FZJ Big Brake Upgrade on FJ

[Demonic92]

UPDATE: I did the upgrade!

Hi everyone,
I finally put 16s on my 91 and have maybe 1mm left on my front brake pads, so seems like the perfect time to upgrade to the 93-97 bigger brakes. Before ordering all the stuff though, I just want to confirm I’m not doing something wrong…

I intend to order new calipers, pads, rotors from NAPA because that’s where I’ve gotten brake stuff for my 91 in the past with great luck. Right now I have NAPA’s “Premium” line of brake rotors, NAPA’s “Adaptive One” line of calipers, and Akebono ACT502 brake pads. I was planning on going with the same line of all parts for the upgrade, just for a 97 instead.

When I compare the specs of all parts between 91 and 97, the only noticeable difference is that the 91 rotors are ~286mm and the 97 rotors are ~311mm. NAPA shows the ACT502 pads as working for both 91 and 97, so no change on anything there. The calipers are the same specs but obviously different design to accommodate bigger rotor.

So will I really feel any increase in braking power/any kind of extra benefit? The pads have the same amount of contact with the rotors on a 91 and on a 97 with these parts.

Maybe I need to look at a different brand/model of brake pads, or maybe I need to look elsewhere from NAPA? What’s the secret recipe for the 91-92 big(ger) brake upgrade?

Looks like NAPA also has EBC/Brembo branded front brake rotors for the 97, the EBCs are absurdly expensive and the Brembo option looks like an OEM replacement, probably not much different from NAPA’s Premium rotor option, for like $30 more… probably just going to stick with the NAPA option?

Thanks in advance.

 

[COS80]

I can't recommend EBC Greenstuffs more strongly.

 

[Demonic92]

I can't recommend EBC Greenstuffs more strongly.

I’ve heard a lot of high praise about them. I will definitely look into them as an alternative to the ACT502s. Just looked and the EBC DP6992 (Green Stuff) pads are also interchangeable between 91-97, so still same size. But, I appreciate the recommendation!

 

[Demonic92]

Please forgive me for using ChatGPT, but it said the benefit from the bigger diameter rotor is that:

“brake torque = clamp force × friction coefficient × effective rotor radius”

Which, if correct (can someone smarter than me fact check?) would explain why the 93-97 brakes are a little more powerful than the 91-92…

The more I compare the Akebono with the EBC, the better the EBC is looking. Not excited about more brake dust but the performance benefits seem to outweigh that downside plenty.

At this point, all recommendations are appreciated. So many options…

 

[TheBussman]

not only is the rotor quite a bit bigger it's also thicker, check the caliper piston diameters, might also be bigger. I like advcis, Akebono, powerstop.

 

[Demonic92]

not only is the rotor quite a bit bigger it's also thicker, check the caliper piston diameters, might also be bigger. I like advcis, Akebono, powerstop.

Pistons seem to be 45mm on both 91-92 and 93-97. Thanks for recs!

 

[cruiserhound]

Hi everyone,
I finally put 16s on my 91 and have maybe 1mm left on my front brake pads, so seems like the perfect time to upgrade to the 93-97 bigger brakes. Before ordering all the stuff though, I just want to confirm I’m not doing something wrong…

I intend to order new calipers, pads, rotors from NAPA because that’s where I’ve gotten brake stuff for my 91 in the past with great luck. Right now I have NAPA’s “Premium” line of brake rotors, NAPA’s “Adaptive One” line of calipers, and Akebono ACT502 brake pads. I was planning on going with the same line of all parts for the upgrade, just for a 97 instead.

When I compare the specs of all parts between 91 and 97, the only noticeable difference is that the 91 rotors are ~286mm and the 97 rotors are ~311mm. NAPA shows the ACT502 pads as working for both 91 and 97, so no change on anything there. The calipers are the same specs but obviously different design to accommodate bigger rotor.

So will I really feel any increase in braking power/any kind of extra benefit? The pads have the same amount of contact with the rotors on a 91 and on a 97 with these parts.

Maybe I need to look at a different brand/model of brake pads, or maybe I need to look elsewhere from NAPA? What’s the secret recipe for the 91-92 big(ger) brake upgrade?

Looks like NAPA also has EBC/Brembo branded front brake rotors for the 97, the EBCs are absurdly expensive and the Brembo option looks like an OEM replacement, probably not much different from NAPA’s Premium rotor option, for like $30 more… probably just going to stick with the NAPA option?

Thanks in advance.

Good morning Demonic92! Have you performed this upgrade yet? I sorely need better brakes and this option is the most cost effective. If you have done the upgrade I was hoping you could tell me what your results are?

