So i went to a local brake shop yesterday to get an estimate on some new brakes. The guy tells me that i need new rotors (which i knew), and that my axle seal is busted on my rear left. So with new brakes, rotars, and to replace the axle seal, I was quoted $850. Does this sound right? $500 for parts, and $300 for labor. Thanks

 

Grab up the vaseline, and bend over.... or find a new qoute. Your choice.

I dont know how reasonable that is really, but sounds ridiculous to me, you (with basic hand tools and a small bit of handi-ness) could do the brake pads and rotors in an hour or less, and then have him qoute you on just the axle seal...
if your a little more handy, you could tackle that too.

 

I'd get a 2nd opinion as parts quote sounds steep.

I know my local dealer does rear axle seal for about $250/side.

Changing front brakes is no more than an hour job at best and rotors are cheap.

 

Just did the rotors and pads (front) in about an hour. Piece of cake. ~$120 for both rotors from Autozone (with 2 year warranty), and some ceramic pads ($45).

 

the stealership quoted me 232.00 for 2 front rotors and they were like 35 apiece at autozone. whats the differance? i can get slotted rotors for around 200. are the cheaper ones trash???

 

where do you live at im sure some one could help you, because all that if u did it ur self would probly only be 200 in parts and about 2 hour to do it

 

Do NOT get slotted or cross-drilled rotors. They do nothing on our cars. Just get the Duralast rotors from Autozone. It will work great, and you get a 2 year warranty just in case it does end up warping. Also, for pads, I recommend going with Hawk pads from tirerack. (And they're on closeout, too!!!).

 

Do you have a 4x4 or 4x2. I only ask cause if your doing the rotors you might as well replace the wheel bearings. It might not matter weather its 4x4 or 4x2.Butif your down there might as well get it done. Bearings w/ races ran me about $75 for timiken brand. Rotors were about $28-$30 a peice at autozone. Brakes were about $35 also auto zone. I just did the work my self saved me that extra $400 +. As for your axle seal, how much time are you willing to put into it.

 

I think the rotors from autozone and pads from tirerack and installing them myself seem like a plan. Then I'll ask around about finding someone to fix that seal. I figure the brake install should be easy enough, but I don't think I have the equipment or the time to tackle the seal. And its a 4x4

 

also, for those of you that have gotten the hawk pads, which ones did you get. I see that there is a few different kinds, such as heavy duty, etc.

 

I'm interested in that also.

 

replacing that rear axle seal isnt THAT bad. i should have done it when i had my shafts out for the elocker swap, but was running out of time. that fix should take you no more than 3 hours. really the only difficult part is removing the shaft, which you need two people to do (you can do it with one, but its much harder). youll also need a seal puller and installer, which you can find at harbor freight.

also if the seal has gone bad, its likely from a clogged breather, you may consider doing the diff breather mod, or just simply replacing that part.

 

Just get the ones I posted. LTS.

 

I work at 4Wheel Parts and to give you an idea of how high that is off the top of my head since we did a break job today on a 3/4 ton Dodge Ram '03


Brand new powerslot rotors ($128 pc) = $256
Lifetime warranty brake pa (Free w/ purchase of rotors) = $0.0
Labor to replace rotors,pads and flush and fill = $140
Shop Fee = $14
Tax (7.75%) = $31.76
Total = $441.76

axle seal would be maybe $13 and labor for that $105

I know 4Wheel Parts are not the cheapest labor shops, but I know the Cleveland store does damn good work and we warranty everything we sell, but even we are cheaper than that guy. Also, these are powerslots which in my opinion are better than a stock rotor. Take the info for what it is worth, but I say go somewhere else.

Paul

 

The labor is about right I have a 2001 which should be the same as yours - front rotor and back drums. I did the fronts in July and played with the rear axle seals. New Brembo rotors and Toyota pads were about 150 bucks and took about 2 hours. I then pulled one of the axles by myself and "tried" to do the rear seal with a cheap seal driver from Harbor Freight. I may not have been using the driver correctly but it didn;t work well. I got the seal in but wasn't happy and took it to a local shop and they did both sides for 200 bucks. Based on that the 300 for labor seems OK. I cannot figure out the parts since my fronts were under 200 and rear seals are about ten bucks.

 

If you really want to pay that much then do it yourself and swap on the Tundra Brakes. The rotors are about $50 a piece from AutoZone, then a loaded set of calipers are $200+$75 core or something like that. That's for the 199mm. If you want the 231mm(?) it'll cost you another hundred or so.

That's probably what I'll be doing in a few months when it's time to replace brakes on my rig. It'll be doing some towing though too. Also replacing your seals when you have the brakes off is a little more money but a lot less of a PITA then trying to do it later.

 

http://www.4runners.org/writeups/rearseal/index.htm

 

FWIW - I would just go with the cheap Auto Zone lifetime warranty semi-metallic brake pads. They are CHEAP, and yes they wear out a little fster, and yes they are a little dusty, but heres how it works....you buy 1 set of brake pads....you install them, when they wear out you buy a new set, you instlal them, you take your OLD set back to autozone and they give you a complete refund. Brakes FOR FREE for life. How can you beat that? So what if you have to change them a little more often than the others? Toyota Front Brakes are so easy a trained chimp could do it....

 

That is why I can do it so well.

 

Aren't you trying to sell your rig?

That's what I did with axles, too. Free lifetime axles. Oh, and BLESS Toyota for making the brake pads so easy to change. Literally, pull a couple of pins, clip, pull out old pad, slide in new ones, put clip, pins back in. Done. 10 minutes per side. That's with taking the wheel off (would be 5 min. with air tools).