Hello everyone, my brakes are squealing, and I am going to attempt to replace the brake pads. I don't seem to have any other problems with my brakes besides the fact that I think the pads are wearing low. I have a 94 4x4 and was wondering if just changing the pads would be ok, or if its necessary to resurface the rotors and repack the bearings everytime the pads are changed. I have never done this before, and was also wondering if there is a detailed write up for replacing the pads on my truck. Thanks for the advice. Thanks for the help.

 

How many miles has it been since the rotors were resurfaced and the bearings repacked? If it has never been done, or you don't know, I'd pull the rotors and repack the bearings. You can have a brake shop check the rotors, but the may not need turning unless you feel uneven wear or have noticed vibration in the brake pedal. Be sure and go with a decent line of brake pads (I can tell the diff. after switching back to Toyota) and use the caliper grease where the piston contacts the brake pad.

 

It's probably been a while since its last been repacked. What would be the benefits, consequences of doing, not doing this? Also, how do I get the pads out and back in? Thanks.

 

Its a pain to get to your bearings but it just takes time some elbow grease, and some real grease. A thin layer of grease on your bearings is the thing that supports the weight of your truck. Not the springs or shocks. Those just make the ride better. If a bearing lets go its $$$$ and the tire stops spinning... which may be bad if your are on the highway.

To change your brake pads. Put the front of the truck on jackstands and take off the front tires. To make life easier you may want to turn the wheel all the way to one side to get to the caliper. Take the cap off the brake fluid resevoir. You can check your rotor at this point. Look to see if there are deep ridges in the surface. You will have some but it should be pretty smooth. If not refinish or replace. If it was warped you would feel that while braking.

On the back side of the caliper you will see a open area where you can verify the thickness of your pads. you will see a thin wire along the side of the caliper that inserts into two pins that cross the caliper and hold the pads and shims in place.

Take out the wire. when you look into the window of the caliper you will see a flat "t" shaped peice of metal, make a note of how it sits in the window, when you remove the pins keep your hand on it so it doesn't spring off somewhere.

Once the pins are out, pull out the pads and shims. Remeber what the outer pad and the inner pad look like. Start soaking the thin wire, pins, t shaped peice of metal, and shims in brake cleaner or you favorite solvent. (I like using ed's red. which is acetone, paint thinner, kerosene, and ATF-great for guns and brakes) You are taking all the old hi temp grease and brake pad dust gunk off.

Get a c-clamp and use it to push the pistons back into the caliper (this is why you took the cap off the master cylinder) use a peice of wood or a rag to make sure you don't scratch the pistons. Soak with brake cleaner

Put new hi-temp brake grease on the back of the pad and the shims. (keeping the surface of the pad clean.) The two pads are different so if you put them in backwards you can't put the pins in. Next put some hi temp grease on the pins and push one in place. Put the t shaped spring in and then the second pin to put it under tension. Put the thin wire where it hooks into the caliper and stick the ends into the pins and you are done with that caliper. repeat on the other side.

You may want to bleed your brakes at this point. Its not necessary ever time you change pads but if the fluid is dark in your resevoir it needs to be changed.

Linky for pulling your hub and getting to your bearings/brake rotor Click here.

Chiltons book has some good pics of the process.

 

Than you very much for the time to write this up. What is the bearing races, and should that be changed also. If the bearing isn't damaged, and just needs to be repacked, what do I use on it. Thanks, for answering these dumb questions, just starting to do these things myself.

 

Sorry, one more thing, why do I need to "push in the pistons", can I just use any thing to apply pressure to it to get it in? Do they need to be pulled out after? thanks again

 

I use a big screwdriver to (pry) push in the pistons, and no, they do not need to be pulled back out. A FSM or Chilton's book would be a great aid in learning how to do this type of maintenance.

 

The races are where the bearing run. Odds are your bearing and races are fine. You will be able to tell when you pull the bearing out of the hub and clean it. If you see scratches or scoring on the bearing you should replace both. Make sure you pack the grease back into the bearing before you reinstall it. This link talks about setting the bearing preload. As you put it all back together Linky

The easiest way to push the pistons back in that I have found is a c clamp. The reason you have to compress the piston is that as your brake pads wear they get thinner and the pistons push out further to keep them in contact with the rotor. The new pads won't go in because they are full thickness. Once you pump the pedal a few times after you reinstall everything they will be right where they need to be. Also be real nice to your brakes after you replace the pads to help bed them properly. Some long slow stops will be best for the first few miles. (What you are doing is getting the surface of the pad to match the surface of the rotor.)

The first side you tackle is going to take a while. Second is much easier.

