe...that's grandpa to you young man. It's about 75% freeway miles so it's not too bad. Brake pads are made softer than the rotors, so they will wear out before the rotors. Rotors have to be machine lathed to make 'em thinner, so they should be close to spec...just a little wavy now.:mad:

Eighty7ToyTruck

most pads are softer than the rotors, true, but take a peek at ford's focus ( i work at a ford dealer so this is a good example), the pads are a harder material than the rotors, the rotors wear out very quickly, yours might be the same way, my brakes on my 87 dont pulsate, but then again, it takes me 300 feet to stop from 50, so.... lol, good luck "grandpa" heh

butnut

I drove all over today and no shake...I looked at the rotors yeasterday while I rotated the tires and detailed the rims and fender wells. I see a slight warp on the outer disc. Has anyone ever 'upgraded' to the slotted or drilled discs? I would think this would help the heat warp on the Toy discs...

Del

I had that same problem when I got my 94. It is the rotors. My were warped also, and sometimes they wouldnt shake. Don't forget to change your pads at the same time. When I changed my rotors, the pads were so bad, they warped the new rotors.

butnut

Thanks Del. Oh yeah, I would never think of changing rotors without replacing the pads...
Drilled...sloted rotors...any good? Anyone?

CTB

If I remember correctly, hasn't someone tried the cross-drilled rotors from NWOR on this board? If so, what kind of performance did they yield? Pros and Cons? Also, how much did they cost (along with the pads)? I don't feel like ordering up an NWOR catalog for $15, and they aren't quite awake over there on the West Coast yet!!!

Ryd

I had about 90k on my rotors when I finally swapped them out. They still looked pretty beefy. Not thin at all. Then again, are we dealing with microns worth of wear or 1/8ths of an inch before a rotor is considered "worn?" My pads looked pretty good as well. I think they had several more miles left on'em. At least 1/4" left on the pad before the wear indicators would make contact.

I'd suggest getting your rotors turned [again]. I just got a coupon from Tires Plus yesterday, $30 for new pads and resurfacing the rotors. See if you can get a deal like that in your area. Of course, the rotors would be removed from your Runner and turned for this price. Some folks have made arguments of getting rotors turned while on the vehicle, but I think this is a bit more costly.

I swapped out my rotors because of intermittent vibrations - sometimes braking was fine, other times the vibration was obscene. No apparent rhyme or reason or consistency. So I took the plunge and bought some new rotors and pads. I went with cross-drilled and slotted Brembo rotors and Performance Friction pads (part # 5024).

I can't say that the slotting and cross-drilling has improved my braking performance any more than a standard rotor would, nor can I say that my stopping distances are that much shorter with the semi-metallic pads. But my vibration problems have stopped completely. I have about 5k on the new brakes.

Tire Rack sells standard Brembo rotors for $46 a piece + S/H, for 16" wheels. Is the price premium worth it for cross-drilling or slotting? I don't know, but they sure are pretty.

New Brembo rotors and "standard" pads. $125 - 175
Slotted/cross-drilled rotors and "performance" pads. $230 - 350

Estimates assume self-installation.

Ryd

Ryd

What's the deal with repacking the bearings? I've spoken with several Toyota techs about this, and there doesn't seem to be any kind of consensus. Some folks say they need to be repacked every so often and others have told me that they're sealed, and I don't have to worry about them. Does anybody know the truth?

For general info - Does repacking basically constitute injecting new grease into the bearings? Is this a difficult, drawn out task, or relatively quick and easy? How often should bearings be repacked?

Thanks,
Ryd

butnut

Thanks for the info Ryd. Why is Tire Rack so cheap? Those are great prices...hmmm. About repacking. I used to do my Datsun's bearings...scoop some bearing grease in your palm, roll the bearing in the grease, inside and out. Messy...sealed bearings, I don't know about those.

tomus1000

I will be putting them on my truck in the next few months. My factory rotors are badly warped. I warped them at about 9000 miles. Rob (WATRD) runs them on his rig and is very happy with them. If he has good luck bringing those 33's to a stop, then I should have no problem.