Sheesh, finally done

[Spook50]

Well after what would equal out to three 9 hour days, I finally got the knuckle rebuild done. Installed the new DBA 4000 slotted rotors with new pads, cleaned everything up real nice and shiny new, and WOW what a difference. No grinding and clunking anymore when I turn (though I never could find out what made the grinding noise as I was pulling stuff apart, it seems to be gone now), no pulling to the left when I brake, no brake fade when I romp on the pedal (God it's awesome), and my steering feels 100x better, smoother, and it just feels like a brand new system.

Both old axle oil seals were completely shot. When I pulled the wheels hubs off, tons of nasty, contaminated oil splooged out all over my lap (thank God for coveralls). I was afraid of finding more problems as I went along, but aside from extremely dirty exterior parts, everything was in surprisingly good shape. No excessinve wear on the bearings or races beyond just slight discoloration, no buggered up gaskets or anything else like that. I'm fairly astonished since this hasn't been done in at least the last 117K miles (shut up). Once I got back to the reassembly stage it all went smoothly. Had a little confusion on my bearing preloads, but everything was still within spec, so I went with it.

The brakes: 4Runner calipers on the DBA rotors is FREAKIN AWESOME. My rig stops exponentially better than it did with stock rotors. There's no more brake fade, it actually stops much smoother than before (for some reason my truck would lurch when I hit the brakes, as if the rotors were warped, but when I checked 'em they were still good), and in a great deal less distance. The difference is night and day.

Next stop: rear disc installation!

 

[pplkook]

Did you have to do any grinding on the calipers?

What wheels do you have?

Where did you get your DBA rotors?

A total "parts" list would be cool for all of us thinking of doing the exact same thing. Matter of fact, a sticky would be good, since this comes up so much.

Thanks

Jack

 

[Spook50]

Did you have to do any grinding on the calipers?

What wheels do you have?

Stock wheels, and to use these calipers, they (the calipers) do have to have a small amount of material ground off of them. Nothing that affects the strength of the caliper though. Just some trimming. You also need to modify the pads so that the inner (ie: closest to the center of the wheel) portions that hold the wear indicators don't hit the hub portion of the rotor (for the outer pads) or the knuckle itself (for the inner pads). There are "ears" of the backing plates that the wear indicators are riveted to. These ears get ground off (along with the adjacent ear on the inner pads. You'll know what I mean when you get a set of pads). Also, about 1/4" of metal must be cut from each "side" of the caliper gap of the dust shields. Since the 4Runner rotors are longer from top to bottom when they're installed, the space on the dust shield needs to be widened.

Where did you get your DBA rotors?

I know they're available from MAF, and I think a couple other places. They're the Club Spec 4000 slotted rotors, and they're fantastic. Well worth the high price, IMHO. I didn't really have to shop around, since I got mine from Boston Mangler when he ended up not installing the pair he bought.

A total "parts" list would be cool for all of us thinking of doing the exact same thing. Matter of fact, a sticky would be good, since this comes up so much.

Thanks

Jack

Whoa, easy there sailor As I modify my brake system, I'm working on a fairly large article detailing each modification as I work towards the ultimate 60 series brakes. I have a couple other writeups to finish first though, since those have been waiting on pics that I need to illustrate how I did certain things. Once that stuff is done and I finish the final brake system mod (hydroboost, booya!), I'll write that article and give it to Woddy so he can put it in the Tech section here. If I don't deploy again this summer, it should only be a couple months, money and time allowing.

Meantime, here's a shot of one of the DBA rotors with a rebuilt, cleaned and painted 4Runner caliper installed and ready to go, in all their sexiness

 

[lovetoski]

Awesome work! I can appreciate the gook that ran out of the knuckle...been there, cleaned that up...

On the 4 Runner calipers, did you get used ones and rebuild? I think this is way cheaper than re-maned, but I'm wondering about how it turns out. I've done a rebuild of all 4 calipers on my 80, and will do the same on my 60 in a few days, but wonder what approach you took?

 

[Spook50]

Awesome work! I can appreciate the gook that ran out of the knuckle...been there, cleaned that up...

On the 4 Runner calipers, did you get used ones and rebuild? I think this is way cheaper than re-maned, but I'm wondering about how it turns out. I've done a rebuild of all 4 calipers on my 80, and will do the same on my 60 in a few days, but wonder what approach you took?

I got a pair of 4Runner calipers from Nix99 in Lynwood, WA and the rebuild kit from Toyota. I think one rebuild kit covers both calipers, too. I would think that as long as there's absolutely no rust on the sides of the pistons or in the bores, a rebuild will work for just as long as a brand new caliper. I haven't had any problems with these at all. I actually did the same thing with the Eldo calipers I got for my rear disc conversion. That was a pain because of the ebrake auto adjust cam inside.

 

[ridgerunner]

Once that stuff is done and I finish the final brake system mod (hydroboost, booya!),

And you think your brakes work well now....

Nice work.

 

[Spook50]

And you think your brakes work well now....

Nice work.

Oh yeah, I can't wait. Having a bit of trouble finding a hydroboost unit though. I haven't checked Spaldings or Pull n' Save yet. Hopefully I'll get over there within the next couple weeks and get some hoses made up at Spokane House of Hose. They've got good prices on their custom stuff I'm told.

I'll probably get a pressure line from Nix99 shipped over here so I can cannibalize the fittings, get the hoses made and just swap everything on when I'm ready to go.

 

[ridgerunner]

Did you ever find a suitable M/C?

 

[Spook50]

Did you ever find a suitable M/C?

Apparently the MCs on more recent 1 ton Chevy trucks with hydroboost will work. Just a matter of getting the right size/thread of fittings for my 3/16" lines. I can't remembe what the most common bore on the newer ones is for sure, but I think I think I was told 1 1/8". That should be more than plenty for a four-wheel disc system I would imagine.

 

[meluhha]

Awesome...keep us posted 'bout the hydroboost.

Here is mine looking all sexy:

And here is the place where the tab was removed from the shoes:

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Spook50]

Awesome...keep us posted 'bout the hydroboost.

Here is mine looking all sexy:

And here is the place where the tab was removed from the shoes:

Cheers,
Matt

Did your inner pads not have wear indicators, or are the cutoff marks just not visible in the pic? My inners had two ears that were just offset from the center, one of which had a wear indicator on it, so I had to cut those off.

 

[meluhha]

Did your inner pads not have wear indicators, or are the cutoff marks just not visible in the pic? My inners had two ears that were just offset from the center, one of which had a wear indicator on it, so I had to cut those off.

I wanna say they just had the outer wear bar, but I can't be too sure. I did this a while ago!! Sorry. I guess I'll find out when I change the brake pads...