Anyone done Tundra brakes on a early Solid Axle. (1 Viewer)

[jynx]

Was reading over on Pirate the other day and found a blurb where a guy put Tundra rotors and calipers on a Toyota solid axle. It had the ifs hub swap and Tundy rotors and calipers. Looked like some serious beef and I was just curious if anyone over here had done it or even seen it done.

I read the most folks who do the IFS hub swap end up using re-drilled FJ60 rotors or Tacoma rotors with the calipers mounted opposite but I am intrigued by the Tundy upgrade. Brakes are definitely a bigger is better thing in my book.

Thanks

 

[Thundra]

As a proud Tundra owner I can tell you that Tundra rotors are crap. They are undersized for what they are asked to do. On a hilux size rig they might be o.k. as it is a smaller, but you could probably get the same effect with aftermarket slotted rotors meant for the truck and maybe a larger booster from a larger rig. This kind of mod will probably not require any extra engineering.

 

[jynx]

Well the Tundra rotors look to be over an inch larger in diameter and are over a quarter inch thicker, so more pad to rotor area and better heat dissipation.

As my research continues I am learning that this looks to be a very doable upgrade. I am thinking that the axle rebuild will be a project for this spring. I had already planned on using the FROR spring hanger kit so I think I will get their brackets while I am at it and just see play with it.

 

[Thundra]

I understand that they are bigger, however they don't hold up. I have few buddies with Tundras that expressed the same thing. I also have a Sequoia and with the extra weight, it is even harder to stop. My wife's friend is a former Sequoia owner and she complained about having to lay into the pedal to slow it down too. Of course, these are all first gen rigs. The new ones are quite a bit larger as the rigs themselves have grown. I'm just offering my $.02 as an owner of these rigs. Best of luck in your endeavour.

 

[jynx]

Ah, gotcha. That is interesting. I definitely appreciate the input and misinterpreted your post. It sounds like the Tundras should have had bigger brakes. I think my thought is along the lines you mentioned, since my pickup is light then having a bigger rotor and more area will help improve braking.

 

[Jetboy]

Having swapped tundra brakes into my 4runner (IFS 3rd gen) - I would not spend a lot of extra $ to do it. My factory mini truck rotors stop my fj40 on 38's every bit as well as my 4runner stops. The tundra rotors are the same diameter as the 3rd gen 4runner rotors. The only difference is is the thickness. The first tundra rotors I used warped right away. No different than the factory ones.

The second set I now have on are more expensive cryo treated rotors. So far so good. They stop just as well as any other disc brake, but I don't see them as a big enough advantage to be worth spending a lot of $ on.

One huge benefit that I see is that the rotors are a LOT easier to remove and replace on an IFS style hub. They are a huge PITA on a minitruck. If you're going to be using it enough that wearing them out is an issue, then I would go for the swap.

 

[TCinVA]

I put FJ 60 rotors on my son's SAS '86.

 

[Sam Stewart]

I think the more popular upgrade is the FJ60 rotors and 4Runner calipers. I'd think that would be just as good. The only downfall is the rotors do not slide on and off.

And yes the Tundra brakes were too small. They had a service bulletin to replace the rotors, calipers, backing plates, and pads to a larger size on the 00-02s. The 03s had all the larger stuff already installed.

 

[cody c]

My 60 stopped great with the v6 4runner calipers on stock rotors and 1/2 ton chevy rotors on the back with monte carlo calipers... And that was on 39.5" Iroks. Brakes were comparable to the wifes 07 4runner just more body roll.

 

[Sam Stewart]

If I ever do mine, I'll probably do the 4Runner calipers and FJ60 rotors.

 

[dtrailtaco]

If I had to do it over again, or when my brakes need changing, I would just do ifs v6 calipers and tacoma rotors. That way the rotor just slides on and off with ifs hubs. The studs having to through the rotor and having to basically take the whole hub unit off is a real pain when all you want to do swap warped rotors or get them re-surfaced. I currently have fj60 rotors but when I do brakes again I am going to swap it all out for ifs hubs and tacoma rotors.


