Front brake pad spring orientation? Uneven pad wear (6 lug)

Looking for some help with front brakes on my 2003 4wd double cab. The FSM shows the orientation of the brake pad spring (see below) but most videos I see everyone mounts it the opposite way.
1) Could orientation make a difference in brake pad wear?
2) Should brake caliper grease be put on edges of the pad that touch the top and bottom of the caliper?

Here is how my brakes look after only 22,000 miles. Outside pads on both sides were more worn than inside AND uneven wear. Thinking the pad wasn't moving freely in the caliper. I took the photo AFTER I removed the spring and pins BTW.


This is the orientation of the spring I see most people do. It is opposite of what FSM shows.


Here is what the FSM shows for my truck which is the way I have been running my spring.

 

You're kidding right? I mean it is Friday and all. 22k is time to replace the pads.

It looks like it's also time to replace or rebuild the calipers.

The spring orientation isn't going to cause the uneven wear. Grease should be placed on any surfaces that contact each other (other than the rotor and brake pad, obviously).

Considering you think 22k is a short time span, when have you last changed your LBJ?

 

No thoughts on the uneven pad wear? I rebuilt both calipers last break pad change which was 2 years ago using all OEM parts.
I was wondering about the grease because these are NOT floating calipers and grease attracts dirt so didn't want to put it on anything I didn't need to. I really don't think 22k miles is what most people get out of pads but since you asked my LBJ are replaced every 100k miles with OEM ones.

 

Sorry- I should have been more clear, the uneven pad wear is due to the caliper. I mentioned getting new ones, but failed to tie the two together. One side of the caliper is obviously not working.

 

I replace my brake pads every 45-50K miles or so. In any event, before I ever hear any scratching or squealing. But then again, I don't do a lot of city driving. Hope you find the cause of the problem.

You did clean out the bores of your calipers and the surfaces of your pistons, right? I use emery cloth when I do mine.

 

To me the rotor looks scorched from excessive heat, the upper right piston is probably sticking. Time for new calipers

 

You could try getting new pins if you aren’t ready for the caliper change yet. The pin kit is cheap. Pads could have been hanging up on old pins.

 

The orientation of the clip won't affect pad wear it's only there to keep the pads from rattling. When replacing the pads take a wire brush and really clean the edges of the caliper where the pads sit. I'd also grease the edges of the pads. Use some scotch brite to clean both retaining pins and give them a little grease as well. It's normal to see some unevenness in the pad wear, as a tech I've changed hundreds of these Toyota front brakes. 95% of the time they get stuck in the caliper and wear unevenly. You'll tell when you take it apart because the pad won't slide out, you'll have to beat it out. If that's the case with the new pads you can grind the edge down to fit better.

 

Thx for the replies. I did pretty good job of rebuilding the calipers but I have 236k miles. I’ll check price of OEM calipers but guessing they are $$$. Maybe I’ll try new pins too, but old ones cleaned up pretty well

 

I always clean my pins with steel wool and the apply a light coating of brake grease when reassembling. In addition, I apply a light coat of grease on the surfaces that the pads slides on in the caliper. I believe the FSM states to do this as well. The keyword is LIGHT.