Completed Front Brake TSB BR004-02 Myself - Some Observations

[Picasso]

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

[biggary]

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?

After Brake Masters ruined my rotors through their lack of experience and knowledge, I installed Power Stop cross drilled rotors with Axxis Non metallic pads (recommended by Power Stop). I noticed the front brakes felt like they were dragging for a week or two afterward but now they feel great and stop extremely well. Give them some time and see if they don't loosen up. I drive at least 60 miles a day so it probably took mine a little shy of 1000 miles to start feeling normal.

Good Luck, Gary

[Picasso]

Originally Posted by biggary

After Brake Masters ruined my rotors through their lack of experience and knowledge, I installed Power Stop cross drilled rotors with Axxis Non metallic pads (recommended by Power Stop). I noticed the front brakes felt like they were dragging for a week or two afterward but now they feel great and stop extremely well. Give them some time and see if they don't loosen up. I drive at least 60 miles a day so it probably took mine a little shy of 1000 miles to start feeling normal.

Good Luck, Gary

Gary,
I am certain you are correct. The dragging effect is already improving.

The Power Slot instructions say to "do 6 to 10, 35 - 5mph stops FOLLOWED by 2 to 3 hard stops from 50 - 10mph after the brakes have cooled. The system should then be cycled by firmly applying the brakes to produce heat. Allow to cool and REPEAT the process."

There is somewhat of a conflict between the instructions given by Akebono and Power Slot as to what to do after installing their components.

Akebono - "No break in required."
Power Slot - "Do a few break in stops."

Since I have never read of anyone discussing rotor break in but there is quite a lot of discussion about pad bed in, some of which indicated that it should not be done at all, I decided that the pad bed in procedures took precedence. It appears that this was wrong.

I've only done one set of 40 - 5mph stops, but I'm willing to bet that I can clear this all up if I just FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS from Power Slot. What a concept. It's almost a paradigm shift to focus on breaking in the rotors vice the pads but in my case, it looks like that is exactly what needs to be done.

I'll do another rotor break in cycle today.

Thank's for the reply Gary. It definitely helps point me in the right direction.

Paul

[Picasso]

After a little more daily driving and another bed in run, the front brake dragging has almost entirely disappeared.

The stopping power, control, and smoothness of the Akebono/Power Slot combination still amazes me. Still haven't heard a peep from the Akebonos.

I cleaned up the rear brakes and the front/rear braking ratio has improved significantly. Not exactly sure why this is since I didn't adjust the LSP&BV like I had intended or changed the shoes. The front end doesn't nose dive as much now.

This project has turned out better than I expected. Hopefully, I won't have to touch the brakes for at least another 60k miles.

[Picasso]

My brake dragging at lower speeds has for the most part disappeared. At highway speeds it is still very evident, but it is at a lower level than it was initially. When I jacked up the car and spun one of the front wheels yesterday, it still felt like it did immediately after the install.

On my last trip of 270 miles, I got 18.8mpg while using the A/C the whole way, so the dragging doesn't seem to have much of an effect in that area. My transmission does shift out of OD much easier and sooner than before though. I do believe that this is a bed in issue which will just take time to resolve.

I DID FIND ONE OTHER POTENTIAL PROBLEM WITH MY BRAKES TODAY.
I tested for residual brake line pressure by opening the bleeder on the left caliper after driving for a while. No squirt of fluid came out, indicating no residual pressure. I then gave the brakes one pump with the bleeder still open to make sure that no air was introduced into the line during this test. The fluid was collected through a clear tube into a white plastic cup and when I looked at it, I noticed a small amount of black particles floating in the fluid. The particles looked like finely ground graphite which settled to the bottom of the cup. I then blead some fluid from the right caliper and found fewer but larger black particles in the fluid. To compare, I did the same at the LSP&BV bleeder. NO PARTICLES there.

When I drained the fluid from my original calipers after removing them, the last ounce of fluid that came out from the left caliper was almost entirely black. It was so much, that it darkened the quart of old fluid that I was draining the caliper into. The other caliper didn't have nearly as much of the dark particles, but it did have some. At the time I attributed this to normal deterioration of the seals in a caliper with 60k miles on it. Now I don't think that was the case. I still have the container of old fluid and some of the black particles are still suspended in the fluid and some have settled to the bottom.

The only black rubber parts in the brake system that I know of are in the master cylinder, brake hoses, and calipers. I don't know what is in the ABS box. Given this, can anyone give a recommendation as to what is causing this or how I should troubleshoot this?

On another note, my brakes still stop really well. No matter how hard I push the brake pedal though, it never gets to a point where it stops feeling a spongey. I'm afraid that if I press it as hard as I can that something is going to pop. Is this normal? Shouldn't there be a point where the pedal gets really firm?

Many thanks,


Paul

[KArn Atull]

Do you have 16 or 17 inch wheels? I was looking at big brake kits and they all say you have to have 17in wheels. I was just wondering if the stock upgrade needs 17in wheels also.

[Picasso]

Originally Posted by KArn Atull

Do you have 16 or 17 inch wheels? I was looking at big brake kits and they all say you have to have 17in wheels. I was just wondering if the stock upgrade needs 17in wheels also.

All of the stock Toyota brakes will fit in 16 inch wheels. I've got the stock Toyota 16 inch aluminum wheels and there were no problems with the fit of the larger calipers.

[lelandstanford]

Originally Posted by Picasso

All of the stock Toyota brakes will fit in 16 inch wheels. I've got the stock Toyota 16 inch aluminum wheels and there were no problems with the fit of the larger calipers.

