Gone for a while. Brake topic again... quick reply's appreciated

Title says it. Havent been around for a while but have always lurked. A work injury has forced me to take some time off so once I am healed up I want to tackle my brakes as some preventative maintenance. Was curious if everyone still only recommends oem brakes and powerstop still? Also, i cant remember which online dealer had the best prices when ordered... I know its not my local one. I think I have used mcgeorge or something similar or there used to be a link that gave you the certain dealers who were much better priced compared to some. I have a 2006 DC4x4 if it makes a difference. Thanks for any info you fellas can provide me. Cheers

 

There are many opinions on brake pads and rotors and likely you'll hear several ranging from Wagner Thermoquiet to Napa to Powers Stop to OEM. Personally, have found the Toyota pads last a long time (like 70,000 miles) and the rotors are high quality with coated hats priced well. As noted in that post, toy's ceramic pads are Advics. Might find those cheaper with shims aftermarket. But especially if don't need to replace your shims then have found toy sale pricing is similar if wait for 20% or 25% sale off Serra Toyota-s already low online prices with free shipping for purchases over $75.

 

Adding to the above great advice …

Best online OEM parts price for me has been Serra of Birmingham. Free ship and no tax, usually pretty solid service. Avoid their Decatur location though, because Eric F and/or one or more of his team members is an irresponsible asshole who has screwed over several members of this site. Birmingham location parts department seems to be waaaaay better.

Both brakes: Aftermarket drums and rotors are often warped straight out of the box. It’s just the norm these days, it seems. It’s the one place you may not want to bail on OEM.

Rear brakes: Repack your adjusters, don’t replace with aftermarket, they never fit quite right, and it impacts brake auto-adjust function/p-brake. OEM adjusters are slowly becoming unavailable/discontinued for many of our years, pretty sure ‘00-‘02 is totally discontinued. Rebuild/service instructions for those are in the FSM as I recall. You can also rebuild wheel cylinders, cheaper than buying aftermarket, or buy Advics brand wheel cylinders, like TD said above, they are the OEM manufacturer for our trucks’ brakes. You can probably get away with aftermarket spring kits. Make sure you pay attention to shoe orientation, AND it’s critical to properly adjust the bellcranks or you WILL have sloppy/soft pedal after. Have some brake-safe grease on-hand for the job, and a couple cans of Brakleen. Read the manual to understand where you need to grease on the back plate, to avoid squealing. On properly functioning rear drums, the shoes will have uneven wear BUT the shoes should last an absurd amount of time. Like I remember one person on here supposedly still on factory shoes at 180k miles and they still don’t need replacement.

Front brakes: Be sure to check the FSM for process since online videos for our trucks suck (IME). You DO NOT need to remove the caliper to replace the brake pads on these trucks (pop off anti-rattle spring, pop out both slides, slip the pads up/out, slowly compress pistons, install new pads w/greased back side, one screamer pad outboard with screamer up, clean, lube and reinstall slides and springs and you’re done). You shouldn’t replace the rotors (IMO) unless there’s (A) clear signs of damage and/or (B) clearly they’re too thin/measure out of spec, or (C) there’s evidence of warping (like surging/lumpy braking). Again, Advics is OEM. If you buy the Advics pads for your vehicle from RockAuto or Summit Racing they’ll be genuine, and they come with shims pre-glued, and new anti-rattle springs and slide clips, it really is everything you need in one box, you can look up your part numbers here. Unless otherwise noted, you should use shims on your pads, and they need to be glued on with a product like CRC Brake Quiet to avoid screeching. Last but not least, the anti-rattle spring faces up, your pad with the squealer should be outboard (same side as lug nuts) and the squealer should be facing upward also, so it makes 1st contact on the leading edge when pads are low. Again, you should have already downloaded copy of the FSM for your truck, it’s linked from the “So, you just bought a 1st gen?…” sticky thread, on the 5th line or thereabouts.

Bleeding: Verify whether you have a load sensing prop valve (LSPV) out back, it’ll be a bizarre looking armature rig attached to the passenger side of your diff pumpkin. If you do, always bleed PR, LSPV, DR, PF, DF where P and D are pass/drvr and R/F are rear/front. If not, pull the LSPV out of that equation. If you use a pedal-pump method DO NOT push the pedal to the floor. Setup a 2x4 or something on the floor to prevent full travel. Better yet, use a vacuum or pressure bleeder, they really don’t cost that much!

Other stuff: To GET and RETAIN proper braking function on these trucks, your parking brake must be dialed in properly, linkage must be free/unfrozen, cables tight, etc. if your truck is lifted and you didn’t either (A) relocate or (B) readjust your LSPV, your brakes are probably not functioning as well as they could be. Some have found their LSPV is not properly tuned from the factory.

 

@shifty` dropping some knowledge. I will start a parts lists. Good call on advics. Noticed that brand last night on rock auto. Been watching videos online. Front is straight forward. Just have never done drum brakes before. Braking has been fine but i get little squeals on first couple brakes of the day and some slight sound when making a harder stop. Its about time they are addressed. Its not my daily so it is not an issue I need to take care of instantly. I will start price comparisons between the different sites and see what I end up with. Thanks again

 

I recommend starting by replacing the pads, if low. While you're in there, check carefully to make sure the backing plate isn't making contact with the rotor. Mine was, and I only got a squeal backing out of my garage on a cold start. As the truck heated up, the dust shield would warm up and lift off the rotor, no more noise. Don't go nuts and buy shoes and wheel cylinders and other stuff just yet. Your issue likely is up front.

Nothing wrong with inspecting the rears but unless you're 100% positive something is wrong, I wouldn't go farther than popping the drums off (get two bolts and use the pilot holes in the drum to push it off) and inspecting the shoes, blowing out the dust, and if spinning the wheels doesn't product foul sounds, move along. Drums are one of those things - for me, at least - that, "If it ain't broke, don't fuck with it..." because once you get them out of spec, it can be a bitch to get them dialed back in right. Not saying, "Don't touch them", just tread cautiously. This is coming from the guy who literally has to break out a manual every time, though, because I always forget. I prefer the simplicity of disks, but drums are better for hauling loads.