good stuff...

forgive the noob question, what's the best way to "wash" wheel bearings?

sounds like brembo rotors and hawk pads...recommendatinos on where to order from?

I think I'm gonna skip the rush of trying to get it done by the weekend, and do it right...checking all the other things while i'm in there.

Any dry solvent like brake cleaner, etc. You just need to see if there are scratches on the rollers in the cone.

I think I got my rotors/pads from autopartswarehouse. They had free shipping. I was not happy with the shipping charges from the "rack." Both vendors ship from the same warehouses...

Fwiw, autoanything.com has free shipping & price guarantee yadaydayda...

In the case of a Toyota, the factory parts are frequently darn hard to beat for quality, and often times for price. When an oem pad set costs $60, and a junk Raybestos pad set costs $60, you don't save money with the Raybestos junk. In the case of brakes, only when you start talking names like Bremo, Porterfield and such do you start going above the factory parts in quality.

Brembo rotors and Toyota pads <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Another fwiw...

Properly bleeding your brake system (with or without a friend, depending on the friend) can be a pita without something like this from Harbor Freight - Linky
All you need is an air compressor & a quick-connect fitting to use (didn't come with one when I bought it - made for a parts store run in the middle of it all <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />). Real easy to use - just run until you have clear fluid...

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Oh, and I only have 120k miles so I too haven't bothered with the rear shoes... Looks like there's a whole lot of life left on them; just cleaned it all up when I was in there (buy a bunch of brake cleaner - spray the crap out of everything).

What's the bleed sequence for the T-100? Is the excavation tubing clear, where you can see the fluid? Looks like a neat little tool to have.

Bleeding sequence is unimportant. You also don't need any special tools besides a soda can and 2 feet of tubing. A little brake fluid in the soda can, connect the tubing to the bleeder, drop the other end in the fluid. Crack the bleeder about 1/4 turn, pump the pedal. That's it. Just watch the fluid level so you don't accidently suck air.

If you want to be clever, use a turkey baster and suck the fluid out of the master cylinder reservour first, and then refill with new fluid before you start bleeding.

I was taught to always go from farthest from the master cylinder & get closer... I don't suppose the T would be any different. RP, RD, LPV, FP & FD... Don't know if there's anything goofy you're supposed to do for an ABS system, but I always do it the same.

Yep, the tubing on the HF bleeder is all clear... Cool little gadget overall. Still don't quite understand how the whole 'air pressure makes vacuum' handle thingy works, but it works nonetheless whether I get it or not. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

And yes, true that all you need is a few inches of tubing & a soda can... But there's no fun in that!

In all honesty the two man method works much better imho. I have used those vacuum bleeders and they work, but I got better results with 2 man.