Has the brake problem been solved on newer Tundras?

It would prolly be cheaper to just do the brake upgrade than to trade the whole rig. At least you'd have warranty on the brakes. And I believe the

00's got more balls than the 02's and later. I drive on 02 with about 40000 miles on it now, and the used 00 I drove definitely had more sack.

99k on my '03 here and no problems.

--- Rich

I agree with the other post about being cheaper to do brake upgrade than trade truck. Don't know what $$$ the dealer quoted you but if a large amount I think I would investigate the cost of a performance brake upgrade like Baer. I usaually don't stray from OEM parts but am an advocate of "go-fast" and "stop-fast" parts. :-) You can check with speed shops, tire shops and brake shops in your area. One other thing I can think of is using a high-performance pad with the original rotor. Some pads are designed to be quiet (like OEM)but will somewhat glaze the surface of the rotor which causes more heat, where a pad that abrades the surface (eating it up) as it works (like performance). You end up replacing the rotor more often with the latter pads but they do perform better, especially if towing, hauling and etc. You should be able to find performance pads from local parts store under Raybestos, Hayes and others. You might also be able to find slotted and/or drilled rotors or HD rotors from local parts store which will dissipate heat better than originals which will cut down on warping. HTH, davidj92

Turning rotors thins them and makes them more prone to warping. Usually it's best to renew rotors when needed.

Don't assume that brake judder is always from warped rotors.

The TSB for the front brakes on 2000 to early-2003 Tundras and Sequoias is to install new calipers and pads with more friction area. In order to do this new backing plates are needed, new bearings, lots of labor...big bucks. The new calipers were installed on most 2003 and all later Tundras and Sequoias.

I'd change to new, high performance pads and top-quality new rotors before I spend the money on the TSB work. I like Performance Friction, Hawk, and Porterfield among the top pads. OEM rotors are good, as are Brembo and PowerSlot. Drilled rotors may crack at the holes. There's lots of chatter about cryogenic treated rotors, but the knowledgable folks I've spoken with have found no difference between cryo and not-cryo'ed rotors.

Ken

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote:

I've had a couple of customers of mine who are out of warranty (like the OP) ask me to trim the backing plates to fit the larger calipers. Sounds like a hack job, I know, but so far they haven't had a problem, and it saves them a load of $$$ by skipping the bearing replacement and all. Of course, it's something that Toyota would certainly not warranty, so it's a trade-off.

Danny,

Sounds familiar. I bought a 2000 Tundra on EBay with 87000 miles. Had the same problem and had the brake rotors turned. Shimmy never really went away and then had the back drums turned. Truck still had shimmy but I found that one of the front tires was way out of round. After new tires on the front, the truck ran pretty good for a while but the shimmy came back.

After doing a little research, I bought a set of NEW Brembo rotors online for about $65 apiece and now haven't had a problem for 30,000 miles. I now love my Tundra again. The main thing I think I learned is that turning your old rotors are a waste of time. They're apparently shit rotors from the start and by the time you've worn them down and then had then turned, they're way to skinny to last. They just warp up again.

By the way, I also tow a trailer (boat) and often carry pretty heavy loads so I think this should work for you.

Barry

Hey Barry, (and others) thanks for the replies. I will see about the brembos. I really like this truck except the comstant brake problems. Like I said i will be pulling a 6x13 trailor with 2 commercial ztr,s and need the brakes to perform correctly. I got this truck at a decent price and was hoping it would last me about 75K more miles. It has a 107k now and I did get the timing belt changed. My mechanic said he did not want to do another one of these! Must have been pretty bad, charged me 175 bucks for the whole job. I think the dealer wanted around 400 or so to do it.

Danny

A timing belt job for $175 is a steal. You owe your mechanic a case of wine or some sort of gift certificate.

You NEED trailer brakes. If your loaded trailer weighs more than 1000# you need trailer brakes.

Ken

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote:

With a Tundra??? My boat weighs just under 1000#, and I tow with a Tacoma. It's effortless. If you think you need trailer brakes with a Tundra, you need to stop driving like a New Yorker.

FWIW I just bought (30 Jan) a 2005 2wd standard cab long bed Tundra V8 for $20,388 - $1,500 rebate and dealer knocked off a grand. It's basically a nice work truck - AC, PW, CD, tilt, cruise, no carpet though

- perfect.