1st Gen Taco Calipers?

What's up tw,

My 03 Tacoma's calipers are sticking and after opening the bleeder valve on the calipers to see if they truly are the problem, I've come to realize they are indeed no good. My question is, what's the best aftermarket set of calipers to buy? Genuine Toyota calipers are just way too expensive so I'm looking at a cheaper option that being aftermarket.

Or would rebuilding them be the better option?

Thanks in advance. I'm so sick of my calipers dragging and sticking

 

if your calipers are at end of life, now is the perfect time to do the 13WL Tundra brake upgrade.

 

Are they direct bolt on?

 

Sort of. The calipers themselves will bolt on to your knuckle, BUT . . . .
- you'll have to replace the rotors as well
- the brake hydraulic line connection is different
- the brake dust shield will have to be trimmed a bit
- you may have to replace the caliper bolts with shorter ones

There are many writeups on TW about this 'Tundra' brake conversion.
Read them before you take the plunge

 

The dust shield was trimmed very easily when i did it. Brake lines i bought from Wheelers. and you dont have to replace any kind of caliper bolts. Check out my build thread.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/efrideet.459169/page-4

 

I didn't trim my dust shield... just bent it out of the way. As for the caliper bolts... I didn't replace mine. Used the same ones.

 

Full description and parts list (with links) here: New-to-me tires and Tundra Brake Upgrade ... and Brake Bedding and First Impressions

 

I wonder if these will fit my 4Runner rims?

 

First, verify the brake pad slides are lubed. You don't want to install new calipers and still have dragging brakes.

I don't have any preference for where to buy calipers.
It looks like they start at $62.01.
https://www.google.com/search?sourc...31i20i264k1j0i20i264k1j0i13k1.214.EEP1sTM7c7A

 

Are you talking about the reverse side of the break pads?

 

Yeah he is. You wouldn't want to lube the side of your brake pads that touch the rotor. You would be in some immediate danger at that point. You lube the back side that touches the caliper.

 

Calipers are not hard to rebuild and just about any you buy at parts houses are. Motorcycists do it all the time as those little buggers cost 4x what automotive parts do.
As long as there are no rust pits in the piston bores, a new set of o-rings and a good cleaning is all it amounts to.
And I believe OP was referring to cleaning/lubing maybe replacing the parts the ears of the pads slide along as the lube on the back side isn't what makes a caliper stick.

 

I don't know if your 03 is the same as my 95 1/2 but when I did mine I bought my kits from toyota,, cheap,, $20+, I forget,,,, I did them about 5 years ago and put the new factory pads back on also, but anyway the re-build is so simple and mine work great. Like the other guy says make sure the slides are clean and please use the right "grease" for brakes. No short cuts on the grease.
Also look at your flex hose or if their originals, replace them, they'll break down internally and cause issues sticking by not relaxing.
My .02

 

Oh yea, hoses.

A lot of that black rubbery goo you find in calipers is sloughed off innerds of those old hoses breaking down. At this age they can completely break at any time so while a system is open, throw on some new ones.
A busted hose gives you very little excess fluid to pump to the other wheels to get stopped. If you're coming down a hill.....watch out.

had one pop last summer on another truck. 2003 model. Luckily in a parking lot.

 

If you decide to replace them, I have an almost new set from a 4runner. They were purchased from Napa and to my knowledge they are remanufactured OEM parts. They only have about 2500 miles of driving on them.

_Charlie