spongy brakes

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

stiffarm

stiffarm

Joined
Feb 25, 2017
Threads
6
Messages
208
Location
Mobile Alabama
My 2015 LC has spongy brakes--soft pedal with 50% or more travel to bite. LC has 59,000 miles with OEM rotors and pads. Just had all rotors turned within specs to eliminate pulsing. Refitted existing pads with good life left. Had dealer recheck and bleed system to be sure no air was present. IMHO the brakes are still crap--with the weight of this truck I would expect a harder pedal and less travel to bite. My 1993 4x4 Suburban will throw you into the windshield on brake application---180 degree difference in these machines. Would new rotors and pads give less travel and/or harder pedal? Thanks.
 
If you do a search, there are a few good threads on this. Your rig seems to be normal and most folks are in violent agreement that the brake pedal feel leaves a lot to be desired.

It seems to come from a combination of soft suspension (nosedive), heavy vehicle, and a Toyota braking system that reacts proportionately to the amount of immediate pressure applied by your foot. A panic stop pedal response produces more braking at less pedal travel than a leisurely application of pressure to the pedal.

I recently replaced my flexible lines with stainless steel lines and flushed the system. This helped a little. The biggest change for me was replacing the suspension to something firmer!

Others have gone the route of rotors, pads, complete upgrades, etc....
Good luck!
 
What he said
 
Vendor Post

We have had very good results with Terrain Tamer composite pads and HP slotted/drilled rotors. This combo has been fitted on everything from 40s to 200s with good results. Straighter, shorter, quieter stopping with better pedal feel. We recommend upgraded lines as well. The photo below are custom braided SS lines going on some armored 79 Series (yes, we do a lot of custom work).

The TT pads are $59 per set (front or rear axle) - TT slotted/drilled rotors prices vary with size.

A bunch of 200s have gotten this combo and all reports are positive. We have recently added the new "Tundra" rotors for 2016+ vehicles. One awesome example - @Trollhole installed these brakes along with some Harrop elockers in a very well built 200 (Tundra front end, ICON Stage V, 35" tires) here 200 Series Icon stage 5 hybrid lift

I have a 2018 200 Series on order and will benchmark OE brakes against TT pads with OE rotors and TT pads with TT rotors. Need to put some miles on each for a fair and accurate comparison, so it will take a while.

These are available thorugh our installing shops and resellers and also at our online store: Toyota 4WD Brake Parts | Land Cruiser | FJ Cruiser | Tacoma | 4 Runner

This gear is not cheap, but if you look at the operating results and longevity, there is an excellent return on investment for the product lifecycle.

Custom Line Kits for Armored Land Cruisers

upload_2017-8-25_7-34-51.webp


Terrain Tamer Rotors & Pads

upload_2017-8-25_7-36-20.webp
 
stiffarm said:
My 2015 LC has spongy brakes--soft pedal with 50% or more travel to bite. LC has 59,000 miles with OEM rotors and pads. Just had all rotors turned within specs to eliminate pulsing. Refitted existing pads with good life left. Had dealer recheck and bleed system to be sure no air was present. IMHO the brakes are still crap--with the weight of this truck I would expect a harder pedal and less travel to bite. My 1993 4x4 Suburban will throw you into the windshield on brake application---180 degree difference in these machines. Would new rotors and pads give less travel and/or harder pedal? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Search for threads on this topic. The reason why the LC brakes will feel different from your 93 burban have been covered. Not being a jerk "search before posting", just saying it has been covered so the information you seek is available.
 
You may find that some of the characteristics are 'baked' into the mechanical and vacuum design. And that design was conscious on the part of Toyota engineers. I do understand hard, linear pedal feel and it is the holy grail on our track cars --- but, while I am not a fan of the Toyota approach, I can see their logic. Dig deeper.
 
EBC red pads will go along ways to a quick fix..... Lines help a bit, swapping rotors a bit more. Pads are likely the biggest bang for the buck.

Autoanything at times has decent sales on their full Stoptech kit and shipped I was able to get a full setof drilled/ slotted stoptech rotors F & R with upgraded EBC pads for around 400 shipped... the lines I sourced from another vendor IIRC

at 6500 lbs and very used to a european brake feel it's sufficiently upgraded that I'm debating any further brake upgrades after 10k on the setup.

