general problems of the 1998 Toyota 4Runner

I love my 1998 Toyota 4-runner sr5 - but I hate the expense of the braking system. In the 5 years that I have owned my vehicle I have had to completely replace the entire braking system pads, rotors, drums, cables etc four times. It is never just the pads. Every single time I've taken it in for a brake inspection - they always need to machine the rotors. And, no it is not my driving ability. Each time I have had to pay for this very expensive repair (400-600) the mechanics always say the same thing - "we see this all the time on these 4wd 4-runners - they just don't design the braking systems properly for this type of truck". Twice I have run off the road in order to avoid hitting someone in front of me because of complete failure, once while only going 20 mph. Toyota tacoma's appear to not have this type of problem - I think after thousands of dollars in brake system repairs and two very near accidents - someone at Toyota should evaluate this braking system and either offer an alternative or offer a warning to potential buyers.