My Pre-TSB calipers will not clear older 4Runner/Tacoma's 6 spoke wheels.

[Picasso]

A few days ago I installed stainless steel braided brake hoses from Crown Performance on the front and installed the Goodridge hose for the rear brakes. Immediately following this install, which included the required brake fluid bleeding, the brake dragging that I had been experiencing disappeared.

Other improvements include:
- Steering wheel vibration at 70mph, what you would expect with an out of balance tire, is completely gone.
- The excessive road feel that occurred after I installed the new rotors, calipers, and pads, is greatly reduced.
- The force required to turn the steeering wheel while moving is back to the level it was before the new brakes were installed.
- My mpg has increased a little. On my last 270 mile trip I got 20.7mpg doing around 70mph with the AC on almost the entire way.
- The transmission didn't downshift once during the trip back unlike the trip before the hoses were installed.
- With the front end off the ground, both front wheels spin easier than before.

I looked through both of the removed front brake hoses and could see straight through each when they were straightened out and held up to a light. There did appear to be a small obstruction in one but not enough to effect fluid flow. I have no idea what happened to this hose when under pressure.

The exterior fit of the Crown Performance hoses is not the best. The 6 point nut that is integrated at each end of the hoses does not cover the hole of the attachment point on the truck. When the tabs are pressed into place to secure the hose at the attachment point, the 6 point nut portion of the hose is sometimes pulled partially through. I may try to fabricate something to better secure the hoses. The Goodridge hoses were secured with two snap rings at each end which worked better than the Crown Performance design.

Everything works like I hoped it would when I initially did the install. The brakes are very smooth, controlled, require very little pedal pressure to stop the truck from highway speeds, are silent, and have very little dusting. The pedal is no firmer than before the new brake hoses were installed which is similar to other people's experiences with new hoses.

I've put about 2k miles on the new brakes and the pads look to be at the same thickness and the rotors show almost no wear. I can still see the very small grooves in the pad contact areas of the rotors that were created when they were made. The cadmium plating on the rotors is entirely intact, with no unplated spots at all.

After the initial install, I thought that there was a compatibility issue with the Akebonos and the Power Slots, but the current performance of the brake system dispells that. I can say that I am now very satisfied with the results of this project and it was a gret learning experience, although I was a little concern at first.

I just wish I knew what caused the brake dragging and why it went away after installing the braided brake hoses.

[TMaxximus]

Sorry if I am ignorant on this one ,but was there a TSB on 2000 Tundras
for the brake calipers?

[Picasso]

Originally Posted by TMaxximus

Sorry if I am ignorant on this one ,but was there a TSB on 2000 Tundras
for the brake calipers?

Yes. The TSB that is in the title of this thread covers all Tundras from 2000 to early 2003 and involves replacement of the brake caliper with one that is larger than what was originally installed during production.

The thread that discusses the symptoms and this TSB is one of the longest and most viewed threads on this site. If you do a search using Keywords "brake problem" it should show up as one of the results.

Happy reading.

[TMaxximus]

Originally Posted by Picasso

Yes. The TSB that is in the title of this thread covers all Tundras from 2000 to early 2003 and involves replacement of the brake caliper with one that is larger than what was originally installed during production.

The thread that discusses the symptoms and this TSB is one of the longest and most viewed threads on this site. If you do a search using Keywords "brake problem" it should show up as one of the results.

Happy reading.

Thanks. I bought this Tundra last year and it has aftermarket cross drilled rotors on it ,but appears to have stock calipers. The reason why I was asking about a TSB was that I have noticed that on the drivers side caliper,the inside pad will rub the rotor a little tight and you can hear a rattling sound.

I am taking the truck to the dealers tomorrow for a blown rear axle seal and I would like to ask them about the calipers.

Thanks again for the response.

[S-Man]

Hey picasso, just out of curiosity, how much $$ did you spend on parts? thanks...I think i might have to do the tsb myself as well since warrenty is out. Hopefully i just have warped rotors, but we'll see after i do a brake resurfacing soon.

[Picasso]

Originally Posted by S-Man

Hey picasso, just out of curiosity, how much $$ did you spend on parts? thanks...I think i might have to do the tsb myself as well since warrenty is out. Hopefully i just have warped rotors, but we'll see after i do a brake resurfacing soon.

I have most of the receipts, so here's the breakdown:
- Pair of used TSB calipers (13WL) $160
- Toyota caliper rebuild kit $16
- Akebono ProAct ceramic pads $45
- Set of Toyota brake pad shims $15
- 1 pair of cryo’d PowerSlot rotors $272
- Stainless steel braided brake hoses F/R $105
- Toyota brake tubes, 1 for each caliper $12.50
- Set of stainless steel Speed Bleeders $80

I'm very happy with the outcome of this project. My brakes work great and I particularly like the Akebono pads. They are virtually dustless, silent, and perform great.

You can see that the most costly item was the rotors. I'd be willing to bet that non-cryo'd, non-slotted rotors from an after market source like Brembo would still be a big improvement over the stock Toyota rotors which would save you considerable money.

I went to this expense to ensure that my brakes would work properly and that I wouldn't have to do any brake work for a long time.

The project wasn't complete until after I overhauled my rear brakes. I cannot overemphasize the importance of doing this. They were filthy and out of adjustment causing my fronts to do most if not all of the braking. No parts needed replacement. Don't forget to do this until after you complete and evaluate your front brake job. That way you can isolate any problems with your work before touching the rears and also get a sense of how well your rear brakes are performing. My truck nose dived considerably after replacing the front brakes.

Let us know what you end up doing.

Good Luck.

Paul

[S-Man]

thanks. I'll check back in soon.