Advice needed for cage brake repair/replacement

Lylith

Lylith

Have Gear, Will Travel
My 2004 Camry has started making some fairly horrific noises when braking this past week ... loud grinding and at least once I heard metal scraping metal. These are the original brakes. I'm a fast driver and fairly hard on my cars.

I have an extremely tight budget and don't know any local mechanics.

If anyone can recommend someone affordable that does good, trustworthy work, I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, if one of you knows what you're doing, I'm willing to pay parts & labor. I've heard rumors of a fair number of mechanically gifted BARFers.

Making things harder right now is that I will be out of town from 29 June to 05 July, but I'm not comfortable driving with my brakes making these noises for much longer. [The car will be here while I'm out of town.]

Thanks in advance!
 
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gixxerjoeca

gixxerjoeca

Banned
Bump for you. If i was in Ca i would do your brakes for a case of my favorite cold beer, im sure some good hearted Barfer will step up.

If you have the Camry with rear disc you can get pads and rotors front&rear for around 200 bucks. more than likely you wont need all 4 rotors but if you can afford it i would do it.
 
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B

Bronto

Well-known member
Could be a dust guard in contact with the rotor. Something ran over and kicked up that slightly bent the guard.

Could be the Pads worn out.

Questions : Did this happen all of a sudden or did it slowly came on and got worse ?

How many miles is on the odometer ?

Heh I'm just curious, not doing it :teeth
 
gixxerjoeca

gixxerjoeca

Banned
Bronto said:
Could be a dust guard in contact with the rotor. Something ran over and kicked up that slightly bent the guard.

Could be the Pads worn out.

Questions : Did this happen all of a sudden or did it slowly came on and got worse ?

How many miles is on the odometer ?

Heh I'm just curious, not doing it :teeth
Click to expand...

What the hell help the girl out and give us right wingers a good name!:laughing
 
jt2

jt2

Eschew Obfuscation
First thing, don't keep driving the car like that.

If it is already metal-on-metal, you've probably already hosed your rotors. But sometimes there is a little metal clip on the pads that makes a noise to warn you the pads are getting thin. It could just be that.

However, even if the rotors are a bit scored and if you're on a tight budget, you might just be able to get away with a pad replacement for now.

Pads are pretty cheap for that car:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/part-finde...ta/Camry?ie=UTF8&partsNode=15721811&carId=002

They're so easy to change, I'd offer to do it for you just for cerveza, but I'm currently nursing a herniated disc and physically can't do it right now.

But I do have a very well-equipped garage and if there is a Barfer that wants to do it but lacks the tools, I can offer the location.

Edit: As for a good pro mechanic that won't overcharge you, PM Billswim.
 
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Lylith

Lylith

Have Gear, Will Travel
gixxerjoeca said:
Bump for you. If i was in Ca i would do your brakes for a case of my favorite cold beer, im sure some good hearted Barfer will step up.

If you have the Camry with rear disc you can get pads and rotors front&rear for around 200 bucks. more than likely you wont need all 4 rotors but if you can afford it i would do it.
Click to expand...

If possible, I'd rather fix everything than bit by bit. I apprecaite the offer & would supply plenty of beer. :thumbup

Bronto said:
Could be a dust guard in contact with the rotor. Something ran over and kicked up that slightly bent the guard.

Could be the Pads worn out.

Questions : Did this happen all of a sudden or did it slowly came on and got worse ?

How many miles is on the odometer ?

Heh I'm just curious, not doing it :teeth
Click to expand...

I just started noticing the griding sound slightly over the past week and then yesterday it was nasty with the one metal on metal sound. This morning sounded fairly nasty as well and I'm giving myself a lot of extra braking room between myself and other vehicles/lights/stop signs/etc.

I just went over 67000 miles.

jt2 said:
First thing, don't keep driving the car like that.

If it is already metal-on-metal, you've probably already hosed your rotors. But sometimes there is a little metal clip on the pads that makes a noise to warn you the pads are getting thin. It could just be that.

However, even if the rotors are a bit scored and if you're on a tight budget, you might just be able to get away with a pad replacement for now.

Pads are pretty cheap for that car:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/part-finde...ta/Camry?ie=UTF8&partsNode=15721811&carId=002

They're so easy to change, I'd offer to do it for you just for cerveza, but I'm currently nursing a herniated disc and physically can't do it right now.

But I do have a very well-equipped garage and if there is a Barfer that wants to do it but lacks the tools, I can offer the location.

Edit: As for a good pro mechanic that won't overcharge you, PM Billswim.
Click to expand...

I don't have a choice of whether or not to drive it today and tomorrow. It's my only form of transportation and I'm no where near a bus stop. It will sit for a week while I'm out of town, until I return on the 5th in the evening.

I'll get in contact with BillSwim - thanks! :thumbup
 
B

Bronto

Well-known member
67,000 miles means worn out brakes. Whiles its satisfactory just to replace the pads. A premium job would include machine surfacing the brake rotors. Big difference in cost between the two. Taking it to a shop, they will push getting rotors surfaced.

