I'm going to be removing the front brake rotors on a '99 Tacoma 4x4 pickup
truck in a couple of day. Are there any "special" tools I'll need, or any
"tricks" that I should know of before I get into this project? All the
rotors I've removed in the past have been pretty straight forward, remove
the wheel and caliper and the rotors will slip off of the wheel lug bolts.
Is there anything different with the Tacoma 4x4?
Thanks

If they were built like say the 1994 Truck... It is a pain in the ass...
You have to take the Locking Hub apart, in order to remove the large nuts on
the spindle that hold the entire hub assembly on.. In order to remove the
hub... You have to pull all the nuts off around the hub... and then there
are barrel washers that need to be carefully knocked out with an awl, in
order to remove the hub.. Plus you need the special LARGE socket to get
these nuts off... This is on a 1994 though, and I'm not sure about the
Tacomas... I would suggest looking at your service manual... If you don't
have one... buy one.. It will tell you what is needed for SST's (Special
Service Tools)

Ian

Your '99 won't give you any problems, its the same style as the other ones
you've worked on. Just take off the caliper and you're in.

Taking the rotors off on my '98 was very simple. I also replaced my
brake pads when I pulled the assembly apart and thats where I ran into
trouble. There are two rods with cotter pins on the ends that the
brake pads 'hang' from. These had to be hammered out due to the
corrosion, which casued the ends to mushroom and it turned into a
headache. Consider getting replacement rods before changing the brake
pads.