E
 
A nice variable brake boost knob sounds nice but once I 'break over' and start holding my breath I am not sure that I have the presence of mind to tweak it. Maybe a default to more boost in 4wd high and less in 4wd lo but the lawyers are going to pee on that. And they may have a valid point. Every vehicle has its idiosyncrasies and we learn to drive around them---maybe even develop an affection for their individual character. Always parking headed downhill is a pain and a perverted kind of pleasure. Mostly.
 
I recently acquired a 2014 -- brakes are my only complaint. They are horrid on road until you get used to them and even then marginal at best... thanks for the tips, when it's time I will be upgrading.
 
stiffarm said:
My 2015 LC has spongy brakes--soft pedal with 50% or more travel to bite. LC has 59,000 miles with OEM rotors and pads. Just had all rotors turned within specs to eliminate pulsing. Refitted existing pads with good life left. Had dealer recheck and bleed system to be sure no air was present. IMHO the brakes are still crap--with the weight of this truck I would expect a harder pedal and less travel to bite. My 1993 4x4 Suburban will throw you into the windshield on brake application---180 degree difference in these machines. Would new rotors and pads give less travel and/or harder pedal? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Brakes also will not "hold" at a stop and will definitely creep unless the pedal is held/depressed with some force. My wife is terrified she is going to bump someone....
 
EBC Green 7000 series brake pad is very good upgrade from stock as well. Wife used to complaint with the factory setup, replace with EBC 7000 series Green front and back and factory rotors, now she is happy.
 
What are the differences in the EBC pad colors red and green mentioned above?
I wouldn't want to get a pad too aggressive for the street or too hard on rotors
 
I would love to see a list of parts required to put 2017+ front brakes on my 2013 200. Yes, they are only a little bit bigger, but every little bit helps and my brakes just don't last that long in my stop-and-don't-go commute before the rotors "warp"...
 
I swapped over to the late model tundra brakes with slotted rotors and Centric pads. The stopping power is great, when you really need to stop. I'm also rolling on 35s with HEAVY 20" rims, so the added stopping power was a must.
The brakes held the truck on some hairy drops in Moab and provided amazing feel for inching over the edges, but the programming of the brake response in normal driving and while sitting at a light is still there.

I still have to apply a fair amount of pressure while sitting at a light; and cruising up to a stop, there isn't much brake feel until you start to really push on the pedal. Definitely not a linear stopping effort.
Durability wise, the rotors look brand new and the pads have a ton of life left in them, although I've only put 11K miles on them.

If you are thinking brake swap, talk to @bjowett
 
My take on the brake feel is that it’s like that to allow for ultra smooth stops. I used to drive for executive protection, and sometimes the bosses would complain about jumpy stops, and it interrupting reading, writing, contemplating or whatever it is that they do. I’m wondering if this feel isn’t by design. I also notice that it’s almost like a wooden feel unless I jump on the brakes. I’ve got a flushed system with OE lines, 2 piece rotors, and EBC yellow. The truck will stop in a hurry and spill everyone’s drinks if I want it to, but I can still reduce speed without anyone noticed. I actually like the feature in a way, as I can stop the truck as smooth as silk when the babies or wife is sleeping. The driver in me does like strong brakes, though.
 
Old thread, but this comes pretty often.

We’re all different and there’s no one way to think about brake feel...but to me, longer pedal travel isn’t a negative.
-Touchy brakes are the LAST thing I want on bumpy, mogul, technical or especially a steep & tippy & bumpy spot. Over-braking can literally roll your vehicle when near its limits, and touchy brakes get scary when the truck (and your right leg) naturally gets thrown around a bit.
If you are in stop-and-go freeway traffic every day, ya...it’s not great. If you swap back and forth between small cars with light brakes, it’s an adjustment for sure. But if you get onto trails that make your truck lurch, dive, articulate or all of those at once... long pedal travel means control and I want that.

If anyone doubts the stock brake’s ability to stop...stomp on them hard enough to trigger the seatbelt tensioner. Man, there is no shortage of power there. You just have to let the truck know you mean it before it slams them on hard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom