Rear Brakes: Drums or Disc?

[Spartus]

Hello:

My friend has a 1998 Camry 4-Cyl. LE Automatic that needs new rear brakes. Are the rear brakes disc or drums? I know the V6 are disc but not sure about 4-cylinder. His Camry was assembled in Japan with with a "J" as the first letter in his Vin.

Also, if the rear are drums what hardware will he need to change them? Will he need new shoes and drums? Are the drums able to get resurfaced like the disc brakes.

Thanks for your help as I am not at all familiar with the drum brake set up.

[bigbird]

they should be drum for a I4 LE. but easy way to check is if the rear brakes have a caliper then its disc, if not then its drum.

disc brake
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rcousine/198517420/

drum brake
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thum...brake_drum.jpg

if drums, then the shoes should be the only thing that needs replacing.

[matt9112]

i would also like to know if i buy the disks calipers pads ect can i use same brake line? will there need to be major adjustments

[uibalnme]

Easieat way to check what kind of brakes it has is to take off one of the rear wheels. Drums can be resurfaced. As for the what will need to be changed; change brake shoes. I've done many drum brakes, and IMHO, I would suggest that the drum brakes should be done by a professional. It's less of a hassle, and less of a mess. It also takes less time for the pro to change the shoes.

Hope this helps.

[Spartus]

thanks for the reply. I would check his brakes for him, the only problem is that he is in another city and knows nothing about cars. I am taking the initiative in ordering parts for him. For the fronts we are going with Akebono PRO ACT ceramic pads and blank brembo rotors. Would anybody advise us to get Toyota OEM vs. Akebono instead? I know Akebono is the oem supplier for many Toyota brake pads.

I am in the fog as far as the rears are concerned if they are drums. If they are disc than I will get him the same pads as the fronts.

Is there a way to pull the vin and see if they are drum or disc? Anyone have access to such info on this board?

The vin is JT2BG22K6W0251539

[felonyr301]

I know on the gen 3 the 4 cyl models only were able to have disc brakes in the rear when the car came with ABS if he doesn't have ABS then the 4cyl model came with rear drum brakes. Not sure about the gen4 but I wouldn't be surprised if they did the same.

Ask him does he have anti-lock brakes "ABS" and if he doesn't know what it is then ask him to put the car keys in and leave it on the last slot before the part where you turn on the engine and all the lights should turn on (check engine light and stuff) and look for the abs light, if he has it then he has abs.

Even if he doesn't know about cars he should at least be able to at least know how to take off the rear tire and peeped through the steelie hole with a light and you can tell if its drum or disc. Show him a picture between the two so he can identify it right!!!

[Spartus]

thanks felony-

very helpful post. I think his car is equipped with abs. So it's safe to assume he has 4 disc brakes...

[touringcamry]

I'm almost certain that my relative's 97 LE with ABS has drums in the back.

If it has drum brakes, they may not need changing. On my 2000, the rear drums were way out of adjustment and were like new after 60000 miles or so. The self-adjust didn't work too well and I did not know I had to adjust it at that time.

[felonyr301]

Like i said I'm not too sure about the gen 4 camry (97-01 models) but on the gen3 4 cyl model you can't have rear disc brakes without having ABS equipped with it. It either has both or none.

Dealing with disc brakes is pretty ok but dealing with drums is such a bitch when I was dealing with it in my auto class in high school. Personally I would pay someone to do the just the drums for me and deal with disc myself. It's worth spending 30 or 40 bucks on them doing it!!!

Still make sure he confirms it though at least since it would be a waste to have bought the wrong part.

[Stillrunning]

Originally Posted by felonyr301

but on the gen3 4 cyl model you can't have rear disc brakes without having ABS equipped with it. It either has both or none.

Not sure about sedans but my 95 wagon (U.S. built) has 4 wheel discs without ABS.

[matt9112]

changing for drum to disk? is it hard? complicated?

[bigbird]

this is the only DIY i found on teh D to D conversion.

Drum to disk conversion - DONE

hit that link for parts list.

[toyomoho]

Can your friend pull off a hubcap then look through any holes in the rim? Should either see a shinny disk rotor or the black color of a drum.

Keep in mind if rear disk brakes the rotor incorporates a small drum (behind the disk) for the parking brake. The parking brake uses shoes.

[Mike Gerber]

The 98 Camry 4 cylinder has rear drums, with or without ABS. I used to own one. Only the V6 cars came with rear discs.

Mike

['_']

My 2000 Camry 4cyl has ABS and drums in the rear