1998 Toyota Corolla Brake Issue

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Villa Park, IL
Background: Vehicle bought for my sister ($700) in August 2014 without any maintenance records.

Hey guys, I need some help understanding/diagnosing.

When you apply brakes to the car at higher speeds, the car vibrates, the vehicle's stopping distance is just fine and seems normal to me. In the past I have thought of it to be a brake rotor issue and have always had the mechanic replace both brake pads & rotors and that has always fixed the issue.

When I was working the the vehicle's suspension previously I saw the rotors "seemed" new and the brake pads were new as well from the look of it and also there was an old set of Duralast Gold brake pads in the trunk with plenty of pad left but uneven wear, which was probably caused by the brake booster vacuum hosed being disconnected (whichever genius worked on the brakes previously) and the vehicle was driven that way for a while.

Also some genius mechanic also replaced the water pump on the car and left the coolant temperature sensor disconnected, which caused the vehicle to randomly jerk upon acceleration, the issue was fixed by me plugging the coolant temperature sensor back in place...

Will replacing both rotor & pads, fix this issue?

I do intend to use the follow parts if I'm going to replace:
1. Duralast Gold Brake Pads (for it's lifetime warranty)
2. ACDelco Professional Durastop Brake Rotors (listed as heavy duty on rockauto.com)

Since the OE material is ceramic and I have read/heard that some people are able to get 100k out of ceramic? I want to do a proper brake setup now and be good for a while.
 
Yes, at least replace the rotors(or have them turned) even if not replacing the pads. Don't go by the 100K miles out of the ceramic pads. I personally have never gotten that out of my ceramic pads. ATMOF, never out of any pad on a small Corolla.

Use good stuff but, don't go extreme like High Performance STUFF! Keep it simple which, sound as though you are.

Yes, if you are changing the pads too, use Duralast with confidence. I have my personal likes for rotors and I do like Brembo, Centric Premium or Raybestos Pro Grade. I'm sure the AC Delco's are fine too!
 
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Originally Posted By: eljefino
The uneven wear was probably a pin hanging up, not the booster.

pin? do explain please, I get the basic open this and replace this, when it comes to brakes.

I would love to learn how to rebuild a brake caliper, just for experience/peace of mind. Also how to redo all the seals on a power steering pump to prevent it from leaking.
 
was the brake booser vacuum line disconected and plugged?

this may not be negligence but planned.

-could mean a leaky brake booster causing codes in the po171 ish range. just something to look out for when you hook the brake booster back up.
 
Originally Posted By: caravanmike
was the brake booser vacuum line disconected and plugged?

this may not be negligence but planned.

-could mean a leaky brake booster causing codes in the po171 ish range. just something to look out for when you hook the brake booster back up.

it was a vacuum hose connected to the intake that runs to the brake booster...

No check engine light related to that, some idiot who attempted to work on the car before me, most likely
 
I ordered from walmart.com(cheaper then rockauto.com)

1. Bendix Brake Pad Ceramic Technology 3
2. ACDelco Professional Durastop Brake Rotors (listed as heavy duty on rockauto.com)

are Bendix brake pads suppose to be any good?
 
Mine was older (1993). I got 90k out of the fronts and 130k from the rears (drum) on factory parts. I got new ones of the same when I replaced.

What I learned- Flush the fluid every couple years anyway. Take apart the brakes, clean and grease all the contact points (at least every 2 years). Rear drums- Take apart, clean grease all contact points AND the threads of star wheel. Use your parking brake often and engage while rolling backwards and forward a couple times (to "rock" the shoes).

Having a 5 speed stick where I used the parking brake everyday, my star wheel still froze up. When you 6 years between needing any brake service things happen. My front right caliper slide pin rusted. The pads wore at an angle and you couldn't tell as what you saw was still fine. Then that one panic stop day almost got real ugly as one side locked, the other didn't because no pad was left to really engage.

Parking brake got loose so many said tighten the cable (I didn't and searched for real issue). Once the star wheel was unfrozen and greased it never happened again. The "rock" would move the self adjuster which kept the parking brake tight. It ACTUALLY kept the shoes adjusted correctly so the rear brakes worked as they should. If they don't, the fronts heat up more, cause other issues as well as overall brake performance problems.
 
Originally Posted By: 01_celica_gt
I ordered from walmart.com(cheaper then rockauto.com)

1. Bendix Brake Pad Ceramic Technology 3
2. ACDelco Professional Durastop Brake Rotors (listed as heavy duty on rockauto.com)

are Bendix brake pads suppose to be any good?

Update: The brakes on the vehicle have are absolutely amazing, I'm very impressed by the braking performance of this setup, I have already ordered this combo for my 00 celica gt.
 
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