Help! Replace Rotor & Pad Only or Replace Caliper Also? - '96 XLS - Right Rear Wheel

[Everdai]

I'm poor and have been skimping on my maintenance.

My Right Rear brake pad has been worn down for a while now and grinding pretty bad. Saturday it finally wore all the way through and the pedal went almost to the floor before any real braking occurred.
From what I could tell not much if any braking occurred until the pedal was almost to the floor and then the front tires would brake hard.
I drove it home about 12 miles, staying off highways, keeping it slow (<35mph, avg 25 mph) using my gears to slow me down a lot.
The pad is completely gone.
My question is, do I need to replace only the pads (I'm doing new pads on all wheels) and the worn down rotor, or do I have to also replace the caliper?
My local mechanic has quoted me nearly $700 in parts and labor because he won't just replace pads, he'll only do a full brake job. I'm definitely going to do my own pads. If I had him do just the caliper it would probably be around $200 in labor, I'd rather learn how to do it myself. Especially since financially that's my only option.

Here are pictures of the Rear Left pad and rotor (not worn completely down)



Here are pictures of the Rear Right pad and rotor (worn completely down)





Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

BTW I found re-manufactured replacement parts totalling $262.40 including the Right Rear caliper ($91.50 of which is a core deposit I'll get back upon returning my crapped out caliper to them), and about $92.00 without the caliper (this includes pads all around and a Right Rear rotor). These prices are after tax and shipping. This was at racepages.com with the coupon code "rpcart". I think that's a really good price but if anyone else knows of a better alternative please let me know!

Thanks in advance for the help, I really appreciate it!

[ImDisaster]

I'm not sure why you are talking about replacing the caliper. I see a missing brake pad (never saw that happen before.) You should NEVER skimp on service by allowing a brake pad to rub against the rotor. A set of pads is way cheaper than replacing a rotor. It is possible the rotor could still be turned but if it wore right through the pad it is unlikely.

[Everdai]

Wow, thanks for such a quick response! I'm really hoping that I don't have to replace the caliper, but my mechanic was telling me that it would be a possibility considering how long I let the pad grind, and since the pad had come off. I'd really like some second opinions from people who won't be making money off of me.

I know I shouldn't have let it wear like I did, I really screwed myself on this one. It was a combination of ignorance and denial on my part.

[TedL]

With decent quality rotors available for $30+/- apiece, I don't even consider not replacing them when changing pads. Calipers, on the other hand, I do not change unless there is a reason to. How have yours failed that they need replacing?

[Everdai]

As far as I know they haven't, but then I'm no auto mechanic by any means. My mechanic seemed to think that it was a possibility that they had failed just because the pad had worn completely off and he said that when that happens the calipers are usually instantly ruined.

[robcam13]

i wouldent change calipers unless the piston is frozen. if you can push it back in the caliper then dont waste the money.and as mentioned you could turn the rear rotors and save some cash as well.

[TedL]

There are reasons beyond frozen pistons to replace a caliper, but there s/b an identified reason. Also, the parts pricing can be so crazy that it's worth replacing the caliper/bracket/slides as a unit. As an example, last week I replaced the front calipers, rotors and pads on my son's 97 Camry. The brackets and slide pins were the real source of the problem (we're in the Northeast with salt on the roads). Reman calipers with brackets and slides were essentially the same prices ($40+/-) as the brackets and pins alone. So why make work for myself? Now he has all "new" that will last the rest of the life of the car.

[fourwheeler]

Personally I'd replace the rotor if it couldn't be turned and also replace the pads on both wheels. The pads come as a set and the other side is probably about to go out. Make sure to grease the caliper slide pins. If you are unfamiliar with how to do a brake job and you want to do the job yourself. Buy yourself a Haynes manual which will tell you how to do the work yourself. The manuals are about $20 and are available at any auto parts store or online.

I've been really broke before and have just put pads on some rotors which were really ground down. The pads don't last as long, but do stop fine and it got me by for a while. FYI.

Good luck.

[biff44]

My experience has been that if the right pads are worn down to metal, and the left pads still have a lot of life...there is something wrong with that right caliper. Get a rebuilt one and a new rotor and don't look back.

I just went thru it all, so some hints:
There is a little pin on the brake line hose connection...make sure it fits into the hole in the caliper before installing the brake hose nut.

The stainless steel metal slides are best replaced, one at a time, when the torque plate is off the car. They are not all the same (especially the back ones) so take one out, find the exact match, and replace that one...then go on to the next one.

Get lots of those little packets of brake grease to line the metal slides.

Get some of that sticky brake quiet spray, and spray it on the metal back side of the pad.

If you are not replacing the caliper, be carefuly loosening that brake bleed valve--I sheered one off trying to open it.

22 ft-lbs torque on the brake hose nut.

73 ft lbs torgue on the bigger screws on the torque plate.

26 ft lbs on the front caliper bolts, 34 ft lbs on the reer caliper bolts.

[BonzoGonzo]

The way to avoid paying a core charge is to have the old one in hand, when you buy the new one Kinda helps to see if you're buying the right part, as well.

