Rotors and pads for 2006 Camry LE

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Okay, thanks Satinsilver and Bdcardinal. I'll order the second rotor from Amazon tonight.

It would have been nice if there had been more padding inside the box. Only one side of the six sides to the box was padded. Not good if the box were dropped during shipping. And there was not even a single "Fragile" sticker placed on the box. Not pleased about that.

I now noticed some writing on the round edge of the rotor:
125.44079 HC MIN THK 26 MM 157 09/09/13 0072 2505 M12

Or the 2505 might be 2605--hard to tell. The date found on the round edge of the rotor differs by 4 days from the date found on the box.

The rotor sides are shiny metallic in color and its other surfaces are coated in black.

So I guess these rotors were made in China. Does anyone know if my 2006 J-VIN Camry's OEM rotors were made in China or Japan?

In any case, can I assume these high-carbon China rotors are better than my OEM iron rotors? Thanks.
 
Your OE rotors were most likely from Japan, Canada, USA, Brazil, or some part of Europe, that is where the Ford OE rotors come from.

As far as pricing on OE brakes, the OEM front replacement pads for my Mustang are $227.53 with no Motorcraft option. The OE rotors are $183.30 each with no Motorcraft value line option. True those are MSRP and as an employee I pay less, but someone off the street with a Track Pack would be paying that if they go to service.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Rotors are sold each and pads are sold in axle sets. So if you are doing the entire vehicle, you need 2 pad sets and 4 rotors.

I have seen rotors sold in pairs before, but that was a rare instance, I think it was Meyle or Beck-Arnley for German applications. Those were the one that come in a sealed dog dish container.


I do see rotors sold in pairs only when the rotors are cross drilled or slotted. That is because the slotting or drilling is directional.
 
The Centric rotors are mostly made in China. Don't worry, they're good quality rotors.

Just be sure to check the runout prior to installation. Index the rotor if needed.
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Rotors are sold each and pads are sold in axle sets. So if you are doing the entire vehicle, you need 2 pad sets and 4 rotors.

I have seen rotors sold in pairs before, but that was a rare instance, I think it was Meyle or Beck-Arnley for German applications. Those were the one that come in a sealed dog dish container.


I do see rotors sold in pairs only when the rotors are cross drilled or slotted. That is because the slotting or drilling is directional.


Well ya, but for normal service rotors, they are sold individually. I don't want to bring up the discussion of my opinion of slotted / drilled rotors, but all I will say is I have personally seen a drilled rotor explode on a vehicle at speed and the results were not pretty.
 
Well, the Akebono ProACT 908 brakes from Amazon arrived today--dirty things aren't they--brakes I mean. By the way, the first rotor arrived on the 6th of the month, not the 5th--miswrote above. The box says these brakes were manufactured in the U.S.A.

The box also says these brakes are 100% asbestos-free, but it also says not to breathe brake dust because it can be hazardous to your health.

I measured each brake pad's thickness to be about 11.5 millimeters. There are 4 pads for 2 wheels. On the back of each pad is written AK ACT564H FF A14. Not sure why "ACT564H" is written on the back of the pads when the box says these are the ACT908 ceramic pads. Oh well.

Also written on the pads is A4111GB5.

Aside from a warranty/installation info sheet and some shipping padding material, the only other thing in the box with the brakes is some Moly brake lube (2 grams). Aren't there suppose to be shims in the box?
 
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The second rotor arrived today. The alphanumeric strings found on the edge of the 2 rotors are identical except that "2505" seems to be on one rotor while "2506" seems to be on the second rotor ordered several days after the first.

Once again the padding to protect the rotor during shipping was atrocious. The padding (sealed air) was found on just one side of the 6 sides of the box.

When I had my safety inspection 2 or 3 weeks ago, the Toyota tech told me the 2 front OEM pads still had 3 and 4 millimeters of material left. Should I install the Centric StopTech rotors and Akebono ceramic pads now, or wait until summer?

If we can assume the Toyota OEM pads are also about 11.5 millimeters thick (that's how thick the ceramic Akebono pads are that I bought as replacements), and the OEM pads are now down to 3 and 4 millimeters, then I must have worn down the pads by about 1 millimeter a year, since the car is now 8 years old.

Any problem with waiting until summer to install the new Centric rotors and Akebono pads? Or maybe even wait another full year? The rotors and pads are being stored in the basement, which is less humid than the garage.
 
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Although I'm happy to say I change my own motor oil, filters, transmission fluid, coolant, and sometimes do the tire rotations myself too, I think I'm going to have the Toyota dealership install the new brakes and rotors.

However, my confindence in one part of the dealership's shop is now shattered. As I mentioned above, their service writer didn't know that Toyota Super Long Life Coolant goes 10 years from the factory and then can be drain-and-filled every 5 years after that. His time frame seemed to be more like every 2 or 3 years. I guess Toyota doesn't train their service writers as well as their technicians? That brings up the queston about the technicians. How well trained are they? If I have my Toyota dealership's techs install the new Akebono ceramic pads and Centric StopTech rotors, will they invariably do a good job, and not, say, skip or forget a step? There are many small steps involved in changing brakes and rotors--many more than an oil and filter change.

I guess my second question is where is the best Toyota dealership shop in the St. Louis metro area, with the most competent techs? Like I said, the service writer has shaken my confidence in Toyota's training practices to the core.
 