 

[Demonic92]

Good morning Demonic92! Have you performed this upgrade yet? I sorely need better brakes and this option is the most cost effective. If you have done the upgrade I was hoping you could tell me what your results are?

Wow, sorry for the late response. I’m bad at checking my email.

I’ve already got 2,000 miles on the new brake setup. To recap, I did:

-Caliper upgrade. Previously, I had NAPA Adaptive One calipers for a 1991 (mine is a 1991) with about 45k miles on them. Now, I have NAPA Adaptive One calipers for a 1997.
-Rotor upgrade. Previously had NAPA Premium rotors for a 1991, now have NAPA Premium rotors for a 1997.
-Pad upgrade. Previously had Akebono ACT502, now have EBC Greenstuff DP6992, thanks to the recommendation of @COS80

I also had the brake fluid flushed by a shop that knows what they’re doing, Pacific Rim Automotive, in Seattle. I timed this brake job specifically to be during the 2 weeks I was in Seattle so they could do the flush, as they are the only mechanic I trust to do things right on my 80. They flushed the LSPV too, which they noted was tricky. Haven’t found a mechanic I trust in Utah. I believe this alone makes a big difference.

Of course, I also repacked the bearings, replaced the wheel seal, and reset the bearing preload, which is a lot of fun…

I read up a lot on the break-in process for the EBC pads. Didn’t do any hard or long stops, relied a lot on downshifting to slow down and pulsing the brakes so as to not overheat or glaze anything. Was probably being too careful, but can you really be too careful? I think I was fully feeling the potential of this setup after about 300 miles, which included probably 100 miles of highway driving with light braking. Although, I was dealing with a weird pulsation in the pedal (not the steering wheel) for about the first 1,500 miles. I was going to post on here asking what that was all about, but in typical Land Cruiser fashion, that sorted itself out.

I will echo the common sentiment on here that this is NOT a “night and day” difference. For that, you’ll want to look into things like retrofitting a Bosch electric brake booster, and I had no interest in doing that.

However, the difference is noticeable. First, visually, the 93-97 rotors are noticeably larger in diameter than the 91-92, and way thicker as well. The Akebono pads I had were awesome, but more of a premium OEM kind of upgrade as opposed to an actual performance upgrade. The EBC pads are awesome. My main concern going into this project was the initial bite and consistent feeling throughout the travel of the pedal. Admittedly I haven’t done an emergency stop yet, but it’s kind of hard to find yourself in that scenario with a 3FE on 33’s. However, I do notice a much better initial response and follow through when I do press on the pedal, and just the other day I had a little surprise brake from the car in front of me. I pressed on the brake as I was used to with the old setup, and the difference was measurable. I was surprised. I started stopping a lot quicker. I’m very happy with this.

Another scenario that has noticeably improved is braking on a downhill stretch when I get an unexpected yellow light. It didn’t help that my Akebonos were at 3mm, but with the new setup, I’m not having to push the pedal to the floor at the end of the stop to get the car to stop before the line on the road. Again, I think this is a mix of everything: the bigger rotors/calipers, the proper bleed job, and the badass EBCs.

The car now brakes how I’d expect a vehicle like the 80 series to brake. I’m not stopping on a dime like a brand new Audi, but I’m not gripping the steering wheel while braking anymore either. It feels a lot more confident. Overall I would highly recommend this upgrade. I find it to be the best balance between cost and performance. I certainly do not have fun while doing a full front brake job on this car, especially the bearing repacking, but it is worth it.

 

[Demonic92]

Additional note:
-Don’t forget that you’ll have to trim the original heat shields to fit 93-97 rotors/calipers on a 91-92. You could buy the 93-97 heat shields, but searching through discussions about it on mud, I found that to be not worth it. I used my Dremel with metal cutting wheels and probably went through 2-3 wheels, can’t remember. Marked my cut with a sharpie beforehand and then followed up with a diamond grinding bit to smooth it out. Used a q-tip with some rust stop primer in a bottle cap to cover the exposed metal from the cut. These are the pieces I cut off from either side’s heat shield. The thicker one was the first side I did, skinnier was next side.

-Also, brake dust on my front wheels is WAY up compared to the Akebonos. Which is to be expected from the marketing materials of both pads. You trade clean wheels for better stopping power. I am not able to wash my Cruiser as much as I used to, so I’m looking in to getting my wheels ceramic coated. I have Nomad Arvos in Dusk, which hide the dust a lot better than my stock alloys, but I don’t want to start getting buildup as I just got these wheels in December.

Bonus picture of the beautiful EBC Greenstuffs pads installed: