I just had my '03 Tundra Limited in for State inspection in July '08. It passed. Saturday night I noticed a noise coming from the front only when I applied brakes and it really rumbled the slower I got. Yep, I know...

Just pulled the front wheels off last night and boy, do I need a rotor turning!!! There is no disc pad left on the outside left. First of all, my inspection station apparently didn't do their job and secondly, what about the warning devices that were in all my other Toyotas? You know, those little clips that screech to warn you your pads are near needing replacement?

I have really made an "***"ume out of me. And I am so anal I change my brake fluid every 2 years....:eek:

I just had my '03 Tundra Limited in for State inspection in July '08. It passed. Saturday night I noticed a noise coming from the front only when I applied brakes and it really rumbled the slower I got. Yep, I know...

Just pulled the front wheels off last night and boy, do I need a rotor turning!!! There is no disc pad left on the outside left. First of all, my inspection station apparently didn't do their job and secondly, what about the warning devices that were in all my other Toyotas? You know, those little clips that screech to warn you your pads are near needing replacement?

I have really made an "***"ume out of me. And I am so anal I change my brake fluid every 2 years....:eek:

Did you take it to a Toyota dealer or to Leroy's Garage?

I took it to a local garage. Only certain garages are "certified" by the state to do inspections and are themselves inspected by the VA State Police.

I went and bought my brake pads at Toyota for $51 and asked them about turning my rotors. I told them that I would bring them in already removed from my truck. Toyota wanted $70 to turn them both! I then went to O'Reillys and they wanted $16 to turn both. I let O'Reillys do the turning.

I took it to a local garage. Only certain garages are "certified" by the state to do inspections and are themselves inspected by the VA State Police.

Well, there you go. You get what you pay for. They may be "certified" to do inspections, but that does not make them certified by Toyota.


I went and bought my brake pads at Toyota for $51 and asked them about turning my rotors. I told them that I would bring them in already removed from my truck. Toyota wanted $70 to turn them both! I then went to O'Reillys and they wanted $16 to turn both. I let O'Reillys do the turning.

So now, how much is it going to cost to undo the damage? The Toyota dealer might have cost more, but at least it would have been done right the first time.

You live in VA, right? State Inspection prices are regulated by the State. I would have paid the same no matter where got my Tundra inspected.

I'm not sure I understand your point about getting what I paid for.

I did figure out both of the "squealers" on my OEM discs were missing. I looked at my old discs to verify they were Toyota and not a single one of the old ones had those little metal clips. This explains why I never got the screeching warning that my brake pads were worn out!

I paid $16 to get my problem fixed and Toyota wanted $70 to fix my problem. Oh, if I had not relied on waiting for the "squealing" noise...

You live in VA, right? State Inspection prices are regulated by the State. I would have paid the same no matter where got my Tundra inspected.

I'm not sure I understand your point about getting what I paid for.

I did figure out both of the "squealers" on my OEM discs were missing. I looked at my old discs to verify they were Toyota and not a single one of the old ones had those little metal clips. This explains why I never got the screeching warning that my brake pads were worn out!

The price for the inspection, yes. I don't know where you bought your Tundra, but most dealerships these days give you lifetime free inspections if you bought it from them.

My point is that if you had taken your truck to a Toyota dealer in the first place, it would have saved you some grief because it is more likely they would have caught the problem.

I'm not familiar with how your state inspection works, but I would guess you have some recourse and can turn this shop in.
But first I would let the shop owner know what happened.
I would also think it would be in their best interest to do this inspection properly. They just lost a chance to sell you a brake job and that's not something a shop owner would want to lose out on.
You got screwed but so did the owner. The Tech that did the inspection messed up and let you and his boss down. :td:
Mike

There are no wear indicators on the pads. Toyota assumes the brake system is a closed system and that the fluid never needs to be topped off. As the pads and shoes wear, more fluid will reside in the calipers and wheel cylinders and less in the master cylinder. When the pads and shoes wear enough, the low fluid brake light comes on, letting you know the pads and shoes are almost due.

Were your pads evenly worn...if not you could have had a caliper sticking, something that could have happened in the past four months. If they were worn evenly how many miles are on your truck? How many miles have you put on since July? Did you have any vibration when stopping prior to this? There are to many variable here for me to be condeming a shop that could have made money off of you had they found a problem.

Uniform wear on both pads. I don't know why but the metal "squealers" were broken off both front pads. My new Toyota OEM pads have the metal squealers. Go figure....

Oh, never a wobble, never a squeal, no "nothing" until all of a sudden on a Sat night I heard that awful noise. I will not rely on the "squealers" ever again. That's for sure!

These wear indictors are like some forms of birth control only 90% reliable. Then it has a lot to do with the way they are used. Install the pad with the indictors on the wrong side and they will not work, simply break off. Sounds like what likely happened in your case.
Did you ever go back and talk to the shop owner about this?
Mike

Naw, I didn't go back to the shop to complain. Just don't feel it necessary. They have been too good to me in the past.

Are the "Squealers" supposed to be on the inside or outside? I might need to check and make sure I got the "Squealers" on the right side. :eek:

so glad i dont live back east. only thing i have to do is smog it once.

Naw, I didn't go back to the shop to complain. Just don't feel it necessary. They have been too good to me in the past.

Are the "Squealers" supposed to be on the inside or outside? I might need to check and make sure I got the "Squealers" on the right side. :eek:


Always position the tab opposite the rotation of the rotor (when moving forward). On a vehicle with the same style pads inboard or outboard as on the Tundra, the tab can be on the inner or outer pad, but generally they are located in the inner.
Mike