Anyone paying attention to this section recently will have noticed @TeCKis300 excellent thread on an easy big brake kit for 08-15 cruisers using Tundra parts. Deep in that thread info emerged that fitting the 16+ brakes was more easy than initially thought, and as that method has been developed I decided to document things and start a dedicated thread.
If you haven't seen that thread, here it is:
Time for bigger tires and with that, need a big brake kit (BBK). Thanks to the pioneers @TexAZ, @bjowett, and others before me, it's been known that upsized Tundra front brakes, rotor and caliper, largely bolt in. Here's my attempt to simplify the install for others that may want to tackle...
forum.ih8mud.com
First, the why.
08-15 cruisers/LX570s had 340mm rotors with steel 4-piston calipers using a banjo fitting for the hydraulic line. From 2007 the Tundra came with 354mm rotors, with a reverse flare hydraulic line to a caliper that had mounting bolts in the same location and size as the early 200 parts, which means if you can sort out the hydraulic line everything physically bolts up easily. This is what Teckis documented.
In 2016 Landcruisers and LX570s moved up to a rotor of the same diameter as the tundra for extra thermal capacity and leverage over the tire, but instead of using the Tundra calipers, they retained the banjo fitting, and increased the early 200 and tundra caliper bolt size of M12 to M14.
I have no doubt the Tundra parts are good enough, but have to wonder why toyota felt the need to run the larger hardware. In my head the banjo fitting seems more vibration resistant than the double flare, and given the use-case these vehicles are designed for I can see why toyota stuck with that.. but the hardware.. what do they know?
Initially the suspicion was that the 16+ caliper bolt were not only larger, but in a different position than the earlier parts.
@VooDoo2 shook things up when he posted evidence of simply enlarging the holes in his knuckles and the calipers ending up in the correct position. Then we started trying to find a way to do this easily, with a "step bit" turning out to be the easiest method.
All of this for 14mm?! You wouldn't think it but this upgrade provides a substantial difference in brake feel. The initial bite is much more pronounced, with it feeling exactly like what we've done.. allow the caliper to provide more braking power over the tire by increasing the leverage. Plus larger rotors means more ambient-temperature metal to act as a heat sink during a hard braking event. These won't completely transform the truck, but they will provide a noticeable improvement, especially for people with larger tires or loaded down.
And after all, toyota felt it was necessary in 2016 even for stock trucks.
Anyway, with the big 25% off sale offered for southeast toyota parts dealers I bought all the needed stuff to do the brakes, but also the backing plates. Teckis modified his to fit, but with them being under $70 each and arguably doing a little better job of protecting the larger rotors from splashing, I pulled the trigger.
Doing backing plates requires removing the front hub bearings, which means a couple extra parts are needed.
Still, I think we can break this job up into a couple options. Rotors and calipers, and do what teckis did to modify the backing plates, or add the plates too. So I'll break up the posts as well.
Before:
View attachment 3015206
After:
View attachment 3015205
If you just do the basics, here are the part numbers. Surprisingly cheap at the discount parts sites:
16+ brake rotor x2: 43512-60210
16+ Left front caliper: 47750-60320
16+ Right front caliper: 47730-60320
16+ front caliper bolts x4: 90105-14198 (Edit: NLA. New part number 90105-A0336)
Front caliper banjo fitting crush washer (1 needed per caliper): 47389-50020
If you want to replace the banjo bolt, 2x: 90401-10058
For the situation with the holes, here are the details.
The stock hardware is M12, with the hole in the knuckle being ~12.2mm. The new hardware is M14, and we'll need just a bit bigger hole than that to allow misalignment and ease of install. A 9/16" bit converts to 14.3mm. So get a bit and run it through, right? Turns out that is pretty difficult, when asking it to merely remove 1mm per side, the bit will tend to catch badly.
Cheap step bits are everywhere, only not in 9/16” as the largest diameter, but with the right tools you can easily make one. Teckis took a low-cost 3/4" step bit, chucked it up in a drill, then spun it against an angle grinder to take off the shoulders larger than 9/16. Modifying tools like this is done all the time in machine shops, and is a great way to end up with tools that do the job. That tool is on the left in the following picture.
On the right is a Champion XSR "brute" 9/16" step reamer made for more industrial use. It likely has better steel, and doesn't need any modifying. In addition I found that the longer steps did a slightly better job of keeping the bit stable while drilling.. but frankly it is overkill if you can modify the cheaper bit. It was about $60 online.
Also in the center, a Bosch C2S2 5/8"countersink tool which is useful for chamfering the holes after drilling. Only $11 on amazon.
View attachment 3015198
Here's what all the hole-enlargement is about. Tundra/2008-15 200 on bottom, 16+ 200 on top.
View attachment 3015216
Still plenty of meat left on the knuckle (foreshadowing, this is after drilling).
View attachment 3015225
