[FireLikeIYa]

Brembo makes the OEM brake pads in case anyone is wondering. This is them aftermarket:

True OEM are listed under the brand Advics which is a Aisin company. If you follow Toyota at all, you'll know that Aisin is like 60% owned by Toyota and is one of their OEM manufacturers. Going to the Advics online catalog brings up the Brembos. http://www.advics-na.com/ADVICSPages/Catalog.aspx

Best rotors are going to be Toyota rotors. They're going to be made in the USA. Made in the USA means the raw material is source from a USA supplier. USA steel has less impurities than Chinese steel and is superior in every way. OEM will also have a thicker zinc coating and therefore will not rust as fast as aftermarket rotors. Don't buy into any advertisement hype! Slotted, drilled, etc have all shown to NOT increase stopping power, in fact, those types of rotors are more likely to wear out your pads faster.

 

[akphs]

Best rotors are going to be Toyota rotors. They're going to be made in the USA. Made in the USA means the raw material is source from a USA supplier. USA steel has less impurities than Chinese steel and is superior in every way. OEM will also have a thicker zinc coating and therefore will not rust as fast as aftermarket rotors. Don't buy into any advertisement hype! Slotted, drilled, etc have all shown to NOT increase stopping power, in fact, those types of rotors are more likely to wear out your pads faster.

This is an appealing argument, but why do you say "They're going to be made in the USA"? I have no knowledge, just curious as to why you make this assertion.

How do these aftermarket prices compare to Toyota prices? I have a private garage I trust, and might use them next time the beast needs brakes.

 

[SiennaIsCool]

Mods, Pl. delete ** Dupe Post **

 

[SiennaIsCool]

I just replaced front & rear pads/rotors on a 14 XLE for a relative and so far we are not impressed. The Powerstop premium rotors and Z23 pads seem to have less bite than the Toyota OEM's. During initial driving we attributed it to needing warmed up and breaking-in but after driving more than 300 miles over the weekend, they still don't feel right. Today we got the Brake fluid changed professionally and it isn't any different. The wheels move just fine when on the ramp and no sticky caliper pins (were cleaned and lubed) or pads.

The Van is now on a cross country trip and we'll know in a couple of weeks on their performance

 

[FireLikeIYa]

Based on past experience and the fact that the Sienna is on the top ten list for cars with most US supplied parts. I believe the Sienna contains 75% US made parts (it might be 73%, I'm going off the top of my head). If you need to buy new rotors, you can call the dealership parts department and ask them country of origin for the rotors as it is stated on the box. All Toyota rotors that I have purchased have been made in USA or Japan. The cars that have had the rotors made in Japan where also manufactured in Japan.

 

[SiennaIsCool]

So the Van is back home after putting around 2K miles on new brakes (pads/rotors) . No issues with brake vibrations/pulsatings during the trip.



The verdict from the driver is that the brakes suck when cold but work well once warmed up. They drove the 1st couple of miles every morning (or 1st startup) by gently tapping on them to warm up the pads/rotors and once it was done, brakes were very efffective and the difference was significant. Probably that's how ceramic pads work.



On the plus side, brake dust has been a lot less than the OEM pads.

 

[IamJake]

I will soon need to replace the rotors and brakes on my 2014. I was planning on using Centric rotors and Raybestos element3 pads, anyone ever use these pads?

 

[Steverino]

Just thought I'd check in here and say that I just installed a set of four drilled/slotted rotors and ceramic carbon fiber pads from Powerstop (it's their Z23 kit, P/N K5828) Purchased from RockAuto for $375.99, plus tax and shipping. There's a $30 mail in rebate so I'll be right at $400 all in.

Installation was straightforward - the only thing missing was the wear indicators for the front pads, but I just pulled the old ones. Just did my break-in drive per the instructions and all seems good. I have always felt like the Sienna was under-braked, so I'm very interested to see if this upgrade helps. I weighed @SiennalsCool's feedback on warm-up (above) and decided to forge ahead anyway. Hopefully no regrets.

 

[jerrys52]

Based on my experience, it really doesn't matter what pad/rotor combination is used. The rotors will start pulsating after about 40K miles. I think the rotors are slightly undersized for the van, which causes excessive heat buildup.

I have never had pulsating rotors on a Sienna. We have 6 Siennas in my family (bros & sisters) out here in Arizona. No one has had that problem. I've gone through many types of brake pads. Bosch (severe duty) are good. Akebono are the best, IMHO.

 

[dvzzz]

2014 AWD XLE with OEM rotors warped after 5 trips to Smoky Mountains, Raybestos rotors lasted 7 trips to Smoky Mountains before starting to pulsate. Akebono pads, modified air dampers to increase airflow. Still rotors warp. I cannot find good rotors for Siennas.

 

[Drcoffee]

Just thought I'd check in here and say that I just installed a set of four drilled/slotted rotors and ceramic carbon fiber pads from Powerstop (it's their Z23 kit, P/N K5828) Purchased from RockAuto for $375.99, plus tax and shipping. There's a $30 mail in rebate so I'll be right at $400 all in.

Installation was straightforward - the only thing missing was the wear indicators for the front pads, but I just pulled the old ones. Just did my break-in drive per the instructions and all seems good. I have always felt like the Sienna was under-braked, so I'm very interested to see if this upgrade helps. I weighed @SiennalsCool's feedback on warm-up (above) and decided to forge ahead anyway. Hopefully no regrets.

How are the drilled and slotted rotos hold up? I just ordered a set for my 14 XLE. I normally dont like drilled rotors, but that is on sports cars which get more braking at higher speeds. In the sienna’s case, anything to get more air into the rotor should help.

