Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Need new brakes on '16 4runner

Not sure what's going on, but my 4runner is eating brakes. Need new rotors and pads and wondering if anyone has any experience or recommendations.
Looking at Power Stop K5874-36 Front & Rear Z36 Truck and Tow Brake Kit ordered from Amazon for 371.98.
They're slotted and drilled. Here's a link

Amazon link for brake kit

Also was recommended a lifetime warranty rotor and pads from NAPA that would put me out the door at around $540. Ceramic pads

Install would be all me, above prices are for parts only.

I want a set of brakes to last more than 25-30k miles. I've never had a vehicle as heavy as the 4runner, I've also gone 100k miles on vehicles on brakes.
My driving is a lot around town, some highway, mostly 2-4 lane on way to work.
I hunt October-Jan in this and get in some snow, some dusty, dirty places.
In the summer, we pull our raft trailer, around parts of the west and I suspect this is what's causing my premature wear.

I've read reviews of dirt and dust getting in slots and holes and killing pads quickly? Is this a concern?

Please share any advice, experience, thoughts you have, I appreciate it.

That's a lot of money for just parts.

Only 30K on a set of brakes? There's a problem somewhere. Does your trailer have brakes?
The brakes on my Dodge 2500 diesel have 50k and are still in great shape. I pull a camper or 4 horse trailer a lot but I make sure the trailer brakes are in good shape.

My 2005 4Runner ate pads and warped rotors. Dealer turned them at 15k and replaced at 30k (under warranty). Turned again at 45k. Finally got sick of it and went to NAPA and replaced with their OEM rotors and pads and no problems since (at 115k miles now). I think is was crappy steel used in the rotors from the factory supplier.

Check out rock auto, they sometimes beat amazon in price even with shipping included. The power stop z36 brakes I believe need a break in procedure and if not done right will cause problems. Plus I am not a fan of crossdrilled rotors had them on my 07 f-150 and noticed cracks going from a few of the holes to the edge of the rotor. I just ordered Bendix severe duty / fleet brakes for my truck from rock auto for way less than the power stops and am very happy with them. Can’t go much heavier duty than fleet brakes..

Skip the "fancy" rotors they don't buy you much of anything. Drilled rotors can become a real problem in winter if ice/water builds up and freezes/thaws and dirt and other debris can get trapped in them. I've found high quality pads make a big difference, but keep in mind that more performance oriented pads will typically not last as long and will generally create more brake dust.

wife's '05 Tacoma with 165K on it still has the original rear drum shoes

replaced the front pads at 155K ish....ceramic.......

this is with auto transmission also

replace rotors with OEM Toyota & also Toyota pads

no need for the fancy wizz bang rotors

Amazon......Summit Racing.....other on line parts stores

A raft trailer doesn't weigh much does it? Not familiar with them.

I think it should be under warranty. I would call Toyota zone office and file a complaint. Something is wrong, and I would stick to factory support.
I got a 2018 a couple of months ago, so I have been reading the big 4runner forums for months, and I never saw premature brake failure. So it is now common.

https://www.carcomplaints.com/Toyota/4Runner/2016/

Went back and looked at repair orders.
19,537
Steering wheel vibration at 65 or so when braking
Replaced rotors as they were glazed
33,756
Squeaking/brake noise
Machined rotors
35,365,
Squeaking 4 days later
Found pads to be glassed
35,521/duplicate ticket
Found hard spots on pads
Replaced pads and machined front rotors
Test drove and found minimal noise in rear, machined rear rotors and replaced rear pads
52,384 yesterday
Squeaking and vibration in steering wheel at high speeds
Recommended new rotors and pads front and rear
Pads at 10mm
Rotors at 31mm

So
I've had the rotors machined twice after a replacement at 19,571
New pads at 33/35 on the same day.
Dealer has done all this at no charge and yesterday said it seems excessive on paper but all things are normal and every car is different. He said it wasn't too abnormal and it was a heavy car.

Raft trailer weighs probably 1500-2k and is only pulled 6-8 days per year and is over hills and passes. I downshift at every opportunity as I know it can be hard on brakes.
Called another delaer who said he'd like to see it and would recommend replacing the hardware as pads are fine at 10mm. He'd like to see surface to see if the machining left a good surface and would recommend not oem pads but an American made Toyota pad that would be quieter and depending on thickness of rotors and minimum he'd machine or replace.
May try and take to him after a trip to MT next week.

Thanks for the ideas, I may reach out to some of the ideas above.

Heavy vehicle? What does a 4rnr weigh?

Can dealer tell you % of 4rnrs with similar brake/mileage issues?

Sounds like someone is blowing smoke.

I don’t know a single answer but maybe a couple of thing at play. Poor metallurgy makes rotors warp. Warped rotors trash pads, and cut rotors warp faster. So I would start with new HD rotors and regular pads. Slotted rotors generally can’t be cut and the cooling is suspect, and they may have more stresses.
Again I don’t know but sticking calipers drag and may cause heat that causes warpage. But I think poor rotors started a cascade of warping. Good luck.

Make sure your rear brakes are working correctly. Faulty rear brakes will cause the fronts to wear out much faster.

fronts always wear faster than rears IME......

Just replaced the fronts on my wife's 2014 - around 45K. Seems early to me, but she is HARD on brakes. Rears are still in good shape. Fronts weren't quite to the wear groove, but were starting to squeal a bit. I went back with the OEM ceramic pads for $55. They stop well enough, and I like the near non-existent brake dust.

I am not sure what the 5th Gen. weighs, but I think it is definitely heavier than my 3rd Gen. and her old 4th Gen. I sure do love it, though...

Sounds excessive . Like someone else mentioned might have been defective rotors. I have an 06 Tacoma v6 and it has 114000 on the engine. 2 sets of pads and rear drums were done at 100k. The truck was driven a lot in Boone NC which could not have helped.

My 07 Tacoma had the front pads changed at 110k. New pads and rotors at 170k. Haven’t don’t the rear and I have just over 200k now.

I wouldn’t buy the slotted and drilled rotors. But I would, and do, follow powerstops pad/rotor break in method.

You don't get out much, do you?

Mercedes SL 63 AMG front rotors are about $1k EACH, dealer only. Even my wholesalers buy them from the dealer. Mercedes has these locked down pretty tight. Front brake job with pads, rotors, sensors and labor is just shy of $3k.

4runners aren't that heavy and no way should you be eating brakes up in less than 25k-30k miles. There's something wrong with the brake system/calipers, not the rotors. You mentioned that the pads/rotors looked glassed/glazed? That's heat from the calipers dragging the pads on the rotors. The warping and pad wear is the result of that dragging.

Toyota brakes on the landcruiser are generally undersized for the weight of the vehicle plus passengers and cargo. I went through front pads at 25k miles and rear pads at 50k miles on the 80 series I had.

Bedding the new pads correctly to the rotors can make a difference in the braking performance and pad/rotor life. Might want to google some on how to do so to see if it helps on the new set of rotors and pads.