Hello 4runner enthusiasts! I'm new to the forums but I figured I would check it out because I love my truck and it'll be nice to learn more!

I've just been informed that two front calipers and both back brake shoes need to be replaced on my truck. The guy whose doing is says that the older toyota truck calipers are really good and expensive. $325 each expensive. That plus the brake shoes (I already had pads) plus labor are gonna go for around 1050. That's half of what I paid for the truck originally.

Now I'm willing to pay for good work that will extend the life of the truck. Just wanted to know if there is anyone who can verify that price or anyone who has had this type of work done before with this price tag. It's a lot of money... I just did a quick search on calipers for old 4runners on google and I've been getting 50 - 100 bucks on them. Am I getting ripped off?

Cheers. And this is my first post here so if there a place that you guys can point me to where I should be posting, that would be great. Sorry if I'm bugging you!

Peter

 

Yes, I can get a caliper in Canada (always more expensive, and our dollar is worth less) for much less. Why not rebuild the calipers for $30(?) each?

 

that sounds pretty steep to me.

you're better off going to a dealers "wholesale parts" counter and buying them yourself, or going to napa and buying all the parts you need.

try doing the work yourself. brakes really aren't that hard. but if you can't do it, buy the parts and then take it to the shop. it'll save you some money. a good shop shouldn't charge more than 2 hours for front brakes, and 2 hours for rears. so all together maybe 5hours total.

 

325 is way to much. That might be for new ones not remans. I get remans here in canada for $200. Thats canadian dollars. US should be cheaper.

 

they are fairly expensive. I was stuck having a shop replace my front calipers a couple weeks ago and they wanted $200ish each new. remaned were $150+core

 

Go to another shop or guy. The only time I've ever seen two calipers go at the same time on a japanese vehicle is when they were running metal on metal.

Sounds like this guy is just trying to make the most money he can off of you. Brake jobs are the biggest in for getting hosed. Last fall I had 3 overquotes in a 2 month period come from out of town.
There's alot of shops out there that adopt the motto 'nail em hard the first time cause your never gonna see them again'

 

Yes, that's a bigass ripoff. I've seen them on Marlin Crawler's site for 100 bucks apiece recently. I didn't even pay 100 bucks for four ceramic hawk brake pads, this is just ridiculous, tell this shop/mechanic to go to hell.

 

Do you have a NAPA Auto parts near by?

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPage...=3&SubCatId=13

That page reflects parts for my 89 4runner. I didn't see where you listed your year model but I'm guessing they have the parts you need.



NAPA, get the good stuff.

 

Just picked up 2 reman calipers for $120.00 US each at AutoZone. Returned the old cores for $85.00 each. So yah it seems high, even for new.

 

Price new ones at the dealer (even 1stToyota, et al) and you'll see how expensive they can be. But, if you look at Rock Auto, or NAPA or Marlin, etc, you'll find that you can get rebuilt ones for much less. Don't know about aftermarket new ones--all I've seen are reman.

 

I just bought a reman caliper for $42.00 (after core was returned) for my 86 pickup. What is so special about 4runner calipers that it's going to cost you $325???

Also, I'm not sure what kind of mechanical background you have, but a simple pad/rotor slap is an easy job, but calipers require the bleeding of brakes, and if you're not careful you can lose all brake pressure... thus you have no brakes, and you're towing it to a shop. Rear shoes can also be tough for someone who has never done them. If you choose to do it yourself, I know Autozone has a great section on their website it's kind of like a Haynes manual, it tells you how to do it all.

Welcome to YT and best of luck!

 

You should get the rebuild kit and rebuild them yourself it's really not to hard and if you use the Autozone guide/manual it should only take at most a half day if you have never done them before and take the extra cash and buy your truck some more upgrade parts.

 

they ripping you off in labor its not even hard to replace all that

 

I'll have a pair of '88 4runner front calipers with "practically new" semi-metallic pads for sale in the very near future - PM me if interested

 

Marlin Crawler & WabFab both have reman Toyota calipers for about $120.00. They are great.

 

RIPOFF! Big time. The dealer here wanted $350 a piece for new calipers for my mom's '04 4Runner. Damn salt, froze the calipers. There's a place down the street from me that sells them for 80 a pop, with no core. With core its like 50.

Like others have said, DIY. It doesn't take that long. Plus you have a feeling of accomplishment. And you save money. Yotatech is your encyclopedia of Toyota's. And it has 1 million volumes. And best of all its free!

 

Thanks a ton. I always have a sinking feeling that I'm gonna get ripped off, especially when they ask me what something is and I don't know; easy sign that they can do whatever they want and I won't know the difference.

I'd really like to start getting DIY on my truck but I don't have a lot of experience with cars in general: This is my first vehicle. I'm interested in doing some distance learning to get more in-depth knowledge. I just replaced the battery for the first time a couple of months ago and that's about as much as I can do short of changing the oil.

I have the manuals and everything. I guess I'm a bit skittish about getting started. But yeah, saving thousands of dollars would be nice... Any suggestions as to where to start? Just get my hands dirty?

 

I need to swap out calipers on an 84.
How do you tell if they are bad? The truck is not moving and the axle is out. Is there a way to tell if they are bad off the truck??

 

I have owned quite a few cars in the past years and I have yet to replace calipers. I have done rear break cylinders just cuz they were leaking, I rebuilt them I think. It was quite a while ago on a 80 Bronco. From what I know and I may be incorrect...if you can push the calipers in as if you were installing new pads and they are not leaking they should be alright and make sure both (right and left) sides are wearing about the same.

 

I ended up paying it but I swear now, to you, the good people at YotaTech, that I will never be ripped off again. With knowledge comes power!