Brakes are important, I'd wanna know everything is in tip top shape down there.

 

Two things i have no issue spending extra money on to make sure they are in good working order.

I want it to stop when i tell it to
I want it to go in the direction i tell it to.

Brakes and steering should always be high on priority, when something breaks fix it. ASAP

 

Yeah.. i'm for sure not driving it till they are fixed.
Does brand really matter when buying the caliper, i prefer to buy from o'reilly's as i have a loyalty card but they only have these never heard of that brand. Gonna check online and see if there is a brand name for a reasonable price.

 

Cardone is alright. I have used a few Cardone parts in my yota without issue. Beck Arnley to me is preferable over cardone. I suggest upgrading to V6 calipers. Bolt on upgrade over the 4 cylinder calipers. If you can afford to get Hawk pads, do it. They are good pads.

 

Okay, i had just never heard of them.
What years had the beefed up v6 calipers, when i search for a 94 toyota pickup with a v6 i get the same calipers as for a 22-re.

 

88-95 had options for 22re or 3vz at some point along the way all trucks/runners came standard with the bigger calipers. When you go to order them just tell them you have a 94 ext cab with the v6.

 

Thats what i figured but when i try to order them they try to offer me the same part regardless of engine.
I was just looking at my brake system, and - granted its been a while - it doesn't look the same as the one on my previous truck of the same year. Is there any measurements i can take or something to determine if it has already been upgraded?
The caliper in question:

The MC (which is fairly new looking):

The bore looks a lot thicker than in the pictures in my other truck which is one of the things that makes me wonder.

The drastic pad thickness difference:

And finally something unrelated but which i had never noticed before; my passenger side upper ball joint is a sealed unit, the drivers side has a grease zerk...


Side question: If i upgrade or replace, would it be reasonable to switch this hard line(pictured) our for a flex line, i only ask because it was a pain supporting the caliper with the hard line while working on the hub.

 

Your MC looks to be the 15/16th bore from the V6 trucks (could be wrong on the bore but it is the bigger one) A really good upgrade is the 1 inch bore FJ master cylinder. Your calipers could have already been upgraded to the v6 ones, When u order the new calipers they will tell you if there is any difference between the part numbers for the v6 or the 4 cylinder. Don't change that hardline for a soft line. Its a hard line to prevent any pinching or damage to the brake system. When i remove the calipers i undo it at the soft line to hardline union so as not to bend the hardline. It is much cheaper to make new hardlines than it is to get them pre-made. If you have a flaring tool and a small bender (think i paid 60 bucks for both of mine including the pipe cutter) you can watch a youtube video on how to properly flare the lines.

As for your balljoint. looks like PO likely just replaced one ball joint instead of both of them. Not that there is anythign wrong with that. Put when it comes to steering and suspension i usually replace things in pairs.


EDIT: If you look around the MC it might be stamped with some numbers, when i replaced my MC it was stamped with bore size and most of the 1 inch bore MC's are stamped 1"

 

Well it has a big "1" stamped on the side, so thats one upgrade i don't have to do.
As for the caliper... i guess i'll pull it and take it with me to the store and match it. Should it be fairly obvious when placed side by side if its a v6 or 4-cyl caliper? I'm kinda torn on whether or not to do them both at the same time, i mean sure the other one has some surface rust, but it works fine. If money wasn't an issue i would go ahead and do it, but at probably 50 odd bucks a piece there are plenty of things the truck needs that i could buy with that cash.
Thanks for the advice on the brake lines, i'll leave them be.

 

The only difference you will see is the pistons in the caliper. the 4 cyl is 2 big pistons adn 2 small pistons. the V6 is 4 big pistons. I would replace both calipers at the same time. if you replace the one it will likely pull to one side when your braking. Also always change both sides pads when you do the brakes. don't just do one side and not the other.

 

4 big pistons, 10-4.
I always change both sides when i do pads, but in this case i'm just going to do the one caliper. If it pulls... well then i'll pony up and do the other side, but at this time of year especially i can't really afford it.

 

Well she is all back together.

 

Awesome

 

figure out your brakes?! always nice when truck stops when you want it to.

 

Yup, stops nice and tight. Brake pedal is firm.

 

No guarentee it will work but if you decide to try and save the truck bed you can use the old metal memory trick Im not sure with the corner creases if it will come back.

 

I'm intruigued. What pray tell is the metal memory trick, as far as i know if you bash a piece of metal it stays bashed till you bash it again.
Though as far as that corner crease is concerned i don't know if its worth the effort, got some rust holes in it and the resulting water collection behind the light is rotting the bottom out. That said i'm interested to learn this trick.

 

Im Sorry should have explained, Guess im dating myself. On the contrary metal is fabricated flat and actually to an extent remembers the first form it is molded to. So here we go easy and simple if you have the tools, remove that tail light, make sure the wires are not in the dented area take a torch "not cutting obviously" get that area red hot inside the dent which will take a bit do to the length of that one stand back and throw cold water on it. DONE. This was one of the ways it was done back in the day when they didnt use bondo because it gets you within range for minimal work. Never use this trick if your dent is on or next to a spot weld. and of course you want to be ready to paint dont look so good.Ha Ha I guess also always remember it does weaken the metal.

 

OH and anybody reading, this will not work on new aluminum cans. The metal has to have thickness. Hope im allowed to say it needs to be a real truck.

 

Interesting idea, i may have to try that at some point.
Truck is running like a boss, worked hard all winter so far and hasn't caused me any more problems. Gas milage has dropped from 23 to about 19.5 but still a lot better than anything else i have.
A soon as i get some steady income again i will be doing a bit more work on her, shocks and maybe some other things.