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The E210 Corolla uses a conventional single-piston floating caliper up front, so this is one of the friendlier brake jobs out there. Two 14 mm bolts release the caliper, two 17 mm bolts release the bracket, and the rotor slides off with no retaining screw. Budget most of your time for rust: a stuck rotor and a crusty hub face are the two things that turn a 90-minute job into an afternoon.
The thing people get wrong is skipping the hub face cleanup and then torquing the lug nuts with an impact gun. Both cause runout that shows up as a pulsing pedal a few thousand miles later, and people blame the rotors. Clean the hub down to bare metal, torque to 76 ft-lb in a star pattern, and bed the pads in properly.
| Item | Type | Product search |
|---|---|---|
| Floor jack 2 ton minimum, low profile Lift the front of the car at the pinch-weld or front subframe jack point. | Required | search retailer |
| Jack stands 2 ton pair Support the car at the reinforced pinch welds before removing wheels. | Safety | search retailer |
| Lug nut socket 21 mm, 6-point, 1/2 in drive (thin wall for alloy wheels) Removes the wheels; all E210 Corollas use 21 mm lug nuts. | Required | search retailer |
| Breaker bar 1/2 in drive, 18-24 in Cracks lug nuts and the tight caliper bracket bolts loose. | Required | search retailer |
| Socket wrench 3/8 in drive ratchet Drives the caliper slide-pin bolts and general work. | Required | search retailer |
| Socket 14 mm 6-point, 3/8 in drive Removes the two caliper slide-pin (guide) bolts. | Required | search retailer |
| Combination wrench 17 mm Holds the slide pin from turning if the rubber boot lets it spin. | Recommended | search retailer |
| Socket 17 mm 6-point, 1/2 in drive Removes the two caliper bracket-to-knuckle bolts. | Required | search retailer |
| C-clamp or piston compressor 4 in C-clamp, or brake caliper press Pushes the single front piston back into the caliper for the thicker new pads. | Required | search retailer |
| Bungee cord or wire hook Hangs the caliper from the spring so the flexible brake hose is not stretched. | Required | search retailer |
| Dead blow or ball-peen hammer 2-3 lb Frees a rust-stuck rotor from the hub face. | Required | search retailer |
| Bolts for rotor jacking holes M8 x 1.25, about 40 mm long, two Threaded into the rotor's two service holes to press a seized rotor off the hub. | Recommended | search retailer |
| Wire brush Steel, and/or hub cleaning disc for a drill Cleans rust from the hub mating face so the new rotor sits flat. | Required | search retailer |
| Brake lubricant Silicone/synthetic caliper grease Lubricates slide pins, pad ears and the back of the pad shims. | Consumables | search retailer |
| Brake cleaner Chlorine-free, 2 cans Removes the protective oil coating from new rotors and cleans old dust. | Consumables | search retailer |
| Torque wrench 1/2 in drive, 25-150 ft-lb Sets lug nuts and caliper bracket bolts correctly. | Required | search retailer |
| Torque wrench 3/8 in drive, 10-60 ft-lb Accurately torques the slide-pin bolts, which are easy to overtighten. | Recommended | search retailer |
| Turkey baster or syringe Removes excess fluid from the master cylinder before pushing pistons back. | Recommended | search retailer |
| Front brake pad set Ceramic or OE-equivalent, includes shims and clips The wear item being replaced; buy the set that includes new anti-rattle clips. | Parts | search retailer |
| Front rotors Pair; 275 mm (1.8/hybrid, base trims) or 305 mm (2.0 / SE, XSE, GR-branded trims) Replacement discs; measure or check your parts catalog before ordering. | Parts | search retailer |
| Nitrile gloves and safety glasses Brake dust and brake cleaner spray are not something you want on skin or in eyes. | Safety | search retailer |
| Wheel chocks Pair Blocks the rear wheels while the front is in the air. | Safety | search retailer |
| Anti-seize Copper or nickel, tiny amount Thin smear on the hub face only (never on lug threads or seats) to prevent future rotor seizing. | Consumables | search retailer |
Fastener sizes are identical across the 1.8 2ZR-FAE, 2.0 M20A-FKS and the hybrid: 21 mm lug nuts, 14 mm slide-pin bolts, 17 mm bracket bolts. What changes is rotor size - base 1.8 and most hybrid trims use the smaller roughly 275 mm front rotor, while 2.0-liter SE/XSE and sport-suspension trims use the larger roughly 305 mm rotor with a correspondingly bigger caliper bracket. Measure your old rotor or order by VIN.
| Wheel lug nuts | 76 ft-lb (103 Nm) |
| Caliper slide-pin (guide) bolts, 14 mm head | 25 ft-lb (34 Nm) - verify in the service manual |
| Caliper bracket-to-knuckle bolts, 17 mm head | 79 ft-lb (107 Nm) - verify in the service manual |
| Brake hose banjo bolt (only if hose disturbed) | verify in the service manual |
The two caliper slide-pin bolts take a 14 mm socket, and the two caliper bracket bolts that hold it to the steering knuckle take a 17 mm socket. Lug nuts are 21 mm.
No. The front calipers are single-piston and push straight in, so a large C-clamp or a basic caliper press works. Only the rear calipers on some Toyotas need a wind-back tool; the fronts do not.
76 ft-lb (103 Nm), tightened in a star pattern with a torque wrench. Retorque after about 50 miles of driving.
Hit the rotor hat between the wheel studs with a dead blow hammer while spraying penetrant at the center. If that fails, thread two M8x1.25 bolts into the rotor's two threaded service holes and tighten them evenly to jack the rotor off the hub.