Planning on a brake job

I took my truck in for a tire rotation and 4 wheel alignment. The mech said I should think about brakes in the near future. OEM stuff is quite expensive, does anyone have first hand experience with Bosch? I'm replacing the rotors, pads and probably the calipers (they work okay but are 12 yo). Anything else I'm missing? PFA of Elwood my truck

 

Unless your pads have uneven wear I wouldn’t worry about the calipers. clean them up with some brake cleaner.

Amazon for OEM Toyota blank rotors and pads. Much better pricing.

Hit everything with a healthy serving of brake grease and call it good.

 

I agree with @Accipiter13 on the Calipers.
I wouldn’t change the calipers unless they look really rusted, show signs of a leak or piston sticking.

Other than that, I do not have experience with Bosch.
I went with the CarQuest Premium Rotors and Platinum Ceramic pads from Advance Auto.
I have had them on for over 64k miles. No problem yet, and I have been very pleased with the performance.
(Not that the Tacoma has “performance” brakes anyways)

When it comes to brakes, it seems 50% of the guys say OEM ONLY.
The other 50% will all be different. - Wait? that makes me different -

 

I'm basically at the mercy of the mechanic, I've never done a "complete" brake job, just pads on my old Ranger. I figured after 12 years I'd replace em but the consensus seems to be not to. I like to use OEM stuff, right down to the cabin air filter, but OEM is expensive compared to Bosch or Wagner. On the other hand I don't want to go cheap on brakes

 

I'll check Amazon. Olathe and BAM have good prices but the shipping cost kills me

 

It might be a good idea to pull the drums, take a look at what you have left on the shoes, no broken springs & check the wheel cylinders for leaks. Then wash the dust off with brake cleaner.

The calipers, like what was already said, I wouldn’t change unless you have uneven pad wear or the seals are cracking. Then a complete bleed so it has all fresh fluid. Caliper sliding grease where it’s needed.

Some guys machine the rotors at every pad replacement. I’ll do it if they’re grooved bad enough. If I skip it, it will need it next time almost always.

Oem Toyota is good. I’ve had not much luck with cheap aftermarket stuff. Except when I got brembo cross drilled rotors and repco metal master pads.

 

There’s a reason why oem lasts. With my experience aftermarket pads tend to squeal. You can probably save now but you might be replacing things in half the time in the future. In the long run it will cost you the same

 

So you list you are doing 'everything' to the front, and mention nothing about the rear?

How many miles? And at 12 years a fluid flush is the only age related item in need of attention.

How did you determine the rotors/calipers needed replacement?

It could be that new pads, service / lube of all moving bits / fresh fluid / clean, adjust, lube of rears would bring you right up to snuff.

For the cost of pads and fluid. So you could easily buy the ones you want.

 

I've had good luck with akabona break pads, the indie shop I worked at used them almost exclusively and now at a ford dealer I've noticed for about a third of ford models the brake pads are made by akabona.
OEM rotors are generally made from better metal then aftermarket rotors and they resists hot spots and extreme warping better then aftermarket rotors.

 

I've bought several sets of rotors and pads from BrakePerformance. Slotted and dimpled are guaranteed against warping. Free shipping, too.

 

The rotors are original with 143k on them, I'm the second owner of the truck, the pads were replaced with OEM around 53K. The mech suggested that I replace the calipers based on age (12 years). From what I read here the calipers should be okay. I'll probably replace the pads and rotors with OEM and flush the brake fluid

 

Most mechanics, “You’re gonna need brakes soon” translates to you have 1/3 to 1/2 of the brake pad left. Did he give you a measurement of how much pad was left?

 

Once you have it apart enough to pull out the old pads, you’ll be able to see the piston outer boots. If the boots are looking really bad, cracked or holes you could try a rebuild kit. I did it once, took multiple attempts to get the pistons in with the boots correctly so now I just replace the calipers.

Once I did brakes on a old dodge van. There were no dust boots and the pistons crumbled like a stale cookie.

 

In his defense those drums will last forever. Mine have 140k on them since 2011 and I still have plenty of shoe left. I just clean them up with a little cleaner every time they start squeaking.

 

My Corolla is a 95 and I’m still using the og calipers. If yours are in good condition there is no need to replace them.

 

In my defense I said nothing about replacing the drums, only servicing the rear brakes.

However when the rears are regularly serviced, it's easy to address leaky cylinders, worn shoes and gummed up adjusters.

 

Agree at that mileage it's worth replacing rotors.

Check pricing on NAPA units and who makes them. Several of their models are Bembro, a decent rotor.

 

I've used Bosch pads on my Corvette and was very happry with them. no noise and low dust.

 

You can now get aftermarket Brembo pads and rotors on Rock Auto for fairly cheap. They are good quality brakes. I have them on the my other 3 vehicles and they are excellent quality brakes.