DIY Tundra Brakes (BBK) (2 Viewers)

[Bryanmc]

I’m more apprehensive about the brake line retention issue than I am about drilling the knuckle, for whatever reason.

This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever posted online.

Drilling the holes has been brutal for me. I’m on day 2 and just almost complete with two holes. I bought several different HSS bits and think I’ve dulled them all.

I wish I knew an easier way, I’m pretty beat down at this point.

 

[bloc]

This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever posted online.

Drilling the holes has been brutal for me. I’m on day 2 and just almost complete with two holes. I bought several different HSS bits and think I’ve dulled them all.

I wish I knew an easier way, I’m pretty beat down at this point.

My brake parts have all been so slow to ship I haven’t been under much time pressure to try drilling mine with that step bit.. sorry I couldn’t collect more data first.

 

[Bryanmc]

Those that drilled, did you spray any paint in the holes to cover the exposed steel?

 

[supercarrera]

Those that drilled, did you spray any paint in the holes to cover the exposed steel?

Good question! I didn't think about hitting them with paint until I had everything buttoned up. I wish I would have done it but I think the holes will be okay for a while until I feel like getting in there again.

 

[supercarrera]

This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever posted online.

Drilling the holes has been brutal for me. I’m on day 2 and just almost complete with two holes. I bought several different HSS bits and think I’ve dulled them all.

I wish I knew an easier way, I’m pretty beat down at this point.

Are you working your way up from 1/2 to 17/32 to 9/16 like I did? I think that's the best way to do it. It was brutal for me too but I think it took me less than three hours to do all four.

 

[Bryanmc]

Are you working your way up from 1/2 to 17/32 to 9/16 like I did? I think that's the best way to do it. It was brutal for me too but I think it took me less than three hours to do all four.

Yes, no idea why it’s taking so long for me.

 

[CharlieS]

Somebody said that sharp driils may not help in this situation because of the presence of threads, but if you think it would be helpful, I have had great luck with my Drill Doctor and would recommend it. I see a massive difference between using freshly tuned up drills and ones that have wear. Also, possibly silly of me to even say anything, but matching speed to material, and cooling and lubrication can make a huge difference in cutting action too.

 

[Bryanmc]

This is the first time I’ve done anything quite like drilling through this metal. Almost certainly I’m not being efficient.

Using a ton of cutting oil, and my corded drill is 1200 RPM which based on my googling is a good speed.

I did use my cordless drill for a bit at low speed/high torque but the corded seemed to do better.

 

[grinchy]

This is the first time I’ve done anything quite like drilling through this metal. Almost certainly I’m not being efficient.

Using a ton of cutting oil, and my corded drill is 1200 RPM which based on my googling is a good speed.

I did use my cordless drill for a bit at low speed/high torque but the corded seemed to do better.

I think you should be at a slower speed - something like 500 rpm. For reference my drill press suggests 600 rpm for 1/2" bit, and the speed decreases further as bit diameter increases and material hardness increases.

 

[bloc]

I think you should be at a slower speed - something like 500 rpm. For reference my drill press suggests 600 rpm for 1/2" bit, and the speed decreases further as bit diameter increases and material hardness increases.

A critical difference here is your drill press is assuming it is cutting the whole 1/2" face at once..

Here we are applying all of the force to a very tiny portion of the cutting face of the drill, meaning for a given RPM and bit pressure that portion of the bit face will cut much deeper. This is why, in my experience, once you can get the cut going enough for the drill to guide itself a not-very-sharp bit and more RPMs can help. It keeps the bit from digging in and binding.

 

[Bryanmc]

Hallelujah, brake job complete!

The right tools for the right job, USED IN THE RIGHT WAY, is critical. Thanks for the suggestion to slow the drill down, that along with some new cobalt bits made all the difference.

Got the new 2016+ calipers and rotors on, brakes feel great. There’s a bit of speed related noise that I suspect is being caused from where I might not have bent the dust shield back enough from the new rotors, but it’s raining now so will investigate later.

Thanks for all the help! This may have been a two banana job, but one of those bananas was jammed where the sun don’t shine in my case.

 

[Bryanmc]

Any thoughts on this sound? It’s on both sides. It’s definitely not the dust shield.



Best I can determine it’s a corner of the brake pad that’s scraping the rotor, hard to see in this pic. But that could also be wrong.

Thoughts? Something that will go away after breaking in or something that needs to be addressed immediately?

 

[supercarrera]

It sounds like the dust shield. Did you put new pads in? I reused my existing pads an had no issues like that.

 

[Bryanmc]

I really don’t think it’s the dust shield, I’ve checked both and it’s not close to the rotor.

I put in new pads.

 

[doru]

It sounds as dust shields for sure.
A brake pad is not going to make that hollow sound. Is any of the other hardware touching? Are the pads properly seated in the caliper?

 

[supercarrera]

I really don’t think it’s the dust shield, I’ve checked both and it’s not close to the rotor.

I put in new pads.

If you haven't done it already, you can try turning the wheel with your hand on the shield to see if you feel it vibrating when it makes that noise.

 

[bloc]

I’ll post more later but two words: step bit.

Four more: 1 minute per hole.

Stay tuned.

 

[bloc]

I'm pretty done for the night so will post more comprehensively tomorrow after the job is done, but got one side finished in about 3 hours, including pulling the hub and bearing to install a 16+ backing plate. Tomorrow will be under 2.

I think with the step-bit the holes are now a non-issue. Teckis' ground tool worked well, and the special tool just slightly better. Either would be a good option, with teckis' tool being cheap but needing a bench grinder for modification, the custom tool more expensive but ready to go and just a bit more stable when actually drilling. I didn't even use cutting oil on the passenger side, will play with that on the driver's side tomorrow to see if it helps.

One interesting thing I noticed is these larger caliper bolts go to 133 ft-lbf, so a trail-side repair is effectively a different animal than the original M12 parts at 73.

I'll have many more pics and video when I put together a better post tomorrow or the day after. For anyone waiting to do 16+ calipers due to difficulty with the holes, consider that problem solved.

Thanks to @TeCKis300 for the modified tool, and to @VooDoo2 for confirming the caliper holes are in the same location. Also @bjowett for getting this ball rolling so many years ago. Between the tundra caliper swap and the later parts swap, people now have some great options for improving the brakes on our rigs.

 

[TeCKis300]

I'm pretty done for the night so will post more comprehensively tomorrow after the job is done, but got one side finished in about 3 hours, including pulling the hub and bearing to install a 16+ backing plate. Tomorrow will be under 2.

I think with the step-bit the holes are now a non-issue. Teckis' ground tool worked well, and the special tool just slightly better. Either would be a good option, with teckis' tool being cheap but needing a bench grinder for modification, the custom tool more expensive but ready to go and just a bit more stable when actually drilling. I didn't even use cutting oil on the passenger side, will play with that on the driver's side tomorrow to see if it helps.

One interesting thing I noticed is these larger caliper bolts go to 133 ft-lbf, so a trail-side repair is effectively a different animal than the original M12 parts at 73.

I'll have many more pics and video when I put together a better post tomorrow or the day after. For anyone waiting to do 16+ calipers due to difficulty with the holes, consider that problem solved.

Thanks to @TeCKis300 for the modified tool, and to @VooDoo2 for confirming the caliper holes are in the same location. Also @bjowett for getting this ball rolling so many years ago. Between the tundra caliper swap and the later parts swap, people now have some great options for improving the brakes on our rigs.

That's great news. You can prob see that the bit I sent was petty butchered but sounds like it's still the right type of tool for the job.

Looking forward to your write-up and final impressions of the upgraded brakes!

 

[bloc]

Got the other side done today, no issues. The brakes feel great, even with already used pads and not being bedded in yet. The initial grab/bite is better.. basically it's easy to tell they simply have more leverage over the wheel/tire to haul down the speed of the vehicle.

Before:

After:

The various bits I used.
Teckis' modified step bit.
Bosch C2S2 5/8" countersink tool, about $11 on amazon.
Champion XSR "brute" step reamer. I paid about $60 for this online.

The reason the cheap bit must be modified is we need the largest diameter to be 9/16", and these aren't readily available. Teckis is really clever and he chucked it up in a drill then spun it over a bench grinder to take off the larger diameter, and you have a cheap 9/16" step bit. This would work fine for most people if they have the tools to grind one down.

The countersink tool is used to debur and chamfer the holes after enlarging. Factory has a small chamfer around the holes, and it is good practice in through-holes like this.

The Champion bit is arguably overkill, but basically a more robust tool for this job. The longer steps do a marginally better job of stabilizing the bit (assuming you can put both hands on the drill), and a tool like this will most likely be made of better steel. Thing is, the knuckle isn't particularly hard metal, and most of this stuff will be used for exactly 4 holes for most people, so I don't see the cheap bit wearing out. But, no modifications, just chuck it up and go.

I used these in a standard dewalt 20v cordless drill. I often use the faster speed 2 for this type of job, and simply throttle the speed way down. I find that with less gear reduction if the bit grabs there is less inertia in the motor to dissipate into my wrists. These brushless drills are particularly good at stuff like this, and mine had zero issues.

Really.. each hole was less than a minute, if I could have both hands on the drill. You'll want to pay attention to keep the bit mostly straight, it is totally possible to get it crooked. I found looking around the back I was able to see the back of the hole that was larger than the protruding bit, and keep it straight by making the gap around the bit even.

For the two holes today I played with using a cutting lube, with no discernible benefit. I could see a situation where it could buy some buffer space for someone that isn't as experienced working metal and has more trouble walking the line of speed/pressure to keep the drill cutting correctly.. but for most it won't be important.

If you are changing backing plates which requires removing the hub and bearing, I recommend doing all drilling before that part, even though you'd technically have a little better access with the backing plate out of the way. With my drill everything cleared with it in place. Once you remove the bearing drill shavings can get inside the ABS tone ring cavity. If backing plate is left in place, do your drilling and chamfering, blow everything clean with compressed air, then remove the bearing to get at the backing plate.

Chamfering the holes after drilling. To get access to the back you'll need to turn the steering, or if you have one (I did) use a right-angle drill adapter.

The following clip is using teckis bit. Drilling one-handed made the tool much more shaky.. when I got rid of the phone things were nice and stable with good healthy chip production. Excuse the fan noises.. it has to be within 3 feet of me to keep the clouds of mosquitoes away.



This clip is drilling with the specialty bit. Less stable with one hand, but more stable with two. I actually ended up with this hole a bit crooked at half-way due to being distracted with the camera, but was able to rescue it before finishing.