Premature Brake Wear

[gatorJ]

My Tacoma is fine. I have only had it for a year. However a friend of mine changed the brake pads on his 2004 Tacoma at 150,000. A few days ago, he heard noise coming from the front left tire while driving. It sounded like brake wear. The mileage on the truck is 151,000. I doubt it is the brakes. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[James]

It could be brake wear, but I doubt it. I suggest trying to put on a new set of brake pads. If that doesn't solve your problem, then your neighbor might needs to take his Toyota Tacoma to the garage. Maybe someone else on here has better advice. I really hope that someone can help you. Sorry that I wasn't more helpful.

 

[Mastergunz1371]

Have the discs ever been replaced? Worn out discs could be the problem. Causing the brake pads to go bad in a short time.

 

[tbplus10]

Warped rotors are very common prooblems wit 96-04 Tacoma's, if he got 150k on the oem pads he was very lucky.
Most 1st gen Tacoma owners do pads at 75k to 90k and new rotors at 105k to 115k.
If you run larger than factory tires pads wear a little faster and you can expect new rotors in under 100k.

 

[Counterpart]

A thousand miles is a really short time to have a problem with the brakes again. What kind of sound is it? You say it sounds like brake wear - is it a squeal, like the indicator clip makes when the brakes are worn low? If it's constant, it could very easily be something simple like a rock jammed up between something (like the dust shield) and the rotor. If it's only when braking, it could just be a cold weather thing, or if it's not an OEM pad the different compound may be to blame. If it's a grind like metal to metal - well then I hate to venture a guess without looking. I suspect a quick look with the wheel off will reveal something simple and easy to fix.