Aftermarket Brake Calipers

Great info! Thanks for following up.. Did the stainless lines improve pedal feel? I just ordered SP rotors and Hawk pads and I'm considering stainless lines if they make a positive improvement.

 

I'm a little late to the party but you can usually free up a stuck caliper with a good cleaning. Try that next time, you can save hundreds.

Don't know about the rest, but my '05 doesn't have rubber lines anyways. I wouldn't think upgrading to stainless (unless due to lift requirements) would see any benefit.

 

Thanks for chiming in on this old thread Fortech. I'm just gonna pop for lines along with the rest. It certainly won't be worse..

 

I did not notice any improvement in pedal feel to be honest, the SS lines were purchased for the extra length to accomodate increased wheel travel from coilovers and removal of the sway bar. Also they are a bit tougher if anything were to snag up in there.

The caliper was not stuck, the actual problem was made clear in the post you quoted. Bad wheel bearing was the underlying issue.

 

I realize this, BUT you did not become aware of this until AFTER you replaced the caliper that you initially thought was stuck. The point I had intended to make, had you cleaned the caliper pistons that you thought were stuck, you would have realized the caliper was not the problem and not had to spend money needlessly on said caliper you didn't need.

 

Point taken, this was a learning experience for sure, thanks. Nice thing is even with ALL the parts I bought I still paid a fraction of the cost of a wheel bearing job at a shop and I have new shiny parts on the truck.

 

Not a problem. And the reason I knew this? I did the same thing about 15 years ago with a Mazda I owned. I also learned the hard way!

 

I think for most things I'd rather learn the hard frustrating way than pay the dealer or a shop to figure it out for me. Neither the dealer nor the couple shops I called in town had a clue what was going on when I talked to them. They suggested all the things I had tried already. There is a sense of accomplishment I guess even if you end up feeling like a bit of a 'tard when you figure out what should have been obvious. At least my time doesn't cost me $100/hr! Hopefully having posted up on here someone else wont take as long to figure it out.

 

^^ This. I spent all of last weekend replacing a starter on my parents' 1991 Pathfinder only to later figure out that a scrub of the battery terminal connections was the only thing needed. That was a PITA to replace and wasn't even necessary, but I still felt a lot better than having paid somebody $600 bucks to replace it. Learned a little something in the process.

 

I'm a lot late to the party but I'll ask anyway. "How would you describe a good cleaning of the calipers?" My local Toyota stealership said that my brake calipers might be "binding" because "they don't apply immediately upon depressing the pedal" and they might have to replace them after they examine the brakes more thoroughly while they perform the standard brake job. I declined the quoted $400 brake job and the possible subsequent $700 caliper replacement.

I already ordered, received and almost ready to install the EBC Stage 4 Brake Kit (pads and rotors), but am hoping to avoid buying new calipers. Which leads me back to my original question:

Any tips and suggestions on how to clean the calipers properly?

Thanks Tacoma World!

I've never done any of this stuff until I found your website last week.

 

Most important to keep calipers working is to ensure clean brake fluid. Bleed brakes as part of a maintenance routine. I would imagine spraying them with the pressure washer would clean them sufficiently. Road salts can play havoc over time.