Best option for replacing front brakes?

Chances are you do not. It is common practice at a dealer to recommend calipers with brakes mainly due to mileage and "wear" concerns on the hydraulic moving calipers. My best advice to you about those would be to cycle them and make sure they have a free range of motion when you are moving them all the way back in. If you want to move them a little easier crack open the bleeder screw on the caliper and push them right in. If they drag or fight you a lot when you are moving them back in, that is how you know they are fucked.

Other then that if they have a good feel and are not wearing the pads uneven, there should be no reason to replace them.

 

That's the way to do it. Stealerships man..Here's some adjectives I like to use when thinking about them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnDxPG3KrtA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

I got 235,000 on my calipers and they still work perfect....I think the dealer was just throwing that out there...

 

Replace your rotors with new Cross Drilled Slotted Rotors and install some good pads. That will improve your brakes on your Taco alot. I did and I could tell the difference.

As for the rear brakes,..I like the rear drum brakes. Work good last looong time.

While you are at it, installa set of Bilstein 5100's. Freekin awesome.

Later

 

Stock pads and rotors work just fine. This isn't a race car, you know. There are several links on TW that direct you to sites taht sell OEM parts for a great price. Oh, and don't buy into that slotted/dimpled/pocked BS...

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/229129-who-sells-oem-parts-online.html

 

Bad idea on the cross drilled part. Those crack and can cause huge problems when it comes to getting them overly hot. If you want some better performance without compromise, slotted and maybe Kevlar pads are probably a good route to go. After owning a handful of cross drilled and seeing firsthand what has happened to them I would never buy or own a set on my vehicles ever again.

Some of that Blue DOT4 brake fluid (I forget what brand it is but it is literally blue in color) is a great idea as well. That will really stiffen things up and give a more confident feel to the brake pedal too.

 

Thanks again for all the help. Turns out I had to change the calipers. Apparently this truck came from CA and saw a lot of salt water, so they were pretty rusty

 

Brakeperformance.com

Just ordered mine for my 08 Tacoma with 82k miles. Great options. Good price

 

What is this blue brake fluid you speak of? I recently installed hawk ceramic pads with PowerShot drilled/slotted rotors and felt the difference on the way home from the shop. Had to stop fairly hard on a light that essentially went from green to red, thanks Vegas... No noise, idk about dust because I hit the desert often. But I'm happy with my choice.

 

Probably ATE Super Blue. They don't make it in blue anymore since Federal laws(As of Aug 15th 2013) forbids brake fluid to be any color other then yellow or clear.

 

Makes sense. I work at a Toyota dealer and if I saw anything but yellow I would recommend a brake flush..

 

search "brakemotive" on e-bay drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic pads they sell I put those on all my vehicles and lovem.

 

First off, welcome to the forums OP!

I wouldn't go with drilled or slotted rotors either. There is less surface area for the pads to clamp on, thus reducing braking capacity. I have experienced they are also quite hard on the pads, and there is a chance of breaking or cracking them under high loads since there are weak points in the rotor.

That's a shame you had to replace the calipers, they usually last years and years. As for the oil changes, get under there, you might learn a thing or two and have fun, get your arms dirty and save yourself some money.

 

This is a really good thread on brake replacements for the Tacoma, some really good input.

I have a question on my 07 Quad Cab Tacoma. I notice when I come to a hard stop moving at fast speeds (I live in So. Cal, do I need to say more ), I notice that my steering wheel shakes pretty good, almost like the front end is out of alignment. I have new tires on her, about 10K on the tires. When I had the tires put on, mechanic told me truck didn't need an alignment. But, this only happens when I brake.

I just rotated the tires last night and took a look at the pads and rotors, they all look fine. I have 46K miles on them.

Can someone tell me why the shaking when I come to a quick stop?

 

The reason your truck vibrates when the brakes are activated is due to rotor thickness variation. As brakes are used over time they deposit and remove particles on the surface of the rotor this creates a wavy surface that is not usually visible with the naked eye but is there. There are many ways to solve this, the most accurate way and the one I recommend to everyone is to use a procut on car brake lathe. This matches the rotor to the vehicle which is something a bench brake lathe can not do. You should be able to go to procutusa.com and find a shop in your area they also have a ton of info on why this is the best way to resurface rotors, even brand new rotors. I have serviced all automotive service equipment for the past 10 years and truly believe in this product(not a sales pitch)

 

I see different recommendations on which brake fluid to use. Is there a difference between the brake fluids u use?

 

Hawk pads + rotors. Work way better then the stock stuff, and have never had a set get wobbly on me.

Check out www.tapautoparts.com for awesome pricing on Tacoma brakes.

 

The pulsation or wobbly felt from bad brakes is to do pad material building up on the face of the rotor causing a variation in thickness like Dustenyourface said.

The easiest way to prevent this is to use slotted rotors. It shaves the pad and while it does reduce pad life by 10-15%, it pretty much removes any chance of your brakes wearing uneven leading to that feeling.