 

So I don't need to take out the races unless it is damaged, just the front and back bearings to wipe down? What kind of grease and how much of it do I put on the bearing before I put it back in the races? Do i need to do all the spindle nut tightening and loosening, hub rotations if I dont pull out the races and only clean and regrease the bearings? Thanks again guys, I just saw the FSM manual on this, but you guys have helped me out much more. I think I am almost ready to do this.

 

There is a techniques to packing grease into bearings. You fill the palm of your hand with grease, and repeatedly slam the bearing into it while while quickly pulling/dragging it out of the grease. It's hard for me to explain. A shop would also have a tool that you drop the bearing into and smash grease into it.

You'll need to force plenty of grease into both side of the bearings, however you go about it. Try to put the spindle nut back exactly how it was. You have to remove the hub and spindle nut to pulll the rotor to get to the bearings.

Here, I just found these:



After you remove the hub bolts, you have to hit the hub from the top with a hammer, spin it, hit, spin it, hit, etc. to make the retainers fly out. Don't loose them. (pictured below)


After the hub comes off, here is the spindle nut:


Here is the caliper and rotor removed:


Here are the bearings, washer, and socket
(PS. I saw an axle socket like that at Pep Boys for under $15 the other day)




Take pics while you do it, and PM me if you need help- I have done this plenty of times, as I used to repack them before every hunting season.

EDIT: The races are located in the rotor (in the center where all the grease is)- clean all that out well and inspect it for scoring or nicks. There won't be a need to tap out the races unless they are obviously flawed.

 

Yeah, if the bearings ok then the race is ok and if bad both gota go.

I use valvoline synpower bearing grease. To clean the bearing out use gasoline or the Ed's red that I mentioned above, you want to get all the old grease out. I had a ton of old grease in the middle of my hub. I cleaned that out and replaced it. You also need to repack your bearings.

To pack a bearing make sure its clean and dry, put a big dollop of grease on your palm shove and rotate the bearing in your palm to cram the grease into every possible space of the bearing. Put a thin layer on the where the bearing will ride. coat the inside of the hub.

When you took the hub apart you are commited to having to preload the bearings when you put it back together. No way getting out of that. And your bearings are good for at least another 30k miles.

 

Good pics Jeffires. GF called and he put that post in...

Oh well, two Louisiana boys trying to help out.

Jeffires, where are you in NOLA?

 

thanks, just to be sure, I read that I need a 54 mm socket to remove the spindle nut, a new seal to replace the inner bearing seal? What is the socket, where did it come from and where does it go? haven't heard of it yet. Can't thank you enough

 

Anything else I will be needing besides, the brake cleaner, bearing grease, new bearing seals, 54mm socket, and the brake pads? Is the high temp grease different from the bearing grease? Also, would this be a good time to change out my damaged cv axle as well? thanks again.

 

Oh is it possible for me to put too much grease on the bearing, or is the more the better?

 

Its not grease on the bearing thats important, its the grease in the bearing. It will make more sense whey you clean out the old bearing. Just make sure you have a thin layer on the races. You don't want to have a dry spot.

You can get a 2 1/8" socket from sears, those tend to be cheaper than the 54mm which is harder to come by. Thats for taking out the nuts that hold the hub onto the spindle.

1 and 3 are the nuts. (pic from http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/mainte..._end/teardown/ )


Yes, Hi temp grease is very different. They usually have the hi temp at the counter in little packets.

As far as the cv axel is concerned you are pretty much already there with the taking the hub off so you might as well finish it.

 

Great pics and info in this thread!!

 

I couldn't explain the procedure to load the bearings last night - my sinus meds were kicking in. Loading the bearings with grease it the most crucial step here. No matter how you do it, the objective is forcing as much grease as you can into the bearing itself.

At this point, I think all the info is here. If you have a damaged CV axle, I would go ahead and rebuild/replace it at this point. You might as well change a bad ball joint too if you have one. Once you perform this job once, you will surprise yourself at how quickly you can do it the next time. Either take pics while you go, or get a Haynes or Chiltons that show the exploded view of how all the parts go together. Upon removing something, make a note of how tight it was.

I am trying to locate my pictures from when I pulled my CV axles, but I am having trouble finding them. I'll also take more pics when I do this job again.

 

what is the "socket" pictured with the bearings and washers? Where did it come from and where does it go? Do I need to do anything with that as well?

 

The socket is 54mm or 2 1/8". It is to remove the spindle nut that holds the rotor on the spindle. A cotter pin goes through a hole in the spindle, and must be removed as well. The spindle nut is not extremely tight, but the socket is necessary to remove it.

I got mine at a store called "Motor Parts and Bearings," but you can probably get one at Sears or an auto parts store. I think it is a 1/2" drive.