I think with tundra calipers you can't run certain 15" wheels too or you either have to grind the caliper down some.

 

[jynx]

I was mainly looking at how to use the IFS hubs and what brakes would work with that set-up, which is what kind of got me on the Tundra idea. Rotors go over the hub for easy on/ off and the calipers can be mounted to align with the rotor. My truck stops fine with the 4cyl calipers and rotors now so I would guess anything above this is only gravy. So sounds like there are some other great options aside from the Tundra, but if I am buying rotors and sourcing calipers for this axle, is the cost difference between parts enough to not go ahead and do the tundra upgrade? I already have 16" wheels so clearance isn't my main concern. I just want to have good brakes that are serviceable.

 

[Jetboy]

If I had to do it over again, or when my brakes need changing, I would just do ifs v6 calipers and tacoma rotors. That way the rotor just slides on and off with ifs hubs. The studs having to through the rotor and having to basically take the whole hub unit off is a real pain when all you want to do swap warped rotors or get them re-surfaced. I currently have fj60 rotors but when I do brakes again I am going to swap it all out for ifs hubs and tacoma rotors.


I think with tundra calipers you can't run certain 15" wheels too or you either have to grind the caliper down some.

The tundra rotors are the same diameter as the IFS rotors for most 4runners. Tacomas and some 2wd or 4cyl 4runners had smaller brake rotors. The only difference between the tundra and regular IFS rotors is how thick they are. The calipers are identical except for the spacing. They bolt on the same mounts etc.

If you're buying all new parts, go tundra. No reason not to. I've done a swap from ifs to tundra myself on my 4runner and don't think it's worth the money if you already have the larger 4runner stuff. Here's a comparison.

The tundra/ifs rotors are a lot bigger than the tacomas and 15" wheeled 4runners:

You cannot put regular 15" wheels on either the regular IFS or tundra rotors. The 16" factory 4runner wheels fit over both.

 

[dtrailtaco]

depends on the 15" wheel as there are certain 15" wheels that will fit the tacoma. Wheeler steelies from wheelers offroad is one of them and what I have on my 89 and the same set use to be on my 01 tacoma.

 

[Eric Winkworth]

To me aftermarket rotors in general seem to have gotten worse over the last few years... I have done a lot of brake jobs in my life and until recently I never had an issue even when using white box rotors... Well that's not the case anymore... Even those cross drilled rotors I've never had good luck with, unless they're factory treated brembos.... Slotted are generally better, but again if they aren't heat treated properly you will have a pulsing pedal in no time...

I only use centric or brembo rotors and akebono pads now for all the peoples cars I work on and I haven't had an issue since... Before it was pedal pulsing issues like crazy, either from friction spots or warpage of the rotors. This would happen from a week to a couple months of installing new rotors even using several differenbt "grades" on various vehicles japanese and american... Some drivers that do primarly city driving, that downshift and take it very easy on there brakes haven't had an issue... However most automatic vehicles, especially those that are heavy, demand a lot out of there brakes...


I don't fall for most aftermarket brake stuff anymore, 95% of the stuff is junk IMO that won't be on anyones car I work on again. Most of the companies have no customer service to speak of and sell absolute crap...

I know same old story, the problem I can see is some of these aftermarktet companies are typically who supply the manufacturers...

I am interested to know the problem you have with ur truck specific to brakes and also the brand of brake you've been using...

 

[Jetboy]

To me aftermarket rotors in general seem to have gotten worse over the last few years... I have done a lot of brake jobs in my life and until recently I never had an issue even when using white box rotors... Well that's not the case anymore... Even those cross drilled rotors I've never had good luck with, unless they're factory treated brembos.... Slotted are generally better, but again if they aren't heat treated properly you will have a pulsing pedal in no time...

