Prev: Oil Change Intervals
Next: Geez Why Can't Toyota Just Quit With The Misleading Tundra Commercials
From: johngdole on 27 Sep 2008 01:20
Wonder if that's another under-sized rotor problem, like the Tundra
TSB BR004-02:

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/brakes/41905-completed-front-brake-tsb-br004-02-a/
Completed Front Brake TSB BR004-02 Myself - Some Observations

I completed the front brake TSB as stipulated by BR004-02 with the
exception of replacing the backing plate. I’ll explain what parts I
purchased, how I did the work, followed by my assessment of the final
results. I am currently experiencing a problem. Most of the work was
done during a visit to my mother’s, who has a garage, and using jack
stands and the spare tire changing jack that came with the truck.
Photos of the job are posted in my gallery.

Here’s what I purchased:
- Pair of used TSB calipers (13WL), with the shorter mounting bolts,
from a TS member and rebuilt them using a Toyota caliper rebuild kit.
They were cleaned of rust and repainted using a spray can of Plasti-
kote caliper paint.
- Akebono ProAct ceramic pads from Rock Auto
- Set of brake pad shims from Toyota
- 1 pair of cryo’d PowerSlot rotors from TireRack.com
- Set of Goodridge stainless steel braided brake hoses from Wheeler’s
Off Road
- Set of brake tubes, 1 for each caliper, from Toyota
- Set of stainless steel Speed Bleeders (3 x 7mm, 2 x 10mm bleeders)
- Valvoline Synpower brake fluid

Here’s what I did and how I did it:
1. I prepped the install first by removing the calipers and rotors in
order to trim the backing plates so that the new calipers would fit.
- The rotors had to be knocked off from behind with a small sledge
hammer the first time I removed them due to the tight fit and the
small amount of rust between the rotor and the hub.
- The trimming of the backing plates was relatively easy. I held up
the new caliper to the plate to mark the areas that needed to be cut
and then went about cutting them with a combination of tin snips and a
Dremel with a cutting wheel attachment. I filed the cut edges and then
coated them with a small bead of JB Weld for corrosion resistance and
to cover any sharp edges.
- All of the above was done on the first day after which I reinstalled
everything so that I could drive to work the next day. The final prep
and then instal was done over a two day period about two weeks later.
- The hubs were cleaned of as much rust as possible using wire
brushes, naval jelly and sand paper. I gave the hubs a coating of
WD-40 to retard the reformation of rust.

2. The installation of the new calipers, pads, and rotors was fairly
easy and very straight forward.
- The new rotors slipped on with more clearance between the rotor and
hub than I liked. Very different fit than the originals that had to
hammered off and on during prep.
- The calipers with the pads installed were slipped over the rotor and
bolted on without a problem.
- The Goodridge brake hoses were not installed because the front hose
fittings were too shallow, so I reused the stock hoses. I go into more
detail about this in this (Stainless Brake Lines) thread.
- The brake fluid was sucked out of the reservoir with a turkey baster
and all five Speed Bleeders were installed. During the flushing of the
brake fluid, I discovered that the 10mm Speed Bleeders in the rear
brakes were too short and would not seat, so I reused the stock
bleeders. I go into more detail about this in this (Speed Bleeders)
thread. The old brake fluid had the color of dark apple juice and I
have no record of it ever being changed during the life of the truck.
The new brake fluid is almost clear.
- Completed the install by testing the lines for leaks and then
remounting the front wheels.

The results of this install:
1. The first day and half, the pads were clearly not providing much
stopping power at speeds higher than 30mph and I thought this had been
a tremendous waste of time and money. Additionally, there was quite a
bit of pad material caking on the rotors. Akebono’s web site, and the
box that the pads came in states that they do not need any braking in,
so I didn’t bed in the pads. Does “break in = bed in?” I then followed
the directions that came with the PowerSlot rotors and did six 40-5mph
bed in runs. The rotors cleaned up completely and the pads grabbed
like a vice grip. My gallery has pictures of the rotors before and
after the bed in.
2. THERE IS CURRENTLY A PROBLEM with the front brakes. While driving
the truck, they feel like and are in fact dragging. When jacked up,
the front wheels still rotate but will do so for only 3 revolutions
before stopping after giving them a good spin. When I take the wheel
off and pull the pads away from the rotor and push the pistons back
into the caliper, the wheel spins freely again. The moment that I
start the engine and apply then release the brakes, the condition
returns. It is possible that this may improve with additional bed in
runs but I am not sure. I’ve driven a few hundred miles with this
condition with no ill effects and the fronts don’t seem to get much
hotter than before. The rear brakes aren’t dragging, but the shoes may
not be in good enough condition for them to be able to drag. ANYONE
HAVE AN IDEA AS TO WHAT IS HAPPENING OR HOW I SHOULD TROUBLESHOOT
THIS?
3. Braking is very smooth and controlled, and the pads are silent. I
can brake firmly from high speeds with both hands off the steering
wheel and my truck will continue straight with no deviation. There’s
also no more shaking at high speed.
4. The brake pedal feels no firmer than before but the stopping power
has drastically improved. My truck has more of a tendency to nose dive
now, so I’m going to have to clean up the rears to try to even out the
front/rear braking.

Final Notes:
- The head of the bolt, that secures the left bracket holding the
attachment point for the brake tube and the brake hose, twisted off
when I tried to unbolt it. It twisted off very easily and there was a
lot of rust on the 2 threads that came off with the head. It took more
time to fix this than it took to install the rotor, caliper, and flush
the brake fluid. Had the hardened steel extractor bit not broken when
I tried to remove the remaining portion of the bolt, it would not have
taken quite so long. Most of my time was spent grinding out the broken
extractor bit with my Dremel. This was followed by drilling and
tapping the hole to remove the bolt remnants, which were solidly
rusted on. The new bolt went in with a lot of antiseize.
- After seeing how little of the backing plates needed to be trimmed
for the new calipers to fit, I would much rather have this done than
to have the spindle removed and the bearing replaced in order to have
a new backing plate installed per the TSB. Some people have
incorrectly stated that the old bearing is replaced with a redesigned
one. The TSB clearly shows that the Old and New bearing part numbers
are identical.
- I noticed that the old (D812) and new (D976) pads have almost
identical pad contact area. A few people have alluded to the new pads
having a greater contact area to help reduce overheating the rotors. A
comparison of the two contradicts that.
- My intent for doing this was to resolve the front brake vibration
and to eliminate rust and corrosion as best as I could so that I never
have to deal with either of those for a long time if ever again. If I
can get the front brakes to stop dragging, I’d be one happy camper.

This was definitely a very good learning experience. I can’t say at
this point how effective this is compared to just replacing the pads
and rotors for those with 00 - early 03 Tundras and have not had the
TSB done. After a few hundred more miles, I’ll try to remember to
provide an update.

Paul





On Sep 26, 6:53 am, JohnB <jbri...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Ok, I think I'm going to go with the Adebono's
> And it looks like I'm going to have to figure out if I have the 9.8"
> or 11.6" rear drums, to determine which pads to use up front.
>
> I'm going to also replace the rotors.  They're warped.  I should
> probably start a new thread on this.... I'm wondering if other Tacoma
> owners have had problems with the front rotors warping.  Mine warped
> when the truck was barely a year old.  The dealer replaced them.  Then
> a couple years ago, I has them turned, they were warped, but not so
> much they couldn't be turned to fix the problem.  Now they're warped
> again.
>
> Thanks for the suggestion.
First  |  Prev  | 
Pages: 1 2
Prev: Oil Change Intervals
Next: Geez Why Can't Toyota Just Quit With The Misleading Tundra Commercials