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SUVs Toyota Highlander Toyota Highlander Maintenance and Repair
4694 messages, Last post on Dec 01, 2009 at 7:16 AM
You are in the Toyota Highlander Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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Replying to: nathanbrand (Jul 09, 2009 12:22 pm) Other factors are if you live in hilly or mountainous area, you'll use your brake harder than say in Florida where I live. Also, how hard or fast you drive is another factor. Maybe on your first brake pads were replaced a more aggressive pad material. Most pads today are semi metallic, that means there is metal in the pad material to get the friction up. When you see cars with very bad brake dust, most of it is metal dust sticking to the metal wheels. As a general on the first set of pads, the rotors should be good for at least one cut and the end of life when the second set of pads wear out. A lot of repair shops will also want to replace the brake caliper because the dust boots on them can be deteriorating because of the high heat that builds up especially during hard braking. Also, the brake fluid can also be contaminated because of moisture can be absorbed into the brake fluid and the excessive heat from the pads will transfer to the brake fluid and it can boil if it gets hot enough. With anti lock brake systems, you do not want to push this old fluid back into the brake system when the brake piston is pushed back into the caliper. Therefore, a full brake job, at least for the front wheels, could be a set of pads, two rotors, two calipers, fluid flushed, and labor. You did not mention if the brake quote was for two or four wheels. For two, $900 is very high. A repair shop should be a round $450-$500. Today, dealers will charge over $100-125 an hour for labor, and my mechanic on the corner repair shop charges $85 per hour. check out this site for some good info http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/brakes/brake-types/disc-brake.htm
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Replying to: nathanbrand (Jul 09, 2009 12:22 pm) |
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Replying to: worthflorida (Jul 05, 2009 4:17 pm) Good catch.
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Replying to: nathanbrand (Jul 09, 2009 12:22 pm) My son has an 04 Tacoma and the pads were replaced at 40K miles and the rotors were turned, total cost $200. |
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There are a lot of low quality rotors out there, Dura International is one, the thickness isn't what OEM parts are. The OEM are much more expensive than off market stuff, Call different parts store and get prices on them. ASK what the expected liftetime is. How many times can they be trued etc . See the Detroit News auto section http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=AUTO01 |
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Replying to: nathanbrand (Jul 09, 2009 12:22 pm) Since brakes are a safety issue, I am not qualified to give advice. But the following is a quote from the "Tech Correspondence" column in the July issue of Road & Track: "While full-thickness, dead smooth brake rotors provide the most fade resistance and best pedal feel, the cost of replacing good rotors with perfect rotors has never added up to us. Unless the discs are heavily scored, warped or undersize we simply replace the brake pads." I found a set of original equipment pads for a little over $100. Brake grease is only a couple of dollars. I am going to just change the pads when needed. I did this on my Honda Accord and the brakes worked fine. But safety is involved . . . best to decide how important it is to save a few bucks. |
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Replying to: tsotsi (Jul 10, 2009 12:00 pm) Curious thing is that I heard no sound at all when I braked, and the service rep said that the 2004 had no brake indicators. So I wouldn't expect to hear anything even though he described the wear as being basically metal on metal at that point. One other point is that brakes on a vehicle with manual transmission tend to last longer than on a vehicle with an automatic. I had a 1994 Corolla station wagon that I traded in when I got the Highlander. It had a manual transmission, and I never had to have the brake pads or rotors replaced in 111,000 miles.
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Replying to: tsotsi (Jul 10, 2009 12:00 pm) Brake usage is very much dependent upon usage patterns. I have 112,000km (say 70,000 miles) on my Kluger which is used in a combination of city and freeway with some on-dirt. Last service suggests pads are at 55% remaining wear and rotors not significantly worn. However, rotors do warp if wheel studs overtightened (actually noticeable after wheels rotated). I tend to drive to minimize fuel usage, reading traffic ahead, coasting to lights and minimizing braking, but keeping up with traffic flow or ahead. TYpically, I find that the aggressive driver ahead has made it to just in front of me by the end of my commute, so not overly laid back. Cheers Graham |
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Replying to: wwest (Jul 09, 2009 8:14 pm) But what you are saying that since the low pressure switch cuts out the AC clutch, it also cuts out (to the computer) the idle speed control and the AC fan? I've had this happen on other cars, as the low pressure switch cuts out the clutch, the low pressure side slowly build up some pressure and the clutch kicks in again and this on/off cycle continues. Usually, the idle and fans still operate as if the AC was on and working 100%.
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