 

[Steverino]

How are the drilled and slotted rotos hold up? I just ordered a set for my 14 XLE. I normally dont like drilled rotors, but that is on sports cars which get more braking at higher speeds. In the sienna’s case, anything to get more air into the rotor should help.

So far so good... There was a bit of additional rumble sound / feel until things broke in, but now I don't notice it. I think they do stop somewhat better than what we had previously. As noted by others, braking improves when warmed up, but it is not bad when cold. I have also performed the "fin-dectomy" on the under tray.

 

[calisoldier83]

So far so good... There was a bit of additional rumble sound / feel until things broke in, but now I don't notice it. I think they do stop somewhat better than what we had previously. As noted by others, braking improves when warmed up, but it is not bad when cold. I have also performed the "fin-dectomy" on the under tray.

I replaced all four of my brakes with matching Powerslot z23 pads and slotted rotors a year ago. I had the work done a reputable break shop.

I took my van into Toyota for warranty work this week. They inspected the pads and reported fronts at 60% while the rears reported at 20%. This surprised me because everything at the same time and normally fronts wear out first. I’m wondering if this is normal with this setup or if something else happened. Can you let me know if you experienced this as well?

 

[Steverino]

Funny you should ask. Recently we noticed a high pitched squealing and also a lower pulsating sound (kinda like a playing card in bike spokes only softer). I pulled all the wheels and calipers to inspect. One front caliper slide pin wasn't moving very freely so I corrected that. I also discovered that one of the rear wear sensors seemed to be bent too close to the rotor and I corrected that too. To your point, I do believe our rears are wearing faster than the fronts. I also noticed that one rear side the pads are not wearing evenly top to bottom. The tops are wearing faster, meaning that the pads are starting to make a bit of an "A", if that makes sense. I haven't been able to figure out why - the piston moves freely. Anyway, I'm definitely gonna keep monitoring it closely.

Oh, and the squealing went away after my work. The other noise has not. It appears to be on the passenger side and possibly rear - which is the same side with the uneven pads. So maybe related?

 

[sbihue]

We have been running this combo for more than 2 years now and it is ok. We dont drive through hills and in almost all flat driving, the brakes are ok. I haven't yet inspected the pads for wear since I haven;t experienced any vibration or shuddering. Brake dust has increased in the past year.

I wish there was a budget friendly upgrade option to upgrade the pistons.

 

[Steverino]

Another update on our Powerstop Z23 setup. Rotating tires today and since I knew the rear pads were wearing rather quickly, I pulled a rear caliper to get a good look. Pads are down to about 2mm at the slimmest (one pad did not wear perfectly evenly - slightly more at the bottom than the top). Factory minimum is 1mm, pads started at about 9mm. I was sorta expecting this so I have a new set of the Powerstop pads on hand and am gonna change them.

By way of comparison, my last rear set (Akebonos) lasted 35K miles (on solid rotors). The Powerstops on the drilled & slotted rotors only made it about 15K. I like these brakes better overall, but the longevity is not inspiring.

 

[riverrat]

... I have also performed the "fin-dectomy" on the under tray.

RE the "findectomy"... after looking at what that entailed and accomplished, I wondered why not take the entire piece off. That one small remaining flap hanging down doesn't look it would do much except reduce clearance.

 

[sbihue]

While inspecting a scraping sound from the rear driver side wheel found out that the rear Z23 pads were toast. The inner pad had almost worn to the metal. The passenger side pads were a shade better but worn too. The Z23 pads lasted slightly less than 25K with 80/20 City/Hwy driving. Does this seem normal to folks who are running the same rotor/pad combo?

Due to imminent travel, got OEM (Advics) from the dealer and while slapping them on couldn't figure out if the clips needed to go on the pads. Checked a few DIY vids and didn't see anyone putting clips on the rear pads replaced them without the clips but wanted to check if those are required (I know the front ones use them).

Check out the pic in this post............... Brake Pad Clip

Edit:
Never mind, those clips go on the top end of each rear pad and act as wear indicators. They are optional and not having them would require manual pad inspection more frequently then you may want to

For now, I'll continue without them

 

[SilverMachine]

I will soon need to replace the rotors and brakes on my 2014. I was planning on using Centric rotors and Raybestos element3 pads, anyone ever use these pads?

Yes, I have. I currently have the Centric Plain 120 Series on the front of our 2008 LE but have not tried Raybestos element3 pads. The Centrics are paired with Akebono ACT906B w/stainless hardware pads. Braking performance has been good but the fronts have started pulsing after about 2 1/2 years so I'll be changing them out this fall and have already purchased some POWER STOP JBR972XPR slotted rotors and will pair these with new Akebono ACT906B pads. I get good life with the Akebono pads and I always change them before they get too low.

If any of you are fans of the car show CAR SOS, there is an episode where they tour a brake pad plant in the UK and the plant engineers at the manufacturing plant explain why slotted rotors are used in high performance cars and how they help to quickly remove trapped gases between the pads and rotor which otherwise can reduce braking effectiveness. So, I've decided I'll give them a try and see how they do. Drive safe out there.

 

[RedShift42]

It’s worth noting (and repeating, if maybe I’ve missed it), in Toyota’s TSB for increasing front brake airflow, they specifically state even new rotors should be indexed. That’s to say, a runout gauge is used to find which of the five positions will be flattest.
Since brake pulse is a progressive condition, starting with the flattest possible rotor no doubt buys the longest time.