While changing front pads, the right side was much more worn than the left (.25in more), and the outer was more worn than the inner, but to a lesser extent. Standard Bendix semi-metallic pads. Wore out in 25k miles/2yrs. Anything to be concerned about?
========================================= Toyota stock brake pads are ceramic (wear longer and quieter than semi metallic from what I understand) but that's beside the point. There are two factors that can cause uneven brake pad wear. First would be the sliding pins. Second would be the calipers. I noticed uneven brake pad wear for some time, then one morning the calipers seized and required replacement. Toyota sells remanufactured units. In replacing the calipers I also replaced the pads, shim and fit kit, rotors, sliding pins, dust boots and flex lines. In my case the calipers froze up to the point the car was nearly undriveable. I used synthetic grease. Dust boots were easy to remove and install, plus they're inexpensive. The Toyota manual calls them a "non reusable part." You knock them out with a hammer and flat bladed screwdriver, and drive them in with a socket. I needed vice grip pliers to twist and pull the old pins out whereas the new sliding pins with synthetic grease allowed the calipers to move freely. Every time you apply the brakes, the caliper moves on those sliding pins. If they're not sliding properly you'll get uneven brake pad wear. I would guess this could lead to overheating, which might cause the calipers to fail sooner. If the brake piston cannot be pushed back with reasonable force, then the calipers are sticking also.
The firstwould be sticking caliper pins. They need to be cleaned and well lubed. Permatex has excellent synthetic gel that I prefer. Great stuff.
Semi-mets provide excellent stopping power, but they are very dusty and last about 20-25K miles. If you tow or carry full loads then semi-mets still have advantage over ceramics. OEMs are ceramic and these are what the replacements should be. Ceramics provide good average driver performance with longer service life (at least two fold) but they do not have the heavy duty thermo capabilities of semi-mets. Then again, most drivers do fine with cermaics and enjoy the light dust and long service life.
I get the aftermarket Akebono ProAct cermaics. Sometimes the dealer will give you Akebono but mostly you get the cheaper NBK and who knows what these days, but the Lexus division gets the Akebonos. NBK glazes and fades much more easily than Akebonos. I buy aftermarket so I know it's always Akebono.
Raybestos Raymold rotors work very well at under $20 each.
camry-keeper wrote:
Thanks -- I noticed that the standard bearing grease I used on the pins last pad change was basically non-existent/dried up, so I used a moly hi-temp grease, which I hope will work better. I didn't do anything to the piston: is there any way to test them or do preventative maintenance? They're original at 11 years/165,000 miles.
Standard wheel bearing grease, moly fortified multi purpose shouldn't be used in the brake system. Some can run because of the temperature.
There are specially formulated brake lubes of the synthetic gel or moly/graphite types. Your local NAPA or other auto stores should have both. They are as little as ~$1 per 5ml pack. I use one pack on each caliper. Make sure you use only lubricants designed for brake systems and it won't disappear.
The caliper piston should be easy to retract, at least on these cars. If you pull it hard towards the pad, the piston should retract slightly into the bore, allowing you clearance to pivot or remove the caliper back and forth on the anchor pins. If you can't do this using manual force and have to use a piston tool to retract it, then I'd say the caliper may not be in that good of a shape.
IMO the best way is to get a rebuilt, I like to use NAPA rebuilt calipers. In some cases I think I even got new castings with all new components (piston, boots, anchor pins, mount bolts, etc), unless they cleaned them really well. The cost is about the same if you were to get all the parts but you get a warranty with rebuilts. You don't need taking the whole thing apart and then finding out the caliper needs a rebore and a new piston in addition to a typical caliper kit. It just isn't worth the extra time and money.
When you change out a caliper, consider changing the brake hose too -- basically all the rubber parts in that area.
camry-keeper wrote:
Here is a comparison using
A rebuilt caliper for 95 Camry LE 5SFE costs $45.89
A typical rebuilt would give you new mounting hardawre and rubber parts like the following:
Of course, if you can reuse the piston and don't need any more than spray cleaning and Scotch-briting the bore, then you'll save $24.79 by not needing the piston. If you change your brake fluid every year or two and don't live in the rust belt, then there is a good chance you can reuse it.
camry-keeper wrote:
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