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- Thread starter Lil'John
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I had some drilled/slotted rotors on my 4Runner with regular old O'Reilly's pads. I honestly don't think the drilled/slotted rotors made that much of a difference - if any.
Just get some OEM rotors and some decent pads and you should be good to go.
I wouldn't bother with the fancy drilled/slotted rotors.
Just some OME ones should be fine.
Just some OME ones should be fine.
This.
Pretty sure I have brembo on mine and some napa gold or something pads. no issues braking, but not stopping with a trailer coming down mountains or anything. If i was then I might look at drilled and slotted.
splitshot
Head cook, Bottle washer, and Peace keeper.
Granted this is about a Taco, but 3rd gen Runners are notorious for warping rotors. If this is the case, you have the Tundra option or what solved mine on 2 vehicles; R1 Concepts drilled and slotted and their ceramic pads. The extra cooling makes a difference. $110
If you can afford the Tundra brake upgrade, look into it. Definitely worth it on any toyota pickup/SUV with rear drums.
If that is a bit too pricey for you, I would honestly just look for any reputable brand of Rotors. I run EBC, but brembo blanks should do the job quite fine within a reasonable budget.
Toyota OEM pads (ceramic) are quite cheap on ebay and last quite a long time, so I usually run those, but occasionally try other brands such as raybestos or stop-tech or akebono based on whatever is on sale when I need to buy.
The key thing to protect the rotors from wapring on these is to downshift on long downhills and try to only pulse the brakes instead of holding them down the entire way down.
If that is a bit too pricey for you, I would honestly just look for any reputable brand of Rotors. I run EBC, but brembo blanks should do the job quite fine within a reasonable budget.
Toyota OEM pads (ceramic) are quite cheap on ebay and last quite a long time, so I usually run those, but occasionally try other brands such as raybestos or stop-tech or akebono based on whatever is on sale when I need to buy.
The key thing to protect the rotors from wapring on these is to downshift on long downhills and try to only pulse the brakes instead of holding them down the entire way down.
I used to drive my truck fairly briskly and the two piece rotors would warp fairly quickly. I replaced with one piece Brembos and no problems since. I prefer some type of name brand ceramic. Metallic (sintered?) pads no doubt bite harder and handle high temps really well but for normal driving it sure is nice how clean your wheels stay with ceramic pads.
I have been using AKEBONO CERAMIC pads for quite a few years now with great results I always get them at Rock Auto. The aluminum rims stay nice and clean.
If you do the tundra brake upgrade, just remember there are two separate sizes. There’s a 199mm caliper (casting S12WE) and a 231mm caliper (casting S12WL). The 199s will fit under factory Toyota 16” rims. The 231s will need some rim grinding on the back side, spacers, or an upgrade to a bigger rim or different offset. That said, both tundra calipers both use the same rotors, which as Timmy’s video points out, are considerably thicker and much less prone to warping.
I chose the 199s (just pulled them last week off a tundra being parted out) because I can’t afford new rims and tires right now with so many other things still needing addressing. Plus the idea of grinding the rims makes me think they would be harder to balance (it will be a semi-daily driver, seeing I’m retired).
So I just ordered the R1 rotors and pads combo (20% for Mother’s Day!). I hope to get the swap done this week. I also went to my Toyota dealer and ordered new hard brake lines from the flex line to the rotors, since the 199s go in at a different angle/position from the factory 4Runner. Picked those up Thursday. I’m thinking hard about a complete brake fluid flush and fill, but bleeding those will be a lot more work once air gets in the lines. It was supposed done 4 years ago or so, but probably wouldn’t hurt. I just hate lying in the ground that long with my bad back.
I chose the 199s (just pulled them last week off a tundra being parted out) because I can’t afford new rims and tires right now with so many other things still needing addressing. Plus the idea of grinding the rims makes me think they would be harder to balance (it will be a semi-daily driver, seeing I’m retired).
So I just ordered the R1 rotors and pads combo (20% for Mother’s Day!). I hope to get the swap done this week. I also went to my Toyota dealer and ordered new hard brake lines from the flex line to the rotors, since the 199s go in at a different angle/position from the factory 4Runner. Picked those up Thursday. I’m thinking hard about a complete brake fluid flush and fill, but bleeding those will be a lot more work once air gets in the lines. It was supposed done 4 years ago or so, but probably wouldn’t hurt. I just hate lying in the ground that long with my bad back.
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I've got an 04 Tacoma that I recently did brakes all around. I went with the Centric 120.44109 rotors on Amazon. $32 each and the rotor hat is coated. They work great. I've had them on for 1 1/2 years with no issues. I went with Centric ceramic pads for $30, again, no issues. Ceramic pads are the way to go for low dust. I considered the Tundra brake route, but the stock setup is plenty powerful unless your doing some pretty serious towing. I am very easy on the brakes and drive in a pretty relaxed way.
my '14 w/86K currently will need pads & rotors someday
I'll go with plain Jane OEM's........
I'll go with plain Jane OEM's........
My 4runner/hilux surf I used the EBC slotted rotors and the OEM toyota pad.
No sort of performance improvement as far as I can tell, but no complaints either.
If you have the money, you can always go up to the Tundra rotor and caliper if you live somewhere with mountains
No sort of performance improvement as far as I can tell, but no complaints either.
If you have the money, you can always go up to the Tundra rotor and caliper if you live somewhere with mountains
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I have a 97 Taco that was shuddering on the off-ramps slowing down. My racing enthusiast mechanic friend thought it was likely warped rotors. I looked around and ended up going with the PowerStop Z36 rotors and pads. They seemed a nice mid-range upgrade from stock. Easy install. Shuddering went away. Truck stops great. I think the new brakes will pair well with the upcoming suspension upgrade.