Ok today was the first Saturday I was in town and the weather was nice. I had high hopes. I went to Home Depot earlier to get the correct size sockets and other tools and got brake grease and stuff at Advance Auto Parts.

I back car up in parking spot. I put the wheel stoppers behind. I am scared about where to jack the car up. The floor jack I ordered works best jacking the front of the car up. I start doing that on the round spot on the axle and as the car gets higher, I get more scared. Suddenly I change my mind and let the car drop down.

I decide to do it one at a time. I forgot, I did loosen wheels off. I use the stock jack in the trunk and start with the driver side first. After hesitation, I jack the car up but have no place to put the jack stands. I just put one under the car and raise it up in case the stock jack fails. I then get the floor jack and raise the front of the car again. (you probably know that it isn't going so well.

I take the driver wheel off and take the 2 14mm nuts off the caliper so it can swing away from the rotor. However! My rotor is so used up that the used part of the rotor is like 2mm lower than the edge. I gotta move the piston back up just to take the caliper off! I get a screw driver and try to press in. This sucks!

I finally just pull the crap out of the caliper until it comes off. This rotor is toast! I then forgot I need to take 2 more screws out (16mm ones). I pull and pull with all my might. This is where it gets bad. These screws are like welded on the frame! The rotors are like 4 years old since resurfacing and are the stock ones from 2005! I give it one last tug and I think I lift the driver's side of the car off the ground like 1". I am freaking out.

I run inside and call the nearest car mechanic and say I need my front rotors and brakes repaired. He says they don't usually do it. I beg. He says bring it in ASAP. I say ok.

Now I'm freaking out because I still have all the parts all over the street and I gotta work like a Nascar pit crew member. I hand tighten everything down, shuve new brake pads in the driver side since the old ones are completely ruined after I threw them on the ground in anger. I drop the car back down. I then realize that hand tightening the lug nuts only gets them half way on. I then try to tighten them a little more and drive 1 mile to mechanic. He was able to do it in about 1 hr.

$158 more down the drain on top of the $70 I spent at Home Depot for sockets and Advance Auto Parts.

Changing brakes is serious business!

I will use the jack in the future to change the brake pads so I get some of my money back LOL!

I failed the ScionLife but at least I tried.

 

The 2 16mm bolts holding the caliper mount to the hub sometimes get VERY seized up. I took some PB blaster to mine than used my 24" breaker bar to get em loose. With tight bolts, PB blaster is your friend. Also big breaker bars work wonders. Remember, the more leverage you get the easier it is.

One funny thing about the ebrake... Try removing the rear rotors with the ebrake engaged. Lol I seriously fought mine for at least 10 min before realizing my stupidity. The ebrake pads are similar to shoes in a drum brake system and press outward on the center section of the rear rotor.

Dont take offense to this please, but a brake job on the tc shouldnt be this difficult. Do you not have any friends who are somewhat mechanically experienced? (It doesnt have to be specifically on the tc)

Also, for jacking up the front of the tc, the easiest way is to put the jack on that little "bump" about 12" back on the subframe support under the motor/tranny

 

dawg is right, those bracket bolts are a pain, but they will come out, i've put anti-seize on them (so they dont rust in place EVER again). hahaha i love what you said dawg about the ebrake on, i did the same thing, but remembered what people here did and i began laughing. yup, almost caught me too! lol

the jacking up the front is the bump, that's what that bump is for, to cup into a floor jack's "saddle". that's how you raise it to put the jack stands on.

dont be so hard on yourself necromancer, we all started somewhere. the brakes are easy, trust me, this is the easiest car i've ever seen. you want a car that is tough, try the old civic's or an old mustang.

 

Hi guys. Here is the final result yesterday after taking it to Monro Muffler. Was surprised they were able to do it so fast. Probably because I loosened all the bolts except those 16mm ones. They probably could get more leverage from being under the car. I was using a 12" wrench and even though I'm pretty strong, couldn't do it.



The rotors are nice. If you are wondering why the pads don't have the metal bracket around them like in the DIY, well those if they ever were there, melted into the old pads that were almost 4 years old after several winter storms later. The mechanic said I might hear clicking but I don't care. I haven't heard anything yet. The brakes are a huge improvement! I can now stop on a dime.

I plan to replace the pads myself next time since they are easy. I will have the rear rotors/pads replaced later in May just so everything is the same. I will buy the parts and have a friend do the labor. I will only use the jack for replacing front pads and rotors. Not messing with e-brake haha.

So total cost approximations:

Tools (can be used for life):

-Socket wrench, supplies, from Home Depot: ~$70
-Pro Series Lift/Jack Stands/Tire Stoppers: ~$115
-Toyota brake grease that I never used for obvious reasons: $18
-150ft-lb Torque wrench, C-clamp from Harbor Freight: ~$40

Actual Parts:

-TRD Brake Pads: $54
-Performance Rotors: $100

Time Spent Trying To Do It Myself:

-2 hours

Labor after Failing:

-$158

So in reality, the cost/punishment was only about $300 which is about the same as going to the mechanic in the first place. If I replace the front pads again just 1 time in the future, I can save around $100 on labor and that will pay for the jack stands, jack, and tire stoppers.

Cheers!

 

All i have to say it wow. Maybe working on cars just isn't your thing. Next time have a friend there to look over your shoulder.

" I will have the rear rotors/pads replaced later in May just so everything is the same."

Do you have something against money or do you just like throwing it away ?

 

People like you put money in the pockets of people like me to do simple automotive mx that you could of done yourself. But if there weren't car retarded ppl like you, I wouldn't have extra money for parts.

Sent from my rooted Droid

 

Haha. I would like working on them more if they were lighter haha. I don't see it as throwing money away. I plan to keep the Scion until at least 200,000 miles. I call it investing in my future. :D

 

You just cant give up so easy. The first time I pulled my motor, no one around here knew anything about Scions and there was hardly any info on it. I just didnt give up and kept working on it till it was done. Im sure you can find someone around there to help with some type of mechanical experience.