vented rotors and widening

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Dec 15, 2009
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what are the pros and cons of widening the axle and upgrading the brakes to vented ones?

is the anything different about doing a 1979 Toyota pickup 4x4.

any what are the parts i need to upgrade the brakes and widening the front axle
 
what are the pros and cons of widening the axle and upgrading the brakes to vented ones?

is the anything different about doing a 1979 Toyota pickup 4x4.

any what are the parts i need to upgrade the brakes and widening the front axle

Can't help with widening the front axle unless you use spacers.

As far as the brakes ... you will need:

  • Vented rotors for a FJ60/62 Land Cruiser, 1980-1989.
  • Calipers from a V6 or late model mini-truck with the four large pistons. I know calipers 1990-1995 work and there are probably a ton of other options too.
  • Master cylinder from a late model mini-truck with the 1" bore.

It also can't hurt to get the matching brake booster that goes with the master cylinder since it will be larger than what you have. I know there was an issue with the rotors on early mini-trucks, but I don't recall what that was. The LC rotors should be a direct fit, but if not somebody here will chime in.
 
I have IFS hub bodies on my 85 axle along with Tacoma rotors and just outboarded the IFS V6 calipers. bolts together no problem after you turn the outside edge of the wheel stud ears on the hub body for the rotors to clear. This widened my axle by 3" without spacers.
 
what are the pros and cons of widening the axle and upgrading the brakes to vented ones?

is the anything different about doing a 1979 Toyota pickup 4x4.

any what are the parts i need to upgrade the brakes and widening the front axle

Con: Costs money... dangummit!
Pros: Works mighty darn good.
Are you widening the rear too with a later model axle?

I have IFS hub bodies on my 85 axle along with Tacoma rotors and just outboarded the IFS V6 calipers. bolts together no problem after you turn the outside edge of the wheel stud ears on the hub body for the rotors to clear. This widened my axle by 3" without spacers.

I have a set of IFS hubs in the wings but always felt as though remounting the calipers OB on the ears was a bit sketchy. Did you have to machine the caliper mounting ears at all in order to make them parallel to the rotor?? (you know, so the caliper would fit parallel and perpendicular if that makes sense)
 
I have a set of IFS hubs in the wings but always felt as though remounting the calipers OB on the ears was a bit sketchy. Did you have to machine the caliper mounting ears at all in order to make them parallel to the rotor?? (you know, so the caliper would fit parallel and perpendicular if that makes sense)

From what I have seen there is no other machining to do than the hub bodies. I have not mounted my calipers yet as teh axle is sitting in my shop and the calipers are still on the truck. I have heard that you may have to put a small washer between the knuckle ear and caliper to get it to ceter on the rotor and since using Tacoma rotors the caliper may have to have a little bit of grinder work done where the pads sit since the rotor is a bit bigger.

As for the caliper on teh other side of the knuckle ears, therereally is no difference since there is no weight on the caliper. I plan on tapping the caliper for 1/2" fine thread bolts and drilling the knuckle ear out to 1/2" then using a little blue loctite to hold it all together.
 
Thanks for the reply. Now I remember reading about tapping the ears. I'd hate to weaken those ears after tapping then grinding on 'em to fit.

I really like the idea of getting the bearings out a bit further as I've noticed a difference in steering wheel weight with the 1.5" spacers. ... let me know how it works out for ya.

Semi-off topic hijack over... :grinpimp:
 
so i upgrade the brakes and widen the front. got a used sky mfg kit on fj60 rotors and big ifs calipers.
so what year rear axle bolts in off the ifs trucks. any recommendations for upgrades .
 
I believe any 86-89 truck or 4Runner rear axle will bolt in. They all come with larger drum brakes. As far as upgrades... If you haven't you may want to think about a bigger master cylinder to deal with all the extra brakes...
 
I believe any 86-89 truck or 4Runner rear axle will bolt in. They all come with larger drum brakes. As far as upgrades... If you haven't you may want to think about a bigger master cylinder to deal with all the extra brakes...

x2

Also grab the u-bolts and bracket cause the tube is a little bigger than the old axle housing, so yur old hardware won't fit. Ask me how I know :rolleyes:

Here's what I did.... Swapped in an '86 T4R housing and some other stuff... :D

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You can also swap in a tacoma rear axle for additional width and even upgrade to the TRD Elocker/ This is what I did and just modified the brake lines and ebrake to work on my 4 Runner.
 
You can also swap in a tacoma rear axle for additional width and even upgrade to the TRD Elocker/ This is what I did and just modified the brake lines and ebrake to work on my 4 Runner.

Are the Taco spring perches on the same centers as a '79?????

Also, how did you widen the front to match?
 
It bolted right in place of my IFS axle, so yes the spring perches are in the same spot. I did not widen the front with my IFS, but will be running the IFS hub bodies when I put the solid axle under it like I mentioned before.
 
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