I only use centric or brembo rotors and akebono pads now for all the peoples cars I work on and I haven't had an issue since... Before it was pedal pulsing issues like crazy, either from friction spots or warpage of the rotors. This would happen from a week to a couple months of installing new rotors even using several differenbt "grades" on various vehicles japanese and american... Some drivers that do primarly city driving, that downshift and take it very easy on there brakes haven't had an issue... However most automatic vehicles, especially those that are heavy, demand a lot out of there brakes...


I don't fall for most aftermarket brake stuff anymore, 95% of the stuff is junk IMO that won't be on anyones car I work on again. Most of the companies have no customer service to speak of and sell absolute crap...

I know same old story, the problem I can see is some of these aftermarktet companies are typically who supply the manufacturers...

I am interested to know the problem you have with ur truck specific to brakes and also the brand of brake you've been using...

I can 2nd this. After the tundra swap I did, the first two sets of rotors were crap. Less than a year each before they were pulsing badly. Third set was Centric cryo rotors (not sure cryo does any good on metal that heats up that much regularly - but I was so tired of crap rotors that I bought em). They've been great so far. I drive a canyon that is a 3500ft elevation drop in 7 miles twice a week. It works the brakes hard. Nothing but smooth sailing since the centrics. And they really weren't all that expensive.

 

[jynx]

I am interested to know the problem you have with ur truck specific to brakes and also the brand of brake you've been using...

All the other information was good to know, but to answer this question specifically, I currently have a 1990 pickup and I am going to be building a 1983 SA to do a SAS on later in 2013 I hope and I have been researching parts for the axle build itself.

I had found some information about using the IFS hubs to avoid having to use wheel spacers to get the proper width, but from what I read the use of the IFS hubs requires a different brake setup than a typical build with bolt on wheel spacers would use. With that in mind I started reading and I ran across a thread on Pirate where a guy had used Tundra Rotors and calipers with some FROR caliper brackets end up with a Tundra brake setup that put the rotors on the front of the hub sandwiched between the wheel and hub instead of bolted on the back.

It also looked like an opportunity upgrade to a larger rotor and bigger caliper to help improve the overall braking performance. I am still getting educated on this matter and overall I am just curious if anyone else has tried this setup, or if anyone has any other ideas on how best to set up the brakes on a SAS rig that is using ifs hubs to gain extra width.

Thus far this has been good information and I appreciate anything extra that you folks may have to offer.

 

[fj80ontons]

I've got a set of the fror brake caliper mounts, i'm using 02 4runner rotors with matching calipers, and have had great luck with them, but they require a 16" rim. they flat out shut my 1990 4runner on 35's down so fast that my passenger's face has hit the dash. plus with the setup, I don't have to run 1.5" wheel spacers to match the 86+ rear axle width. if u want to keep a 15" rim, use the 1996 plus Tacoma rotor/caliper. plus don't forget to upgrade the master cylinder to the 1" one off a 1990-95 v6 4runner.

 

[jynx]

I've got a set of the fror brake caliper mounts, i'm using 02 4runner rotors with matching calipers, and have had great luck with them, but they require a 16" rim. they flat out shut my 1990 4runner on 35's down so fast that my passenger's face has hit the dash. plus with the setup, I don't have to run 1.5" wheel spacers to match the 86+ rear axle width. if u want to keep a 15" rim, use the 1996 plus Tacoma rotor/caliper. plus don't forget to upgrade the master cylinder to the 1" one off a 1990-95 v6 4runner.

Thanks, so you are running the ifs hubs on your SA, correct? Do your rotors bolt on the back of the hub like the IFS or drop over the front and get sandwiched between the wheel and hub? Got a picture of your setup?

 

[bkg]

http://frontrangeoffroadfab.com/nfoscomm/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27&products_id=136

+

Tundra 231mm rotors (powerslot) and calipers

=

profit.