The only problem I ever had with the brakes on my 98 was when the tire dealer's help got carried away with the impact wrench and warped my rotors. The pads had 128,000 on them and had a lot left when I had to replace the Runner.

My 97 had the brakes pads replaced before I got it whatever brand they are they don't seem like they are lasting as well as the Toyota pads did on the 98.

I have an automatic but I usually downshift with the auto when I'm slowing down and let the engine do some of the work for the brakes.

Very bad idea... Horrible for your tranny. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />

Yep, got a manual trans, it does make a big difference how long they last. Even have a set of PF pads in my garage and I'll eventually purchase the rotors. At work I do alot of driving through sand and gravel. Sometimes it gets up in between the rotor and backing plate, making a horrible squealing noise. If I had slotted or drilled, I'm sure those small rocks would get hung up and do some damage to the pads. When I get around to installing the manual hubs, I'll probably go ahead and swap out the rotors and pads, then keep my old one's for spares.

I won't let anyone take my wheels off, every shop that has done it in the past really over-torqued the lug nuts. All I use is the factory lug wrench and hand tighten them, never had any problems, nor have I lost any lugs. If you do have a shop do any wheel work, I'd recommend taking off the wheel locks before bringing it to the shop.

I am sort of torn between the nonslotted/noncrossdrilled Brembos or the powerslots. I dont do offroading at all (2wd) but occassionally a couple of gravel roads once or twice a year. The powerslots cost twice as much as the regular brembos. Are they worth the money? I have my mind set on the PF pads that gadget recommends. But i'm not sure which rotors to get. Recommendations? I've done a search, but didnt really yield much. The existing posts say a thing or two about each. But dont really come to much of a conclusion since the replies just all of the sudden sort of stop.

personally, I'd save the money and go solid, unless you do a lot of very heavy braking, where you might experience brake fade, like driving in canyons.

Nah, dont do much driving in canyons. I just want better, stronger and less prone to rotor warping. I would also like a better initial "bite" so in those emergency situations i'll stop better.
Will my braking distance be about the same in normal situations with either rotor?

Solid will give the best inital braking......

I have the Powerslots with PF pads and I'm pretty happy with them. I have a lot of drum problems though. Here's a bit of info that I've garnered, www.larsdennert.com/4runner/brakes