Cliff notes: buy centric stainless steel front lines part # 950.44007 for $36 from amazon. same part as stoptech. install it, then you done.

Full story below

This problem has plagued my 4R since i bought it 19 months ago.

Its a 03 V8 SR5 that has right now 189,500 miles. so it has the 318mm brake rotors/smaller calipers.

I replaced the following way back when i got it, so everything has about 22,000 miles on it.
-All new rotors
-All new OEM pads AND parking brake shoes
-All new brake fluid
-front Calipers and rear calipers were not seized up and functioning properly

This past weekend i got a change to drive @kirkg 's 03 v8 limited 150k with the 331 rotors and the bigger calipers and stainless steel goodrich brake lines. he's a muffler and brake pro.

With his advice and then some more "research" on t4r.org.

He suggested i only do the fronts, there are 4 in the rear. they didnt do much and the two center rubbers lines didnt do anything at all for him.

Well this is what i did.

Found out that Centric is the parent for stop tech.

If you google search a set of stainless steel DOT approved brake lines for your truck using this part number 950.44007 you will get stop tech part AND centric part. Amazon sells the centric brand for $34.78 free shipping with prime plus tax. everywhere i look its going for $52 plus shipping

When you get the package from amazon its in a stoptech bag.


For me, i didnt even think my lines were bad, when i got the truck inspected it and it was fine. I got used to the problem.

Now with only the front lines done. the pedal has a much firmer feel. it doesnt creep at traffic lights anymore. i find the brakes are more touchy, instead of a mushy feel to it. I think it can be better, so i promptly ordered the rear two outer lines from "centric", so i cant comment if they are going to be the stop tech ones or not. at least not till next tuesday when they come in. btw the rears cost $52 bucks from amazon, still cheaper than everyone else out there!

here are the fine looking 189,500 mile old lines next to the new ones


Questions?

Nice! Please report back when you install the rears. The mushy brake feel on our rigs is something I never liked.

wow this has me excited now! I hated the a/c creep. I'll be ordering new brake lines soon now. Well I'll probably get some extended stainless brake lines but it should have the same outcome

Great write up - my 4Rnr is an '03 Sport and I recently swapped out the calipers after discovering 3 were seized (I did all 4 with rebuilt ones from Advance Auto using discount coupons). On the Sport the front calipers are larger but rears are same as other models. I also painted them with red Duplicolor caliper paint to protect the outside from rust. Wish I had read your post 3 months ago when I did it - would have been only another 20 minutes. I only have 75k on 4Rnr and not in area with snow/road salt but on Gulf of MX so salt in the air and road run off.

On two 1970 VW based vehicles I have (a Porsche Speedster replica and a Dolphin Street dune buggy) the stainless steel covered teflon brake lines made a big difference over the old dry rotted bulging rubber lined. Since these both have 2x HP of the original VW engines increased braking is essential.

LOL well this didn't go the direction I was hoping, but a good thread none the less.

This morning I was at a stop light and my truck surged (RPM's jumped from 500-about 850) and my truck rolled about a foot with my foot on the brake! I applied more pressure and stopped it, but the pucker factor was there as it wouldn't have been much farther to rear end the guy in front of me. Man I hate it when my truck does that.

They look slightly longer than the stock lines. Did you or can you measure the difference? Just curious if these will be ok if I get 5100s eventually.

Ed, of course i will!

i read that the is no need for extended lines even with a 3" lift.

here is a picture of the factory line. if you look at it, suspension if fully extened and dropped down. there is still slack on the line


well i wished i did this months ago. i only did it yesterday and only did it because of some good advice from @kirkg !!

Honestly its the best $36 i spent in a long time. I spent more on a lousy steak at a overpriced wanna be outback steak house!! LOL, and it doesnt even come with any sides. just a well done burnt piece of carbonized meat, when i wanted medium rare!

it might be 1/2" to 1" longer when i measured it out. honestly i dont think we would need it. $36 bucks is worth a try

when i swapped my rears it made a world of difference. And i dont have to worry about it at full droop.

Did you bleed the brakes after install?

yes, you have to silly!

I started the truck and did a pump pump hold then release with a helper.

NOTES: Guys please please please and please get your hands on a 10mm flare wrench. DO NOT use a regular open end wrench. You will hate yourself, me and everyone when your line gets rounded. Our toyotas and rust go hand in hand! Mine had 189,500 thousand and 11 years of US miles on it. it came off in a cinch with the proper tool!! I also found out that the hard line from the caliper to the brake fitting bracket was a little bent. probably bent from the previous owner not knowing how to remove the caliper. you need to remove the bracket to move the caliper off the rotor. so taking the line off required a little ingenuity. i took the clip off the bottom and removed the top first. then twisted the line back off to get the bottom fitting off. when you do get to this upgrade my crazyness rant will make loads of sense hahahaha

Meaning the extra 1/2-1" is not necessary for a mild 5100 lift on the front? Clearly it wont hurt. I've been trying to find another reason to buy some SS lines.

When you guys talk about this 'AC creep' do you mean when the compressor cycles on and the engine RPM raises slightly? I've definitely noticed that with mine.

BTW, is periodic brake fluid flushing even considered part of Toyota recommended maintenance on these trucks?

Something like this?

I'm not sure if Toyota recommends periodic brake flushing (I'm sure they must but I don't know the intervals). That being said...given our 4Runners propensity for stuck calipers, it's probably good preventative maintenance to flush the fluid at more frequent intervals to ensure that any moisture is kept to a minimum. Whether it would make a difference with our calipers is a crapshoot guess at best.

So I guess to sum that up. Maybe?

As a side note to @gshadow325 post, the steel lines will definitely firm up the pedal and eliminate the rubber line expansion and 'mushy' feel. However, I've read some reports that in certain vehicles this can also make for a more sensitive vsc/trac system reaction, especially in already poor traction conditions (ie. rain and snow). Just something to consider as a potential factor and be aware of. Thanks for the write-up Steve - glad it improved things!