08887-01206 This is the part number for the grease Toyota is using. It runs about $8 per 100gr tube, You'll get about three times more grease than you will out of a 2 oz Permatex tube, plus it can be used in other areas where you're looking to lubricate a rubber seal; it can even be used inside you're brake system (cylinder piston seals, etc).

These pictures are good examples of what happens when you don't service your slide pins; they get sticky, your pads will wear unevenly, and they can eventually seize.

The wear pictured does appear significant with the caliper removed, but is not severe, and could be easily overlooked without close inspection. It is normal for the inboard pad to wear faster than the outboard pad as this is the first pad to make contact whenever the brakes are applied. (This condition is unrelated to the inboard tire wear that was overlooked.)

When the pin seizes the inboard pad will eventually wear down to nothing, leaving as much as 100% of the outboard pad in tact. This condition is often accompanied by a spongy brake pedal that makes it feel as if the system needs to be bled... When it gets this bad, you aren't going to be freeing the slide pin with a pair of vice grips, and you may even be looking at a new caliper bracket(s).

The bottom line is SERVICE YOUR SLIDE PINS, and save yourself time and money down the road. Thanks Tom for the post and pics.

 

08887-01206 This is the part number for the grease Toyota is using. It runs about $8 per 100gr tube, You'll get about three times more grease than you will out of a 2 oz Permatex tube, plus it can be used in other areas where you're looking to lubricate a rubber seal; it can even be used inside you're brake system (cylinder piston seals, etc).

Thanks for that, I'll see if I can track some of this down for when I do the brakes. I probably lost a good 15-20,000 miles on those pads due to the sticky slide pins, so I'll be doing brakes in another month or two.

When the pin seizes the inboard pad will eventually wear down to nothing, leaving as much as 100% of the outboard pad in tact. This condition is often accompanied by a spongy brake pedal that makes it feel as if the system needs to be bled... When it gets this bad, you aren't going to be freeing the slide pin with a pair of vice grips, and you may even be looking at a new caliper bracket(s).

I believe it. I've been fortunate enough to not have had it get that bad. The worst I've had it was on my old Excursion; I had to clean out the bore with a gun cleaning brush and a power drill!

 

Firestone it's horrible. I checked my tire 1 hour before just to ask if something is wrong. I had 36 he said I had 20lbs and needed new tires. He he pushed in very lightly and probably had been cheating people for years. Now there closed.

Getting my brakes looked at tomorrow. I have the extended warranty and because I bought after market brakes after the guy at the dealership said BRAKES are Brakes at 30000 miles. I had a bent slide pin at 52k. And I just drove out from the dealer service with a stuck caliper. After rear bearings replaced. Use sylglide for the pins, and that permatex for the area that make noise.

 

This is why I prefer to do my own maintenance. Last week I noticed that the front pads on both sides were wearing unevenly. Identifying this takes about 15 seconds once the wheel is off, and is one of the most basic checks any mechanic can do. The typical cause of this is frozen slide pins which prevent the outside pad on the caliper from properly engaging the brake rotor. Total time was less than an hour with me taking my time. You remove the caliper by removing both mounting bolts found here:

For this step you're going to need some caliper grease. Do NOT use standard grease because it can swell and damage the rubber boots! Here's what I used: Permatex® Ultra Disc Brake Caliper Lube

Apply a few beads of grease around the slide pins and insert them back in the bore. Push them down until the rubber boot seats on the outside lip of the pin just the way you found them. Mount the caliper taking special care to NOT twist the brake line. Fasten the caliper mounting bolts to 42 ft-lbs. Reinstall the tire and tighten the lug nuts to 76 ft-lbs. Repeat for the other side; NEVER service only one side of a brake system!

I have to point out that the product linked to warns that it's for metal to metal contact only, which tells me it's not good around/interacting with rubber.

For slide pins, I use 3M #8946, as recommended to me by a Toyota parts manager. He didn't sell it, it was what the techs used. And 3M 8945 for the pad to caliper and hardware.

 

I learned from another forum that a 9mm gun barrel cleaning wire brush fits perfectly into the slide pin holes to clean them. I got some on eBay (usually sold in a 3 pack) and found that the brushes work very well cleaning them out.