This project was upgrading the front brakes on my 1999 Toyota 4runner. The front brakes on my generation 4runner were made a little too small. The brakes were fine for around town driving but heavy braking or continual braking they got too hot and would start to warp. I noticed this on the way back from a recent trip to Sunriver. As a side note, to test if your rotors are warped, get going about 40-45mph and slowly start to press the brake pedal. If you keep pressing the pedal in and you slowly start to brake then your brakes are straight. If your car brakes but it brakes with a pulse then your rotors are most likely warped.
To start, make sure your are on flat stable ground. Then, break the lug nuts free (but don't remove them) with BEFORE you start to jack up the car. This will save you problems later. Then jack up and car and place the jack stands on a sturdy part of your car. On unibody cars the factory jacking points are at the base of the front doors behind the front wheels and at the same place in front of the back wheels. If your car has frame rails then anywhere on the frame rails or on a joint of the suspension. Once the car is up on the jack stands, do a "wiggle test" use your body to push the car side to side and front to back to check how stable it is. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT STEP. If you can see your car is going to tip, don't tip it over just readjust the jack stands or place them somewhere else.
Once the car is up and sturdy, finish removing the lug nuts and the wheel will come off. Do this for both front wheels. I slide the wheels under the car, this gets them out of the way and is also a safety measure incase the jack stand fails.
On the back there are two bolts that need to be removed and the brake line. CAUTION: The brake like nut is made of a soft metal, If it starts to strip at all with a open-end wrench, use a line-wrench. Once the brake line is removed it will start to drip so put a bucket or jar to catch the brake fluid. Then remove the two bolts. This will remove the brake caliper.
Once the caliper is removed the caliper will pop off. It may be a little stuck from being on the car for a while, so a couple hits with a hammer will break it free.
Now it is time to open up the new rotors. The new rotors are the same diameter but are much thicker so they can take a lot more heat before they start to warp. If your brakes are only slightly warp it is possible to have them turned so that they are smooth again, but this can only be done once, maybe twice before they become unsafe because they will be too thin. Les Schwab is where I would go or down to my local high school (Corvallis High School) They have a new brake lath and can be trusted and will do it for free.
Even though they are new they still need to be sprayed with a brake cleaner because they are packaged with a film of oil on them to keep any rust from forming. Any spray brake cleaner will work, this is the one I use.
I set my rotor on a cinder block with plastic underneath and sprayed heavily to make sure all dirt and grime is removed.
Then place the rotor on the car, try not to touch the surface, just the outside.
The next step is to prepare the new caliper to be placed on the rotor. Here is the new rotor compared to the old rotor.
There are two pins and two springs that come with the new caliper to hold the brake pads in place.
These are a little tricky to set in place so I took a couple pictures to help show all the components.
Here is a look at the back side of the caliper once the brake pads are in place.
The next step is the toughest, slide the caliper over the rotor until the bold holes line up. Then get the bolts started with your hands.
Tighten both bolts until they are up against the caliper, then tighten to 91 ft-lbs.
Next reattach the brake line again being very careful not to strip or cross thread.
Here is a look at the drivers side.
Now that the hydraulic system has been open, there is air in the system, which is not good so we must bleed the brakes. To do this, you must have a partner. Open the hood and find the brake booster reservoir. As you can see on mine it has dropped from when I took the brake line off of the caliper.
Now that the brake lines are connected add brake fluid into the reservoir until its up to the max(it will go down). Have your partner pump the brake pedal 5 or 6 times and have them keep the brake pedal to the floor. While they are holding the pedal to the floor loosen the bleeder screw with a wrench and on mine just air came out the first time but there may be a little fluid coming out. Then tighten the screw back up and have them start pumping again for a couple times and hold again. The pedal should get hard on the 3rd or 4th pump and have them keep the pressure while you open the screw again and there should be more fluid and less air coming out each time. Make sure you check the fluid level in the reservoir after each time and the whole process should only have to be done 3 or 4 times for each brake assembly. Then put the wheels back on and tighten the lug nuts in a star pattern and you're good to go! The first time I drove the brake pedal was soft and the car wasn't really braking but after having the car running for a couple minutes and using the brakes a couple times it is good to go, and will not be a problem after.