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Well, this week I had a Toyota dealership install the new high-carbon rotors and Akebono ceramic pads at 61,900 miles. I didn't go to my usual dealership, but instead I tried a different dealership this time, and I am very happy with them--so far. They're about twice as far away as my usual dealership, but it was worth the drive.

The brakes and rotors work great so far, no squeaking or other probs.

I did notice that during the very first drive with the new brakes and rotors, the car seemed to be encountering some drag, which made me wonder if the brake pads were in constant contact with the rotors, but after the first drive, everything has been fine. I didn't encounter any unusual drag during the second, third, and fourth drives.

Although I brought my own brakes to the shop, the service writer still discounted the job by $50 when I mentioned the special that expires at the end of March. I was in the process of correcting his mistake, and saying that the $50 discount only applies to dealer-supplied TCMC brake parts (not the Akebono brakes I brought), but he seemed to purposefully interrupt me half-way through my sentence, almost as if he knew about the mistake but wanted to discount the price anyway. So I stopped mid-sentence and took the discount. Maybe the local dealership gets something out of it too--I dunno, but no complaints here :-)

Another happy Toyota customer :-)

They had me in-and-out of there fast--an hour or a little under. I hope they bled the brake fluid and followed all the steps in the Chilton Manual. Are Toyota shops known for following the book?
 
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Hmmmm, great to hear. So how much for everything all in? Lost track...thanks! Need to get this done on my 05 Matrix.
 
I really would like to give you the final price, but I can't now, so as to maintain the anonymity of the service writer. I wouldn't want to get him in trouble if any sticklers on BITOG decided to call the Toyota Cops :-)
 
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I hope they bled the brake fluid and followed all the steps in the Chilton Manual.
Unless there is a charge listed on your receipt, you did NOT get the brake fluid bled.
 
KitaCam, thanks for the link--very helpful. I'll take it easy on the brakes for the first 500 miles.

Vikas, I guess I should have asked the dealership to bleed the brakes. Oh well, too late now. No use for me to cry over spilt milk or unspilt brake fluid--haha.
 
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Originally Posted By: Vikas
Unless there is a charge listed on your receipt, you did NOT get the brake fluid bled.


Hmm, that's interesting. The service writer I spoke with at one of the dealerships said the techs check out everything during a brake change, and if your brake fluid needs to be bled, they will do it, and the service writer believes there is no extra charge for brake bleeding.
 
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Originally Posted By: stephen9666
They wouldn't set up the pressure bleeding equipment and fire up the diagnostic computer to cycle the ABS pump for free.

Setting up the "pressure bleeding equipment"??
I read the Chilton manual's chapter on brakes and checked out a YouTube video. It seems the only "special pressure bleeding equipment" needed is a closed plastic cup (with a hose attached) to trap the bled fluid (or even just an open can with a little brake fluid already in it). And of course a kind of pliers-like thingie to squeeze the brake hose shut.

Nowhere in the Chilton manual or the YouTube video (shot by pro techs) did I see mention of a "diagnostic computer to cycle the ABS pump." :-P
 
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Originally Posted By: Built_Well
Originally Posted By: stephen9666
They wouldn't set up the pressure bleeding equipment and fire up the diagnostic computer to cycle the ABS pump for free.

Setting up the "pressure bleeding equipment"??
I read the Chilton manual's chapter on brakes and checked out a YouTube video. It seems the only "special pressure bleeding equipment" needed is a closed plastic cup (with a hose attached) to trap the bled fluid (or even just an open can with a little brake fluid already in it). And of course a kind of pliers-like thingie to squeeze the brake hose shut.

Nowhere in the Chilton manual or the YouTube video (shot by pro techs) did I see mention of a "diagnostic computer to cycle the ABS pump." :-P


For a complete brake fluid flush pro techs will generally use a pressure bleeding system. You also need to cycle the ABS pump on some models to properly do the job, as that gets the old fluid out of the pump. A low-end Chilton manual generally won't have model-specific info like that.

I actually don't know what you're talking about with pliers to squeeze the brake hose. You generally wouldn't do that when you're bleeding the full brake system. Perhaps you're looking at videos of someone replacing a caliper or something and clamping on the line before removing the caliper?

If you're watching a video of someone using a cup to catch fluid while a second person pumps the brakes, that's generally not what most techs would do for a full brake flush.

Again, doing a full brake flush is a big enough job that most dealers won't do it for free. Bleeding a small amount out after cracking the bleeder to make sure there's no air, sure, but not a full brake flush.
 
Originally Posted By: stephen9666
Again, doing a full brake flush is a big enough job that most dealers won't do it for free. Bleeding a small amount out after cracking the bleeder to make sure there's no air, sure, but not a full brake flush.

That makes sense. Thanks. I'm not talking about a full brake flush. What was shown in the Chilton Camry manual and on YouTube was a small bleed and the elimination of air bubbles.

Here's the YouTube link ("How to Replace the Front Brake Pads and Rotors in a 2007 Toyota Camry"):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjMhSba0oL4#aid=P7p3R0ktldg
 
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Interesting how the rotors from Centric Parts (an American company) were made in China, yet the pads from Akebono (a Japanese company) were made in America. The world's very interconnected now.
 
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