Seized Calliper

So I went to get an alignment done and the mechanic did a standard inspection and when he was checking out the wheels for play he noticed that the right front tire doesn't spin freely.

It took a significant amount of force to move it while the left front span very easily. His theory was that I have a seized calliper, probably related to the mud that is all over the underside still lol. He didn't charge me for labour or anything and he told me that it would throw off the alignment if I got the alignment done before fixing the calliper.

How hard of a job is it to swap them out and possibly to put a new pad in depending on how they look? And how big of a dent are the parts going to put in my wallet? I'll be doing all the work myself. Also how can I tell which calliper is bad?

 

Honestly, changing out the calipers is a very easy job. I just did it on my friends 2006 4runner and spent about 100$ a piece for calipers and another $40 on pads. Basic handtools and a little know how is all thats required. Im not quite sure why he told you that doing the alignment first would throw things off though. If your caliper is that siezed up, i would def. get it changed soon.

 

It's not that difficult, definetly a DIY repair. If he told you which one was sticking obviously that will be the bad one, whichever tire doesn't spin freely. Make sure your rotor isn't warped on that side as well. Just make sure you have somebody there after the repair to help you bleed your brakes!

 

I've done it before when my wheel bearing went out. The wheel almost fell off but ended up bending the caliper pistons. Literally just unbolted it, removed the line, bolted on the new caliper and put the brake fluid line back on. Just took some time to bleed the lines but besides that, it was easy. Took about 45 min.

 

Yeah I'm doing it tomorrow night. He said it would be pulling on that side a bit and it would throw it off. Better safe than sorry anyways.

Thanks man.

 

Isn't there 2 sets of 2?

 

Pistons?

 

Each brake has 4 pistons in 2 assemblies of 2 I thought?

 

Correct

 

So you have to replace both assemblies or can you just swap out the one with the bad caliper?

 

I'm not sure if I'm understanding correctly. Were you asking if there were 4 pistons in one caliper? If so that's true. I wouldn't go about trying to fix the caliper, I would just buy a new one and install it. At least that's what I did.

 

I don't know if you realized it, but that isn't the correct diagram for a Tacoma. What is pictured above is a floating caliper.

 

Probably a five -lugger

Cheese-it, you will get a reman caliper with 4 new pistons in it.

 

It's both for a 6 lug and 5 lug. The 5 lug is the diagram in the box.

 

After reading some of the things you have said I'm not sure I would recommend you do this yourself, but you can get caliper rebuild kits for less than $10 on Amazon for our trucks. plus maybe $50 for new pads.

 

I'll definently have someone help me out. I can handle changing the fluids but working on the brakes is a bit over my head. I ordered a set from napa for 300 and change. Toyota wanted $530

 

The culprit is usually the lower inside piston. Moisture tends to freeze the piston that is why it is always good to work in a brake fluid flush at proper service intervals.

 

better change both sides while you are at. if you only change one side the other side will not be as free as the new. the new side will pull to that side, trust me i have been through this before. not that expensive with trade in for some rebuilt calipers, major pain in ass to rebuild yourself.

 

Yeah I got both sides. I got them new from NAPA though.

 

No. It is not a 6 lug. I just looked at the service manual and what is pictured is a 5 lug floating caliper.

All six lug Tacoma's have a fixed caliper with Four pistons.

I had never looked at a 5 lug brake caliper before. I assumed that they were also fixed. I stand corrected!