rear brakes-what to replace

OK, thanks for everyone's help so far. Rear brakes are going well, tackling the front now also.

Looks to be a pretty straight forward process although I haven't done it before.

Couple questions:

Anything in particular I should be doing with the calipers? My research indicates they're not something people typically replace very often, maybe just clean them up/wire wheel?

CV axle. Where it goes into the knuckle it's rusty and sort of open, not sure how much this matters. The driver side is clean and looks nothing like that, driver side was replaced a couple years ago. This one has never been replaced. Consider replacing the axle?

Thanks all

 

FOR ME, unless there is a problem with the caliper (seized piston, leaking seal, etc.) I just clean it up with a wire wheel on a drill and/or wire brush. With the cost of parts these days, I don't PERSONALLY feel it's worth rebuilding calipers.

If I do need calipers, unless I have no choice (for availability and/or expediency reasons), I always buy NEW. Reman ANYTHING can come with its own problems. Aside from the quality of a reman anything, you don't know what you're REALLY getting. Using calipers as an example, it might have been remanufactured by company XXX, but you don't know who/what brand made the original CORE. Plus, lately, many of the companies doing reman work have been really sucky. Along with that, these days new isn't that much more than reman anyway.

Of course, some will say go OEM, but a lot of OEM parts are remans as well (don't know about calipers specifically), and you still run into the issue of "who made the core that was remanufactured." I am 100% sure Toyota does NOT do their own reman work, and source it somewhere, and who knows where they sourced their core.

 

100% CLEAN around the pistons where they go into the boots.
The last thing you want to do is push dirt, and in your case rust, back in to the caliper and damage the square seals in the caliper.

As for the CV, there are 2 dust seal where it goes into the knuckle.
One on the CV, and one in the knuckle. It looks like your seals are worn (a lot).
This is cause the "gap" you are talking about. I'd address it sooner than later.
It's a big part of keep dirt (and water to some extent) out of the wheel bearing assembly.

 

Got everything out but it was a struggle. Pins were all seized in place and the pads on the inside (engine side) were stuck and difficult to get out. Here is what the calipers look like. The metal retaining rings around the boots were mostly broken.

So I'm assuming at a minimum I should replace all the seals, boots etc.

Pistons OK? If I can clean them up and be good to go I will, but replacing them seems cost prohibitive, I think I would be better off getting all new calipers at that point.

 

Replace those calipers: They've had it. You'll either be back in there doing them in no time because of weeping/leaks from the pistons, or you'll lose the brakes. Retracting the pistons to remove the pads and rotors likely scored them even more than they already were. 75,000 miles isn't a lot for brakes and rotors, but 12 years is: and from the appearance of all of the parts (rust and corrosion) it appears it has been a very tough 12 years....

 

Replace those calipers before they cause you trouble.

 

I do that too. Didn't know there were paper gaskets for that job.

 

Concur. Those calipers are beyond trying to save without a complete rebuild. Much better to just replace them with new/rebuilt ones. Take a good look at the brake lines to see if they should be replaced too.

 

Haha yeah it has. I've actually been reasonably good about washing and fluid filming the frame, I had a couple garages tell me it looks great, for New England anyway. But until a couple years ago I never really did any of my own work on the truck. Rarely if ever even took the wheels off. Now that I'm doing more work on it I'm seeing all the areas that I've never even looked at before.

 

Sounds like a plan, I was sort of hoping that would be the consensus as I'm not sure I would feel competent trying to rebuild them

What should I look for as far as brake line conditions? Also do you mean the hard lines or the flexible ones?

Thanks

 

Replace - there's a lot of rust jacking going on underneath the boots, so who knows what else is going on. I don't rebuild because I don't PERSONALLY find it worth it given the current cost of new.

Unless I need it right away, I usually find RockAuto to give the best prices on new, and with new, they don't require a core. Raybestos usually run about $50 each and are usually pretty decent.

 

I had an issue with aftermarket drums being warped out of the box 2 sets and I went to oem and it’s fine now ,still aftermarket shoes and hardware.