OldSven's 4Runner
- Thread starter OldSven
- Start date
OldSven
Explorer
After our little day trip this past weekend coming down the mountain the old stock brakes were getting super hot and warpped out pretty bad and by the time I got home they felt like mush. One of the pads was worn all angled to so I pulled the trigger and stepped up to the 231mm Tundra brakes from AutoZone. These are awsome, much beefier rotors to which is nice. They are still breaking in but you can definetly feel that they are able to hold the weight back with no problem
ttora4runner
Expedition Leader
What rotors are you using?
washington taco
Explorer
So do you just swap out the rotors and calipers? Will 16" factory wheels fit?
washington taco
Explorer
Sven what was the cost as well?
OldSven
Explorer
Yes. I removed the dust shield (basically cut it out), then just installed the new rotors, calipers and pads. My 4runner just has a hard brake line that screws in, from what I know the Tacomas have a banjo bolt that you have to drill and tap the calipers to fit. 16" rims from what I know are the smallest you can run with these and you might have to grind down the back of the rim a little. I didn't have too because I'm running 1.25" wheel spacers. The cost after turnning in my calipers for core charge, and another 10% off for being a nice guy I guess came to $294 out the door...
xcmountain80
Expedition Leader
One of my better and more useful mods too, I can stop a loaded utility trailer with a bit more confidence. I have encountered some stuck pistons resulting in auto store swap outs (lifetime warranty and all, since they don't stick the loaded calipers I get cash back each time. Eventually the caliper pay for themselves). I'm rubbing my LX450 rims at a hard stop even after grinding the calipers a bit.
A
A
washington taco
Explorer
I am currently running 17s but just purchased some stocker 16s as I want to go back to a smaller wheel tire set up.
Sven I would like to see this in person if possible? Nortwest Overland Society is having a meet and greet @ Scuttlebutt Brewery in Everett on November 11th from 6:30-9:00 if your schedule is open.
Sven I would like to see this in person if possible? Nortwest Overland Society is having a meet and greet @ Scuttlebutt Brewery in Everett on November 11th from 6:30-9:00 if your schedule is open.
OldSven
Explorer
Probably won't be able to make that one, we are trying to head over to the tri-cities to see my wife's grandma for a few days. My bro-in-law is up for the week and we re-bled the brakes last night. The peddle is still pretty soft at the top possibly due to maybe needing a bigger master cylinder or something but the brakes stop great. Tried a 20mph roll and slammed on them and locked up the tires on dry pavement so they are a huge improvement over the stockers.
Bonked
Observer
Pulling your trailer: Caliper Mod or swap axle for one w/ ebrakes
I have a Bantam trailer and am on the fence about which direction to go regarding braking.
Last summer I replaced the rotors & pads on my '98 4runner. I went on a 7-state, 5200 m road trip and brakes did fine. Soince then I found a Bantam trailer. I'm planning a road trip from SoCal to Whistler next summer and I will be in a lot of mountain terrain.
So, my question is whether the caliper/rotor mod you did would be adequate for safely stopping the 4runner and loaded trailer (cheapest route) or should I replace trailer axle w/ one that has ebrakes (and be able to run toyota wheels)?
I need a lid for the trailer, so I'm hoping to get by on the tundra brake upgrade. your thoughts?
I was going to start a new thread w question but since you are discussing brakes AND have a NICE little trailer, I thought I'd ask you first!
I have a Bantam trailer and am on the fence about which direction to go regarding braking.
Last summer I replaced the rotors & pads on my '98 4runner. I went on a 7-state, 5200 m road trip and brakes did fine. Soince then I found a Bantam trailer. I'm planning a road trip from SoCal to Whistler next summer and I will be in a lot of mountain terrain.
So, my question is whether the caliper/rotor mod you did would be adequate for safely stopping the 4runner and loaded trailer (cheapest route) or should I replace trailer axle w/ one that has ebrakes (and be able to run toyota wheels)?
I need a lid for the trailer, so I'm hoping to get by on the tundra brake upgrade. your thoughts?
I was going to start a new thread w question but since you are discussing brakes AND have a NICE little trailer, I thought I'd ask you first!
OldSven
Explorer
Depends on how much weight the trailer will have. Mine is pretty heavy do to the Eezi Awn and the frame I built for it, but it also has brakes of it's own which are worth to me. Now that my Tundras are working properly I would say the Tundras should do just fine, the added benefit of having the trailer brakes in my mind are for those close calls they are just that much stopping you but keep the weight in mind and you should be fine.
OldSven
Explorer
So after my trip to eastern washington a couple weekends ago I tracked my mileage at 15.5mpg, granted that was doing 70mph most of the way there, 2 passes, 2 adults, one kid, and all of kids junk I started thinking it was time to put the runner on a little bit of a diet. I opened up the cargo area and started weight stuff that I pack around all the time. Now with "YoungSven" on board the runner has also become another kid hauler along with the Honda and there is no reason to pack all of that weight around town all of the time. I started by weighing everything...
-drawer system 75lbs
-hi-lift 27lbs
-extra cv-axle 20lbs
-tools 100lbs
I removed the drawer system and weeded through all of the tools that some I didn't even realize I had on board with me and dwindled it all down to one small bag of hand tools, and the hi-lift to through in for wheeling trips. Stuff like the Co2 tank, shovel, and axe are attached to the roll bar. So in the end I shed almost 200lbs of junk from the back end and man what a difference it is driving, I didn't think getting rid of the "fat guy" riding in the back would make such a difference but I'm curious if it is enough to squeak out another mpg.
I started thinking it was time to put the runner on a little bit of a diet. I opened up the cargo area and started weight stuff that I pack around all the time. Now with "YoungSven" on board the runner has also become another kid hauler along with the Honda and there is no reason to pack all of that weight around town all of the time. I started by weighing everything...-drawer system 75lbs
-hi-lift 27lbs
-extra cv-axle 20lbs
-tools 100lbs
I removed the drawer system and weeded through all of the tools that some I didn't even realize I had on board with me and dwindled it all down to one small bag of hand tools, and the hi-lift to through in for wheeling trips. Stuff like the Co2 tank, shovel, and axe are attached to the roll bar. So in the end I shed almost 200lbs of junk from the back end and man what a difference it is driving, I didn't think getting rid of the "fat guy" riding in the back would make such a difference but I'm curious if it is enough to squeak out another mpg.
xcmountain80
Expedition Leader
So after my trip to eastern washington a couple weekends ago I tracked my mileage at 15.5mpg, granted that was doing 70mph most of the way there, 2 passes, 2 adults, one kid, and all of kids junk
-drawer system 75lbs
-hi-lift 27lbs
-extra cv-axle 20lbs
-tools 100lbs
I removed the drawer system and weeded through all of the tools that some I didn't even realize I had on board with me and dwindled it all down to one small bag of hand tools, and the hi-lift to through in for wheeling trips. Stuff like the Co2 tank, shovel, and axe are attached to the roll bar. So in the end I shed almost 200lbs of junk from the back end and man what a difference it is driving, I didn't think getting rid of the "fat guy" riding in the back would make such a difference but I'm curious if it is enough to squeak out another mpg.
Sven,
Good for you I did this some time ago and started over with what I really needed. You can use your stock jack with a Hi-Lift base (the big red plastic one) to get the tires off in the need of a change. I kept all my metric tools on board just cause, lost the Hi-Lift, kept the CO2 as my spare only fits fully deflated, lost the roll bar, fridge is currently out and keeps my little ones food seperate from ours for easy meal prep, fridge slide is in, drawers are out, dual batteries are out. I'm not sure how much I lost but every little bit helps.
Aaron