Removing the rotors and seeing the hubs is off they may push to replace the bearings.

Seeing the wheel is off, hub is off, Struts are readily accessible.


Question is how much money you want to spend. Around two hundred dollars to replace the disc pads, do a little brake cleaning.
Five hundred bucks to machine surface the rotors and replace the pads.
Several hundred bucks to replace bearings, brake rotors surfaced and [pads replaced.
Around $1500 to replace struts, pads, rotors resurfaced and new bearings.

DIY can save thousands can do the works for around five hundred bucks.

I can lend a spring compressor for the Struts to you BARFer mechanic.

Can replace the pads and be done with it DIY for around $50.
 
RcrBoy

RcrBoy

Well-known member
Metal on metal brakes means no friction material to do the job.

Giving yourself "room" in braking will do nothing for you in a panic situation. So now you're putting others at risk in addition to yourself. :thumbdown

Nice............. :|
 
i_am_the_koi

i_am_the_koi

Be Here Now
Having seen quite a few brake's through the shop in my day, I can tell you the more "horrific noise" you hear, the more expensive it's going to get. The squeal was the cheap fix, the grind is starting to get more expensive, the growl/thunks might be more then the car is worth.

If everyone flake's, I'm also bribed by good beer and have the garage/tools
 
TheRobSJ

TheRobSJ

Großer Mechaniker
You are metal to metal on the brakes. The car is extremely hazardous to drive.

Where in San Jose are you? I can recommend a guy I used to work with at a small shop if you're near the South end. Or I can recommend a shop I used to work at near the North end.
 
gixxerjoeca

gixxerjoeca

Banned
Bronto said:
67,000 miles means worn out brakes. Whiles its satisfactory just to replace the pads. A premium job would include machine surfacing the brake rotors. Big difference in cost between the two. Taking it to a shop, they will push getting rotors surfaced.

Removing the rotors and seeing the hubs is off they may push to replace the bearings.

Seeing the wheel is off, hub is off, Struts are readily accessible.


Question is how much money you want to spend. Around two hundred dollars to replace the disc pads, do a little brake cleaning.
Five hundred bucks to machine surface the rotors and replace the pads.
Several hundred bucks to replace bearings, brake rotors surfaced and [pads replaced.
Around $1500 to replace struts, pads, rotors resurfaced and new bearings.

DIY can save thousands can do the works for around five hundred bucks.

I can lend a spring compressor for the Struts to you BARFer mechanic.

Can replace the pads and be done with it DIY for around $50.
Click to expand...


I think her rotors are seperate from the hub, no need to mess around with the hub unless there is a problem.
 

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Joebar4000

Joebar4000

Well-known member
Miri!

Why didn't you mention this yesterday?

New pads and maybe a new rotor is easy-peasy.

If the disk isn't scored too bad, you can probably get away with just new pads. If it's light scoring and the disk isn't too thin, then re-surfacing is an option.

But that $90 kit is probably the best value-for-money.

I'll do it FOC for ongoing Muse status :)
 
Lylith

Lylith

Have Gear, Will Travel
I work in 95131 [north of SJC, around where 101 & 87 split] and live in 95127 [far east side]. I might be able to work out something around $500, but no way can I do $1500 - and the car is worth far more than $1500.

I realize the car needs work done ASAP, that's why I'm asking for help/advice now. This isn't something I've been putting off and finally decided to do something. It's been maybe 4 days of light grinding, which I didn't fully notice until yesterday when I left a photoshoot. It did not sound the same driving to the photoshoot. I stopped to get cat food & treats to stock up before my trip and after leaving Petsmart is when I heard the first metal contact sound. This morning I also heard the grinding, but did not hear any metal on metal sounds.

The car doesn't feel much different when stopping, but the noise tells me to get it fixed ASAP.
 
gixxerjoeca

gixxerjoeca

Banned
Its probably just the front brakes, pads and rotors for the front at your local Autozone for around 100 bucks or you can order them online. No big deal like Ian said above, easy peasy.
 
Lylith

Lylith

Have Gear, Will Travel
Joebar4000 said:
Miri!

Why didn't you mention this yesterday?

New pads and maybe a new rotor is easy-peasy.

If the disk isn't scored too bad, you can probably get away with just new pads. If it's light scoring and the disk isn't too thin, then re-surfacing is an option.

But that $90 kit is probably the best value-for-money.

I'll do it FOC for ongoing Muse status :)
Click to expand...

It didn't start until after our photoshoot. I heard nothing on the way to the shoot and you were in my car twice and I didn't hear it then.

When would you be able to look at it & work on it? I'm free after 6:30PM tonight, after 5:00-5:15 tomorrow or we'd have to wait until the 6th anytime after 5-5:15PM.

Ongoing Muse status is yours!
 
Hooli

Hooli

Big Ugly
I found a set of new Brembo (yes that Brembo!) rotors for my Toyota Tacoma, online, for under $40 each. Once the front wheels and calipers are off, the rotors slide right off the spindle. Unsure if your car is similar Miri, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is.

Total time for me to change both rotors & front pads: two hours. :teeth
 
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