Quick advice with Brake Feel-OEM Solution?

[serpico1]

Hi All,

I hope everyone is having a good weekend.

I am getting a 21 LC later this year and wanted to ask a question about brake pads and rotors.

I am not very technical so I could use some expert advice.

The brakes were for me the worst part of the drive when I owned my 2016 LC, I got used to them but it toook some time.

If someone wanted to improve the braking feel of their LC should i swap out and get the TRD brand pads and rotors or another brand?
Can someone tell me ball park what this costs anyway? I have no idea. Is it $500 job, or is it a $2000 job?

Anyway, thanks again in advance for your help.

Eric

 

[cboyd]

The biggest gripe I had on my 100 was soft brakes. Eventually I got them where I wanted with terrain tamer rotors/ pads and new OEM calipers at 200k miles. That was about 1500 job.

then I bought a 200 and feel like I’m starting all over again because the 200 hassoft brakes IMO. I have noticed when the PC kicks in and spools up the accumulator I really like the feel. (But I don’t think I want to keep doing that! That only when someone cuts me off!)

My 200 has new OEM rotors and pads at 75k and I’m only at 86k now.

I’m going to start looking at terrain tamer options for the 200.I’ve heard of big brake kits (BBK) for the LCs but not sure if they fit the 200 (and my 17” rockawarriors) On the 100 it requires 18wheels. Maybe Someone here has done the math on them.

sub’d to see where this discussion goes

 

[afgman786]

TRD will help a bit, they have a better initial bite. You could easily swap them yourself with basic tools.

To your point of OEM rotors or aftermarket you'll get a lot of arguments for both sides. I'm running DBA rotors, along with TRD pads. Also swapped to steel brake lines. I think the real benefit will be TRD pads and steel lines. Also if you do a quick initial press on brake pedal the booster bites harder, compared to going into it slowly. So learning how to get it to engage quickly helps get rid of that squishy feeling from my experience.

 

[coleAK]

Stick with OEM rotors. The vast majority are same or worse than OEM. Slotted/drilled are all pointless other then they add structural weakness. No meaningful increase in any aftermarket rotors really for anything except for track cars. If you want more bite switch to stopTech, TRD,... pads. If you want a sporty feeling car buy something else.

I’ll add I tow a <7k lb camper 5-10k miles a summer run OEM rotors and stop tech pads.

 

[chemguys]

I may have had another issue that I'm not aware of, but I've switched back to OEM from TRD pads. Anyway, my front rotors warped a bit and I picked up a rock or something that embedded into my driver's side rear pad and scored that rotor. Had the rotors turned and switched back to the OEM pads. I had the TRDs on my 80 and loved them (got 30K miles out of the pads). The brake feel and bite is better with the TRD pads, but they dust like crazy and don't seem to be as rotor friendly on my 200.
Just posting my experience FYI.

 

[TeCKis300]

There's been some that have converted to Tundra brakes on pre-2016 cruisers. Here's a thread. I do wish it were a bit more clear as to exactly the parts necessary.

STOP, collaborate and listen.....Tundra brake swap

First I would like to thank Brian Jowett (@bjowett ) for figuring out that this is possible and providing some of the parts at a better cost than available anywhere else. Second I want to thank Camelback Toyota and their parts department. They have gone above and beyond looking over parts...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[molanginaeda]

I’m running EBC rotors and EBC green pads (aka EBC stage 3 kit) with stainless steel brake line. Huge improvement over oem. Eliminate soft paddle and I get more firm paddle feedback.

 

[Dixon Santana]

I just finished up a brake job this past week with new hoses front and rear. Typically, oem is the only route I go, but I've had good luck with Bosch rotors in the past so I went with those. For pads, Brembo ceramic pads. Honestly it was more of an impulse purchase on the pads. As far as hoses, I did oem in the rear and Stop Tech stainless lines up front. As others have mentioned, brake pedal feel on a 200 is not exactly inspiring. All of this and a brake flush, soft brake pedal is gone! As soon as you step of the brake pedal it's nice and firm.

 

[bloc]

OP is looking at a ‘21 so they will already have the new large brakes.

You might try letting the brakes bed in some and see if you like them more. From the factory the rotor is bare and needs a little bit of heat and friction to get a layer of pad material to transfer to the rotor before they will feel “right” for those pads.

Even then the stock pads are likely ceramic with a heavy emphasis on no dust.. a metallic pad like TRD will have better initial bite and fade resistance, but the trade-off is more dust and they are harder on the rotors. With so few miles you could just throw those on and bed them in with your existing rotors.
I’ve found with the TRD pads you will need to pay extra attention to not coming to a complete stop with very hot rotors.. like stopping from freeway speeds to a stop light. They will leave uneven deposits on the rotors and cause pulsation. This can be fixed by getting them very hot again.. but it’s better to plan ahead and stop short so you can gradually roll along to keep the pads moving across the rotor.. or if you must stop put the truck in neutral and release as much brake as you can. Yes, it sucks having to do this.. but these are 6k# vehicles with average sized brakes.. frankly precautions must be taken.

 

[serpico1]

Thanks so much to everyone for the advice. I will look at these options for sure. This is an incredible forum Have a good weekend everyone.

 

[CharlieS]

I've had good luck with TRD pads and oem Toyota rotors. I don't drive my 200 aggressively, and don't drive freeways so may have different needs than some of the other posters above. I prefer the TRD pads over stock, but they aren't exactly night and day different.

 

[Ossy]

I've had good luck with TRD pads and oem Toyota rotors. I don't drive my 200 aggressively, and don't drive freeways so may have different needs than some of the other posters above. I prefer the TRD pads over stock, but they aren't exactly night and day different.

Did you have TRD front and rear pads or do you have stoptechs in the front? The TRD front pads aren't available anywhere, so I might go with the stoptechs after reading they are supposedly identical.

 

[CharlieS]

Did you have TRD front and rear pads or do you have stoptechs in the front? The TRD front pads aren't available anywhere, so I might go with the stoptechs after reading they are supposedly identical.

I previously had TRD pads front and rear on my former 200. I have Stoptech Sport front and rear on my current 200. I've had them side by side and they are similar, but they aren't identical. They don't have the same markings. In use, I observe that the Stoptechs are a more agressive compound, are noisier, and stop better. I prefer the TRD pads, and wish I could get my hands on a set.

 

[Ossy]

I previously had TRD pads front and rear on my former 200. I have Stoptech Sport front and rear on my current 200. I've had them side by side and they are similar, but they aren't identical. They don't have the same markings. In use, I observe that the Stoptechs are a more agressive compound, are noisier, and stop better. I prefer the TRD pads, and wish I could get my hands on a set.

Great analysis, I'm going with the stoptechs for now until I can find a set of TRDs. Do you think the stoptechs are significantly rougher on the OEM rotor?

 

[CharlieS]

Great analysis, I'm going with the stoptechs for now until I can find a set of TRDs. Do you think the stoptechs are significantly rougher on the OEM rotor?

They don't seem to be. I just did about 10k miles in the last month with everything from urban highway to mountainous offroad, and don't see any noticeable wear.