Rear Brake Pads - head hurts

So in the midst of ordering pads and rotors for the rear in my ‘16 limited.

Going through rockauto and forums my head is going ti explode. What’s the consensus for pads and rotors?

Powerstop Rotors and Raybesto Element 3? Aekobono pads? Powerstop pads?

I’m in a rust area so the rotors must be coated. I’ve seen references to Centric but can’t seem to find coated ones online. Dealer wants a small mortgage payment for a set of OEM pads/rotors.

 

I just bought OEM everything and bedded them in properly. Check BAM for prices.

Keep in mind any coating on the friction surface is gone the second you touch the brakes but the rest stays to protect the rotor.

 

Actually the OEM rotors prices are at par if not even less than the after market for good rotors....
The OEM pads are comparable to AKOBONO.. you get what you pay for....

It cost me about $650 in OEM parts for front and rears including new shims, pins and grease.....
I trust the OEM better than any other parts...

 

I have about a year and a half on O'Reilly's rear rotors in Rhode Island, and no rust yet. I'm running Akabono pads with them and no complaints.

I'm running Raybestos E3 pads on the front with power stop blanks, and that also works well. Quiet with very low dust.

Unless you frequently tow, live in the mountains, or do some other extreme driving, I don't think there's any need to overthink this.

 

I was actually wondering about brakes earlier. We have all this talk about lifts, armor, accessories, etc. but I have yet to see anybody mentioning brakes and/or the need to beef them up a little with all the extra weight added to the vehicle.

 

Exactly. Brakes are for amateurs. Ok just kidding. I was overthinking this a few months ago myself and ended up with mid range priced rotors and a year later they are pulsating and shaking the steering wheel again. Next time I’ll check back here and be better prepared going in for rotors. The dealership where I purchased my pre owned limited replaced all rotors with thin chinesium rotors that warped the first time a deer stepped in front of my car at 60mph. I hear the akibono are great but they are pricey as well.

 

If dealer used non-OEM parts on a certified car they sold you, you may have a case against them.

 

It wasn’t a Toyota dealer. I fully expected it after the dealer told me they changed the brakes and rotors during prep.

 

I think that would depend on how modified the rig is. If you have 2000+ pounds of additional weight from armor, winches, and other aftermarket goodies, the dealer can’t be responsible if you choose to use OEM parts for the brakes.

 

You must have cheap houses or unhealthy long mortgages

I am running Raybestos PER with the wavy slots and satisfied with them. My normal go-to brand for pads is Advics (OEM supplier), but they don't offer rear pads in ceramic formulation, so I went with Bosch ceramic:

Raybestos 980780PER slotted rotor
Raybestos FRC10464 reman caliper
Bosch BC606 ceramic pads
Carlson H95042 banjo bolt
Sunsong 2204835 hose

 

I went with Powerstop pads just due to good reviews and pricing, and I've been happy with them.

My OEM Rotors were fine, so I have nothing to add there. I have heard that some people like to avoid cross drilled or slotted rotors just due to the possibility of debris getting stuck in them, but I can't say if that's really worth being concerned about.

 

I upgraded to PowerBrake and their big break kit. Expensive but seems to provide better performance than OEM.

 

A lot of racing tech makes downstream into culture and then get offered as part of unrelated aftermarket products. These are typically useless in normal use (e.g., rear spoiler on a Civic) or outright harmful (e.g., K&N filters and intakes). This is one such case.

It is my opinion that solid rotors are the best for 4Runner, especially for any kind of offroad use. Here is why:

1. Drilled and slotted rotors are used in racing to facilitate pad out-gassing and improve cooling. This only happens during frequent and prolonged use where brakes get very hot. Such as on a race track (or maybe if you tow large rig down the mountain without using engine braking).
2. Drilled and slotted rotors reduce contact surface, you will do less braking with them under normal circumstances.
3. Drilled and slotted rotors weaken rotors, you are more likely to warp them. Also if rotors are drilled after getting tempered, it will introduce weak spots and promote cracking.
5. Drilled and slotted rotors can trap dirt and small stones, they are intended for on-pavement driving.

Please keep this in mind when choosing rotors for your 4Runner.

For pads, it is even more complicated. Some pads require higher temperatures to work best. In racing it is typical to "warm up" your brakes before fully relying on them. If you spec such pads for 4Runner, which will 99.9% of time spend 'cold braking', you will be robbing yourself stopping power. For example, ceramic brake pads are designed not to improve braking but to reduce high temperature fade (i.e., they are designed for high-temp use). In other circumstances they are actually inferior. They also tend to chew up disks.

Last but not least. Any braking your car can do is hard-limited by tires. Excessive braking that would lock wheels up is just going to activate ABS. When driving on racing slicks, you get a lot more grip and can spec a lot more from calipers, disks and pads. With a 4Runner, especially if you drive around on oversized offload tires, the limiting factor will always be your tires. Make sure you are not wasting your money on activating ABS sooner.

 

The oem Toyota pads I installed in December had "Akebono" stamped into them. I assume they're made under contract to a given spec.

Jason

 

The dealer sells two pads.. one economy (made in the US) and one made in japan.
Most of the dealers do not stock the one made in Japan... Forcing you to buy the economy one.. unless you want to wait....

 

So narrowed it down some;

RAYBESTOSEHT606HElement3 Hybrid Technology ($31) or AKEBONOACT606AProACT Ceramic; Includes HardwareIn ($61)

And will go with POWER STOPJBR1396EVCEvolution Geomet Coated rear rotors.

 

Great and thoughtful response!

Just use OEM pads and rotors. The front 4 piston calipers on the 4Runner are more than sufficient.

 

In my opinion from actually wheeling in water, sand, and mud, slotted rotors actually help with cleaning the pad surface.

Warped rotors are a myth. The vibrations come from overheated pad material being coked onto the rotor surface. Having slotted rotors help scrape that away. That's why slotted rotors help even in street use.

 

This does not match my experiences and my understanding of the process.

Thermal expansion and contraction is the primary cause of rotor warping. In track situations I have seen rotors warped to the point that you can see it with a naked eye.

 

^Not in street use and certainly not in a 4Runner. In track use the warpage comes from uneven cooling (for example not enough ducted air flow to the inboard surface). This is well documented in race car design books from the '80s or even earlier.

 

The other thing I learned the hard way is about the pins. Do not lube with any ceramic purple magic sauce stuff.
Used the Ceramlub 2800 Extreme Pressure Anti-Squeak, Anti-Seize OEM Brake Parts Lubricant type for back of pads but not the pins. The first time I did they dried up and got hard and pins would not move.

Used this for the pins:Mission Automotive Dielectric Grease/Silicone Paste/Waterproof Marine Grease

What I learned is that the ceramic lube dried up got hard and would not allow pins to release/slide. Ordered the silicone and now all is quiet.

 

I did lot of research. I do not lube the front pins (even service manual does not mention that). make sure pins and clean or new. only lube back of pads and shims.....
for the rear pins, I used CRC Silaramic based on multiple recommendation as it is silicone based and protects the rubber boots.... or you can buy the Toyota special grease..

 

I don’t recall ever lubing the back of the pads (where the shims meet the piston). Is it wrong to skip that step? I can see how it could protect the piston boot, but can also see a possibility for grit and mud getting stuck on the grease, and possibly causing damage to the boots.

 

I have read different opinions....
I used Liqui moly Anti squeak on the back of pads and shims....
Probably would be good either way.....

 

General brake service practice is to put grease anywhere with metal-on-metal contact to reduce likelihood of noise. I put grease on the piston heads, and under the shim (between shim and pad backing plate). Never had damaged dust boots in 10+ years and four vehicles.

 

OEM. Don't make it any harder than it needs to be. The rotors on my 2019 have over 130k miles on them, and they were in such good shape I'll probably keep them on at my next pad replacement. I replaced my OEM pads, rear at 92k, front at 120k. Wear-wise, it's splitting hairs IMO to try to find longer-lasting ones.

 

I just replaced both front and back rotors and pads at 50K (mostly city driving)... The back were gone completely and brake indicator started touching. The front had bit left.. Changed rotors as well, did not want to machine them.
If they last the next 50K I would be happy....

 

People definitely don’t run in/bed in/burnish or whatever you want to call it so they think they have warped rotors but actual rotor warping is a real thing. Slots do wipe the pad clean but they’re mainly for offgassing. I tried the rotor and pad game on my supercharged Tacoma without any noticeable improvement but I am guilty of thinking I warped the rotors when in fact I just never bedded in the pads.

 

I am debating whether I should bed them . I have about 50 miles on new pads.
I have heard many say just take it easy the first 100-200 miles and you should be good. The problem with bedding, is you have to find a highway where you can go from 60-10 safely. Also If you do not bed them right, you risk thermal shocking them ....
When you buy the truck new, does the factory bed the brakes? I doubt it....

 

I did Powerstop Z23 rotor and pad kit front and rear. Found the perfect place to bed them in. Happy with them, have already put close to 1000 miles on them.