Rebuilding and repainting brake calipers:
The brake calipers are an essential safety feature and must be kept in good working order. Rebuilding the calipers involves removing them from the rotors, cleaning them, taking them apart, replacing seals and re-greasing moving parts. In order to remove them from the rotors, you must first drain the brake fluid and remove the flexible brake lines. Each caliper has a bleed valve on it, which when loosened, allows for draining of the brake fluid through a small plastic tube. A few bolts later, the calipers come off the wheel housing. and the rest of the work can be performed on a work bench.
To rebuild the calipers, a rebuild kit should be purchased from Toyota. It includes all the rubber seals, bushings, and even lithium grease needed. The calipers can be dis-assembled using hand tools and a vise, however the rear calipers require a special Toyota SST (service tool) which is essentially a threaded socket (this is due to the need for a parking brake). The tool can be purchased through Toyota. The factory service manual has great step-by-step instructions for the rebuild, so I will not go into detail here.
As a final step, the calipers were cleaned and painted red using caliper paint. Red was chosen because, well, it makes the car go faster. Also, the axle housing and rotors were cleaned up since everything was coming off already.
Rebuilding and repainting brake calipers:
The brake calipers are an essential safety feature and must be kept in good working order. Rebuilding the calipers involves removing them from the rotors, cleaning them, taking them apart, replacing seals and re-greasing moving parts. In order to remove them from the rotors, you must first drain the brake fluid and remove the flexible brake lines. Each caliper has a bleed valve on it, which when loosened, allows for draining of the brake fluid through a small plastic tube. A few bolts later, the calipers come off the wheel housing. and the rest of the work can be performed on a work bench.
To rebuild the calipers, a rebuild kit should be purchased from Toyota. It includes all the rubber seals, bushings, and even lithium grease needed. The calipers can be dis-assembled using hand tools and a vise, however the rear calipers require a special Toyota SST (service tool) which is essentially a threaded socket (this is due to the need for a parking brake). The tool can be purchased through Toyota. The factory service manual has great step-by-step instructions for the rebuild, so I will not go into detail here.
As a final step, the calipers were cleaned and painted red using caliper paint. Red was chosen because, well, it makes the car go faster. Also, the axle housing and rotors were cleaned up since everything was coming off already.