I would not forget the hoses, even if you are poor. You could be dead... Rockauto.com has good, cheap hoses. I'm using them.

These cars are OLD. Cast iron warps. I rebuilt my original calipers and wasted my time - they still stuck. One might assume that a reputable rebuilder has a way to check for warpage. O'riley has good rebuilt calipers. I broke down and bought four - never looked back

If you don't know anything about auto mechanics, doing your brakes is not the place to start. The prices your mechanic is quoting are outrageous! When you're working on something with 200K on it, you can't expect to re-use much... Maybe you have a friend who knows cars?

[BonzoGonzo]

The way to avoid paying a core charge is to have the old one in hand, when you buy the new one Kinda helps to see if you're buying the right part, as well.

I would not forget the hoses, even if you are poor. You could be dead... Rockauto.com has good, cheap hoses. I'm using them.

These cars are OLD. Cast iron warps. I rebuilt my original calipers and wasted my time - they still stuck. One might assume that a reputable rebuilder has a way to check for warpage. O'riley has good rebuilt calipers. I broke down and bought four - never looked back

If you don't know anything about auto mechanics, doing your brakes is not the place to start. The prices your mechanic is quoting are outrageous! When you're working on something with 200K on it, you can't expect to re-use much... Maybe you have a friend who knows cars?

[chuckoff]

Originally Posted by BonzoGonzo

The way to avoid paying a core charge is to have the old one in hand, when you buy the new one Kinda helps to see if you're buying the right part, as well.

I would not forget the hoses, even if you are poor. You could be dead... Rockauto.com has good, cheap hoses. I'm using them.

These cars are OLD. Cast iron warps. I rebuilt my original calipers and wasted my time - they still stuck. One might assume that a reputable rebuilder has a way to check for warpage. O'riley has good rebuilt calipers. I broke down and bought four - never looked back

If you don't know anything about auto mechanics, doing your brakes is not the place to start. The prices your mechanic is quoting are outrageous! When you're working on something with 200K on it, you can't expect to re-use much... Maybe you have a friend who knows cars?

I totally agree. No mechanical skill do not work on your brakes! You could up killing yourself or someone else. However, $700 to replace all 4 rotors, front and rear brake pads and rear calipers is not outrageous. That is, if you are talking about using good parts. The low bidders use cheap Chinese crap parts, installed by $7 per hour employees. It is possible that the caliper piston was damaged by rubbing on the rotor (his pics only show the outside). I've seen people drive until the pad wears down to nothing, falls off and the caliper piston rubs on the rotor until it pops out, so does the fluid and that +no brakes.

[turbofrank@verizon]

Come on guys this thread is old

[Everdai]

haha i see the thread was revived! For some closure...

I believe what i ended up doing is replacing all pads, the rear rotors and no calipers. I pulled all of the wheels off and ha the car on cinder blocks as at the time i owned no jackstands. I used the Haynes manual to o all of the repairs and everything worked out great. I can't remember how much I ended up paying but I used RockAuto (whom i use for most of my parts now).
It's been probably 20k miles now and everything is great. I can't say exactly how many miles though as my little brother is driving this car now.

Now i drive a 97 2wd 2.4l reg cab 5spd cab Tacoma, base everything and love it. My wife drives a '04 L4 Solara auto. I've been doing all of the routine maintenance with Haynes manuals and it saves TONS of money!

[adu1982]

Do not ever do that again with brakes, as beside being dangerous it can cost you more. Brake pads are cheap and once you do it one time, it is not bad at all. Neither hard nor too complicated, and IF YOU are poor definitely not worth going to a shop, especialy to 100$ FOR ALL BRAKES.

Now just as a quick example of extra cost, I once pushed my brakes that far too, to were I was lucky enough my brake pad cracked and locked my back wheel. By the time I drove the car off the street my almost new tire got burned out (Got 2 flat surfaces on it, almost became a square wheel)...so new tire. Everything else was ok ...but still 60$ of the top plus, i got lucky it did not lock on me at 70$ mph, but rather on local road, when braking.

Get haynes and read and ask questions here, and take your time and a couple of hours to do it and PLS PLS make sure you test brakes in no , or very light traffic, starting with braking slow, than going faster and applying hard brakes.

Keeping bad rotors will eat brake pads, plus will give you that horrible shake when braking which is annoying and bad for the car in time too, so either cut them or buy new ones. If they are oem I would try cutting them as the oem are usually better than the cheap ones, but even cheap ones are better than abused ones.

Take your time, check and double check, be ready to get mad but if you are a bit mechanically or electronically inclined do it, i have started a while back (2-3 years ago) and the only thing i have not attempted yet is water pump, but everything else I gotta gutsy and tried. This forum and others will be of great help. Also once you get the nag of it you will realize the avy is a great and rather easy car to work on, and if you take a bit care of it (and not take it for everything to cheapo mechanics) it will last you long....

Mine is at 249k, it has some issues but it is a work in progress, however i am having less major problems that friends and family have with 00+ cars ...so...

Sorry about the long post.....

Also always check for "HOW TO's" on this and other toyota or avy forums.

I have a haynes, but I have found it easier to follow advice on how to easier than haynes which sometimes gets me confused.