Suggestions - New Toyota Tundra Brakes

[hollohas]

I need to replace the front brakes on my 2010 Tundra. Last time I had a brake job done, brakes plus replaced my front calipers with what they said were original factory parts. Of course they weren't and the calipers are rusted and my rotors are warped. (I thought I'd save some effort by having them do it rather than do it myself...that was a mistake!)

So, now I'm in the market for a complete new front brake kit. Any suggestions? I can't tell what's garbage and what's good by reading online descriptions.

I am not going to pay $2500 for the factory TRD kit. That's crazy.

I am open to either getting a kit or piecing it together. Has anyone with a Tundra swapped to aftermarket brakes that they can recommend? Information on good calipers would be especially appreciated.

Mostly it's a daily driver however I do tow a travel trailer a few weekends a month. So something a bit higher quality would be great for the towing.

[Erni]

Not sure why you are going after the calipers, how many miles?
If you want OEM part shop around online and Toy parts are ok priced and just buy rotors and pads and small parts kit. Do a brake flush if 100k or 5 years and call it good.
If you want sloted, or drilled and sloted I hear good things about a combo of centric rotors and wagner thermo quiet ceramic brakes. Akebono is the other pad brand everyone raves about, but tirerack.com showed worse wear on these for my car. Check tirerack and you can find a good combo with more stopping power if you need it. Drilled rotors are probe to cracking, so slotted may be the best bet. I tried drilled and sloted Powerstops bought on amazon and they are no better on my siena then stock, but the siena is a brute on front brakes.

Also no matter what, get the small parts kit and clean and relube the caliper pins. Also make sure the rubber boots are seated right, else they corode and the pad/caliper does not jump back resulting in warp and overheat.
Another thing, crack the bleed line and drain out the caliper fluid instead of forcing it back when you push the caliper pistons back. Then top of the res.

[hollohas]

Thanks Erni.

I need new calipers because the set brakes plus put on there are garbage and rusted.

I got lazy and was short on time so I brought my truck in there last year to have new pads installed and my rotors resurfaced. They claimed my original calipers were pretty seized up (not an uncommon problem with Tundras) and needed to be replaced. I'm sure they could have been cleaned up and been fine, but I simply didn't have the time to do it so I agreed to the replacement. I was told they would be a factory replacement. Nope.

At 100k miles my factory original calipers were not rusted at all. Well, now it's a year later the new ones are rusted and my rotors are badly warped. I'm past the 12k warranty.

I just want to get rid of them and start over with a better quality setup.

[Erni]

Got it.
Forums are your friend. Do some reseach on a Tundra forum, if they are half as fanatical as the folks on the Siena forum you will get the right advice there.

Based on the year and condition, get some stock toy calipers, new caliper pins and maybe even caliper brackets - because I would not be surprised if these fools effed them up. Use a torquewrench on everything and torque to spec. Then pick some nice rotors and pads. Dont forget to lube the wear point but don't go crazy. I use a qtip and leave a thin even coat everywhere.
Rockauto sometimes has nechanic sets that have caliper+bracket+pads as a bolt in set, but no clue on quality.

Fwiw I am not a pro, but do all my brakes, and in the case of the Siena do them every 25k miles or so. You know, because Toyota quality....

[Lurch]

I have put these on my wife's Hyundai and my 150 if you break them in correctly they seem to work great
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...+pad+kit,14204

Link did go directly were I wanted but the z36 package. The core return was quick and easy.

Forgot to mention I had a buddy have work done at brakes plus. Was getting new calipers, rotors and pads and they did even change out the rear. Said they were within spec but charged him for them.

[Not_A_Llama]

Depending on your pad composition, it is possible that your "warped" rotors just have uneven pad deposition, and rebedding or changing to a harder pad could resolve your issue. It's pretty damn hard to actually warp a rotor.

[fitz19d]

Tundra known for waking rotors though especially with a lot of heavy braking. I've seen R1 concepts thrown around a lot in fb groups but don't have personal experience.

[Erni]

Hijack/
I thought it was only the Siena that warped rotors, but looks like the Tundra does it too. Seems like Toyota can't design front brakes for shize.
/ end hijack

[hollohas]

Yup, Tundra has been known to have front problems too. But to be fair, personally my problems only started after brakes plus got in there.

Some folks have complained that the Tundra's brakes are undersized. That has not been my experience. It has always stopped very well even with heavy loads.

[Hummer]

Fwiw, last time I had front brakes done including new rotors and calipers, the Toyota dealer was cheaper than two independent shops I got prices from.

I've never had problems with my Gen 1 Tundra brakes. I'll usually replace the pads myself 2 or 3 times before having the rotors turned.