It could be a sticking caliper. I would also check the wheel bearing on that side. What's the ball joint in the lca like? Do you think you have enough mileage on your beast that there could be play in the steering rack? Tie rod end?

 

Thanks for the insight! Since I’m in a condo at the moment, I’ll be bringing it into a shop on Wednesday and, if they don’t find it, I’ll make sure they check this stuff out!

 

I had this exact issue about a week ago and once I replaced all rotors and calipers the heat issue and the shake went away completely and it drives great now. I also had my UCA and LCA ball joints replaced which were also causing a little bit of wobble.

I have 164,000 miles so I was due for these things to be replaced anyways.

 

Yikes! Sounds expensive! I had my brakes done last August but I’ve put quite a few miles on them since then. My mileage is similar so I guess it’s due!

 

It definitely isnt a cheap job for some, expect 250+ for some basic rotors and similar for calipers. Youll save a LOT by doing the service yourself though. Brakes and rotors are hard to mess up and require minimal tools. Good time to rotate your wheels while theyre off.

 

Absolutely a sticky caliper. Sometime the grease dries up in the guides and it doesn't back out evenly (or at all)

Common on the FJ after 160k.

Many toyotas suffer from this due to a pretty smart brake bracket system that allows Toyota to use the same calipers over a large swath of vehicles at once.

Up to you whether to take the opportunity to upgrade instead of replace, or just replace or refresh.

If you replace one, might as well do all of them and keep the good used ones for emergencies or a fellow fj owner in need.

 

Absolutely a sticky caliper. Sometime the grease dries up in the guides and it doesn't back out evenly (or at all)

Common on the FJ after 160k.

^^^ ???
The FJ's braking system doesn't use a sliding caliper arrangement with greased guide pins on either the front or rear brakes.

The calipers are fixed, rigidly bolted in place, and there are pistons in both halves of the caliper that press the pads against the rotors. No slide pins, no grease, no caliper movement.

The failure mode is when the pistons start to bind in their bores in the caliper, and don't retract slightly when brake fluid pressure is removed.

 

Note you can rebuild the calipers with a kit from the dealer for far less than that (but only if you do the work yourself as most shops will only R&R).

 

Thanks all! I had the callipers, rotors, pads, brake lines and steering stabilizer replaced. Problem seems to have been solved!