I searched and couldn’t find an answer. I’m replacing my brake pads on my 07 fj with Oem pads. What side of the caliper does the pad with the wear indicator go on? Brakes where done previously buy someone else and don’t know if they got It right or cared to. How does it come from factory?
ibdliquidator
I have the same question, and maybe I'm just too literal, but this answer is not that helpful to me, as there's no front or back pad, just inside and outside 
It would seem from this Toyota diagram, that the wear indicator is on the outside pad (see the label "FRONT DISC BRAKE PAD" which seems to point right at the wear indicator. Is that right?
![Image]()
It would seem from this Toyota diagram, that the wear indicator is on the outside pad (see the label "FRONT DISC BRAKE PAD" which seems to point right at the wear indicator. Is that right?
The manual picture is reversed for some reason. The spring should be on the inboard pad at the top, so that it drags on the rotor and squeals once the pad has worn down. If it was on the bottom, with the way the rotor rotates on each side while driving, it could potentially hook the rotor surface and bend once it makes contact with the rotor and either bind up in the brake pad or break off entirely. This is a picture I took a screen shot of from someone's YouTube video, passenger side.
![Image]()
Think about it. If that spring is usually being pulled by the rotor as it rotates past, it'll never hook on a surface irregularity and it'll just squeal like it was designed. So it should always be positioned at the top. If it's being pushed on, sure, it'll make noise. But when it decides to hook on a rotor surface irregularity, it'll fold up like an accordion and possibly do more damage. The usual rotor rotation at high speed is going forward, so yeah, it makes sense. Maybe I'm overthinking this because it's just my mind working through the "why" a particular orientation would be desired and especially since Toyota never makes mention of the orientation when installing those pads in their manual. Of course, that one spring of yours never folded up in use, so maybe its a moot point. Maybe FJtest can chime in here.
You have pics of the new pads? Are they mirror images of each other or not? If not, one pad on one side would end up in the outer position for the spring to be on top. I'm too lazy to pull the front wheels on my FJ to look. By the way, thems some pretty rusty calipers there.
You have pics of the new pads? Are they mirror images of each other or not? If not, one pad on one side would end up in the outer position for the spring to be on top. I'm too lazy to pull the front wheels on my FJ to look. By the way, thems some pretty rusty calipers there.
"... it'll never hook on a surface irregularity and it'll just squeal like it was designed. So it should always be positioned at the top."
That may 'sound reasonable', but that's not the way pad wear squealers were designed to work.
Remember, the intended function is to make as loud a sound as possible at the first contact between squealer and rotor.
If the the contact edge of the squealer is positioned at the TRAILING edge of the pad, it will make a very slight scratching sound as the rotor first contacts and sweeps past it ... all there is is the gentle pressure of the squealer, acting like a leaf spring, rubbing against the rotor. This small scratching may be totally inaudible to the driver.
If the edge of the squealer is positioned at the LEADING edge of the pad, the edge of the squealer will 'dig into' the rotor, bend the squealer until it releases, dig in again, release, etc. many times a second creating a high-frequency resonance and what should be a horrific racket, at least to the discerning driver.
So for the FJ, both front and rear pads should be installed with the squealer at the INBOARD position, and with the squealer positioned at the BOTTOM of the caliper, so the squealer tends to be pulled TOWARDS the pad when it first contacts the rotor.
That way, first squealer>rotor contact tends to cause the squealer to dig in and cause a major unmistakable acoustic oscillation that screams 'BRAKE PROBLEM!!'.
The squealers are thin, hardened stainless steel and won't break off or get sucked between the pad and rotor.
It is a little odd that the Toyota FSM doesn't mention squealer orientation, but I believe the multi-language installation guide that comes with OEM Toyota pad sets does.
(I recently replaced the original factory-installed Sumitomo front pads on my '14 at about 65K miles, and the squealers were oriented inboard/bottom, as described above.)
Here is a YT video sponsored by Advics (A Toyota OEM brake pad supplier) that focuses specifically on squealer orientation:
orientation of sqqe=ueeler on brake pads - Google Search
That may 'sound reasonable', but that's not the way pad wear squealers were designed to work.
Remember, the intended function is to make as loud a sound as possible at the first contact between squealer and rotor.
If the the contact edge of the squealer is positioned at the TRAILING edge of the pad, it will make a very slight scratching sound as the rotor first contacts and sweeps past it ... all there is is the gentle pressure of the squealer, acting like a leaf spring, rubbing against the rotor. This small scratching may be totally inaudible to the driver.
