Uneven Brake Pads Wear

I heard some dragging noises when I was braking days ago. So I decided to do an inspection today, I saw the brake pads were unevenly worn on the driver's side, passenger is fine.

The inner brake pad material was worn to the metal surface while the outer side still has a decent amount of brake material on it. I used a plier to apply pressure on the pistons and they were moving freely on all four of them. The only thing left is to check the brake hose; however, I just flushed my entire brake fluid about 6 months ago so I don't think the hose would be an issue. Any suggestions guys? (2007 Tacoma V6)

 

Jobber (low quality) brake pads, spring for a higher quality pad set and check on them to make sure they are free during tire rotation.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=419895&cc=1445515&pt=1684&jsn=937 Like these or OEM.

 

I bought a whole set of brake kit including two brake pads and two rotors from Detroit Axle for about $120. Is this a good brand?

 

This, or maybe it needs a caliper rebuild? Or maybe something just got lodged in a line during the fluid flush and it had uneven pressure.

 

No experience with them, its crazy the price differences in Canadian, our pad sets are 100$ and each rotor is 100$.

 

Those pads are worn out, even the good side.

 

Typically I find with toyota 4 pots they are obvious when sticking, if the caliper pushes back its not an issue for me. I had one that was sticking on the other day and the customer declined it haha.

These just seem like crap parts and fairly worn.

 

That's actually not that uneven, the thicker side barely has any friction material left.

Did the caliper pistons compress easily?
If yes, don't overthink it. Just do a reg brake job, clean everything up and move on

You can replace the retainer pins if they're corroded but I never grease them. It just attracts dirt and they don't do it at the factory. They just need to be clean

 

The caliper pistons compress very easily. I don't see any damage on the piston boots as well. Mine kit comes with new retainer pins also.

 

The inner pads wear faster which is why the metal wear sensors are always installed on the inner side. The driver side inner pad wears fastest because it’s closest to the master cylinder and it will bite down the hardest.

 

Calipers should be rebuilt every 10 years.

besides that, cleaning, lubricating, and replacing little parts as needed.

rebuild kits are like $20. square cut piston seal’s job is to retract the piston.

 

All of the pistons in the caliper see the same fluid pressure, these are not floating calipers. Uneven wear like this is often due to junky pads / bad wheel bearings or simply just a notched/gummed up pad retaining pin. If all the pistons move freely everything is fine.

 

They're most well-known for cheap parts. Cheap is not the same as high quality.