Hello all- I've never done a brake job before, but my rear brakes need replacement, so I'm going to give it a shot. (I searched, but only found threads about installing rear disc brakes. Sounds cool, but I need a parking brake). Here are my questions:

1) I strongly suspect I need new drums. OEM drums are approximately 2x as expensive as the Duralast drums from autozone. Are the autozone ones fine, or should I pay extra for the OEM drums?

2) Anyone have any preference on brake shoe brands? I've seen some posts indicating Raybestos was not the best brand out there. Anyone want to offer recommendations?

Thanks!

-Scubaduck

 

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/rearbrakes/

 

Thanks- That's a pretty clear, concise write up. I am mostly confident about the process of the brake job itself, I just don't know about the replacement parts. I mostly wanted to find out if there is any benefit to spending the extra $ for OEM, or if the el cheapo brands work fine.

Meanwhile, I discovered that I have an axle seal leak. Despite the clear write-up on replacing the seal, I suspect that project is beyond my ability to do myself, so I may just have the mechanic take care of the whole thing.

Thanks again-

Scubaduck

 

If you can change the brake shoes then you can replace the axle seal IMO. I know this because when I changed my axle seal, I couldn't figure out how to change the brake shoes ( I didn't have the writeup at the time ). The bearing is a different story, it looks very difficult for someone without a 2 ton press and a torch. I chose not to replace mine, and no problems yet.

 

Thanks crbocaj125-

I would have loved to do the axle seal myself, but there were a couple things standing in my way. The biggest was that I have very little experience bleeding brakes, I have no bleeding tools or knowledgable friends to help. (Tough to bleed brakes the old fashioned way without any help. Wife tolerates me doing my own repairs, so long as she doesn't have to help) If it were not for the brake bleeding, I probably would have done the axle seal myself. Anyway, here is the write up for the axle seal replacement on a 3rd Gen, if anyone finds this thread while looking for it:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...e+seal+replace

As it was, I had the dealer replace the seal only ($9 part, $280 labor). They checked the bearing and said it looked fine, and also checked the diff breather. I will now do the brake job (Dealer wanted $290 to do it). I picked up some remanufactured shoes from Napa, and will probably put them on tonight or tomorrow. The drums were able to be turned after all (almost as much $ as autozone replacements, but there is plenty left on these drums)

Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts-

-Scubaduck

 

in the future if you need good quality parts for a good price try car quest. Everything i buy from them has worked great and lasted. stay away from duralast