If the edge of the squealer is positioned at the LEADING edge of the pad, the edge of the squealer will 'dig into' the rotor, bend the squealer until it releases, dig in again, release, etc. many times a second creating a high-frequency resonance and what should be a horrific racket, at least to the discerning driver.
So for the FJ, both front and rear pads should be installed with the squealer at the INBOARD position, and with the squealer positioned at the BOTTOM of the caliper, so the squealer tends to be pulled TOWARDS the pad when it first contacts the rotor.
That way, first squealer>rotor contact tends to cause the squealer to dig in and cause a major unmistakable acoustic oscillation that screams 'BRAKE PROBLEM!!'.
The squealers are thin, hardened stainless steel and won't break off or get sucked between the pad and rotor.
It is a little odd that the Toyota FSM doesn't mention squealer orientation, but I believe the multi-language installation guide that comes with OEM Toyota pad sets does.
(I recently replaced the original factory-installed Sumitomo front pads on my '14 at about 65K miles, and the squealers were oriented inboard/bottom, as described above.)
Here is a YT video sponsored by Advics (A Toyota OEM brake pad supplier) that focuses specifically on squealer orientation:
orientation of sqqe=ueeler on brake pads - Google Search
Good to know. I've seen them in either the top or bottom position, depending on the installer. I'm going to look at the factory installation on my FJ next time I have the front wheels off (yes, they're still original). If orientation is important for the loudness of the sqeal, it should've been prominently mentioned in the service manual. Even the picture has it mounted on the outside pad, so its confusing. On this topic, if one has slotted rotors, does it make a difference in how they're positioned then?
Virtual-Chris, that one caliper looks like it's been through the mill and not in a good way. That one protrusion even looks like it was hammered by a gorilla. I'd reject that one outright since its missing the line seat and also beat to crap.
On brakes, has anyone installed those stainless steel covered flexible brake lines and had any issues? Aging rubber hoses are one of those things I'm going to start dealing with since my FJ is now a 13 year old vehicle.
Virtual-Chris, that one caliper looks like it's been through the mill and not in a good way. That one protrusion even looks like it was hammered by a gorilla. I'd reject that one outright since its missing the line seat and also beat to crap.
On brakes, has anyone installed those stainless steel covered flexible brake lines and had any issues? Aging rubber hoses are one of those things I'm going to start dealing with since my FJ is now a 13 year old vehicle.
I have installed braided stainless brake hoses on all of my cars when they came due (less flex under pressure means a firmer brake pedal and more accurate modulation at the limit). Goodridge brand is one of the biggest (or if you have a local maker of custom hydraulic hoses, if they have the right end fittings can make you a set).
Page 122 in the attached link:
Ideally, like tires, the flex hoses get replaced every 10 years.
Remember there are 6 of them on an FJ (the additional two are where the rear lines transition from the body to the frame), so make sure when you buy a set it does, in fact, come with 6 (I saw some advertised as only containing 4 when I was shopping).
Regarding calipers: the kit from Toyota is very reasonably priced so you can rebuild your own calipers and know the work was done correctly and save a lot of money, over buying rebuilt by someone else.
For painting the calipers during a rebuild, I found a local guy who applies Cerakote and have them silver coated. It looks great, wears like iron, is unaffected by brake fluid and handles high temperature without discoloring.
Photos of a recent Camry caliper rebuild I did:
Norm
Thanks Norm for the brand recommendation. Yet another item to blow money on for my FJ.
How did you clean up those calipers so nicely before the Cerakote? Some sort of media blasting? I'm with you on rebuilding my own calipers. When I was younger, I trusted that the rebuilds I purchased were done right. I quickly figured out most reman parts were hacked trash and to avoid like the plague. Virtual-Chris' one caliper shows it in spades.
How did you clean up those calipers so nicely before the Cerakote? Some sort of media blasting? I'm with you on rebuilding my own calipers. When I was younger, I trusted that the rebuilds I purchased were done right. I quickly figured out most reman parts were hacked trash and to avoid like the plague. Virtual-Chris' one caliper shows it in spades.
"How did you clean up those calipers so nicely before the Cerakote?" - the coater used media blast to clean them as part of his process. I don't recall if it was glass bead, sand, walnut shell or what.
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
