Wilwood big brake kits
 

Wilwood released their own big brake kits Wilwood Disc Brakes - 2005 Toyota 4Runner All - Front Brake Kit No.: 140-14577-DR:
- Two different rotor sizes, 12.88" and 14 in either slotted or drilled + slotted
- 6-piston calipers, same ones regardless of rotor size
- List price is a little over $1850 and change but Summit Racing and Jegs has the 12.88" slotted rotor kits for $1520 and change.

Unlike the RR Racing kit that also uses Wilwood calipers (different line, too Aero6 vs Superlite) Wiwood's kits come standard with brake lines and their own 2-piece rotors instead of 5th-gen spec (but not OEM Toyota) rotors.

Seen them… want them… but that price tag haha… still trying to get over it.

Even with the smaller of the two OEM rotors and a 32” tire, I still feel like my breaking performance is pretty decent.

I think if I ever jumped into a LT kit with a 35+ inch tire, I would look at this more seriously. Still concerned about break balance between front and rear.

ive had to replace my front calipers and rotors but the calipers have a lifetime warranty. oem are 4 piston calipers which i thought was cool until i had to replace them. $1500+ not for me but its nice to know they make it. my feeling wilwood figured out it fits 4runners instead of making an exclusive kit

is it me or my rears wear out faster than the fronts?

Say again? :noidea:

...about 50/50 here. the thing to keep in mind is when the traction kicks on it "brakes" the rear wheels first along with killing power etc..so if you live in the snow belt and your traction control kicks on alot that could be a factor.

the caliper is prolly a stock caliper used in many different applications. looks like they made an adapter to bolt it on. same with rotors...two piece to adapt to many more applications.

so it applies 50/50? wear rates the same?

i feel like the rears grab first and need to replace the rear pads 2 to 1 compared to front.

Umm yeah that's how practically every aftermarket brake kit manufacturer puts together a big brake kit. They're not going to produce a 4Runner specific caliper that bolts directly to the spindle. TRD's big brake kits are manufactured by Stoptech and guess what, they also use an adaptor bracket and hats to use their existing calipers and rotors.

I've always preferred Stoptech over Willwood, even in my Audi days of tracking. And while some might laugh at the price tag, once your rig is loaded up and youcare coming down some steep trails and or mtn passes, you'll be glad you got them. It's probably one of the best mods I've done on my truck. The stock front Sport brakes couldn't keep up. Stoptech from @sosperformance FTW!

Did the big rotors mess up any of the front rear brake bias / balance?

Did you do anything for your rear brakes?

Nope. If anything it is better controlled. I did add 5th Gen rear calipers on it as it has a slightly bigger piston, but that is it. Uses the same pads and rotors as the 4th Gen Sport. With all the armor, tent, rack, drawer system, larger tires...I'm sooooo glad I did it. It's worth the money IMHO.

What makes people think they need to upgrade their brakes in these trucks? I guarantee your stock brakes can out-brake your tires and cause the ABS to come on, or if abs is disabled you'll lock them tires right up. You could probably lock up a set of track slicks with most OEM brakes to be honest. If you can lock up tires what does that say about your brakes? Your truck doesn't lock them up? Different pads would fix that.

The fixed calipers that these trucks use OEM combat the most common problem that floating calipers present and that is uneven pad wear (inner/outer). So why do we need bigger brakes?

The grand issue with brakes in track applications (or maybe very very high load towing relative to the trucks capabilities through mountains) is heat - from constantly hammering on the brakes at high speeds to drastically slow the vehicle down. That's basically it.

Do you guys find that your brakes fade due to prolonged heat exposure? If so I'm wondering what road-course track you race your 4runner at and then I would suggest you consider upgrading pad compounds maybe also rotors and you'll be set.

Stoptech makes great calipers, for dedicated heavy use track brakes they are up there with the best brands. Wilwood - occasional road-course use, drag-racers, and looks.

Good post. I have a 1400 whp Nissan GTR and upgraded the stock brembos to racing brake calipers and carbon ceramic rotors... Not because I track the car a bunch, (probably best to stick with iron rotors in that case), but because I wanted more in terms of lightening the vehicle’s rotational weight, and SLOWING the vehicle down from speed, (I’m often in the 160 mph+ range). You’re right in the sense that emergency braking and stopping is more a function of your tire, contact patch, and your ABS. Once your ABS kicks in or you lock up the tires, no big brake system is going to offer you any significant advantage over stock. The reason people upgrade is to slow the vehicle down from speed... Obviously, your ability to slow the vehicle down has a huge impact on where your brake zone is and resultant entrance speed into any turn regardless if you are on or off the track.

I don’t think anyone here is ripping a 4Runner around a track. But the same progressive feel of a bigger brake system and it’s effects on SLOWING the vehicle can be appreciated on the road... especially when the rig is fitted with trail armor, gear, and towing a 4K lb trailer.

You talk about slowing the car down faster. Take a floating 2 piston caliper and a fancy 4 piston fixed position caliper and give them the same size and make pads and rotors (make pad type and diameter of rotor the same). If you use the same amount of force on the pedal then how much faster will the fancy caliper stop the vehicle for 1 stop? It really wont. How about 8 stops in succession? Maybe... I repeat the only benefits you will get out of the fancier 4 piston fixed position caliper is dealing with heat and pad wear, to put it simply. Most big fancy brake kits are heavier then stock brake kits. Why? Size. Surface area = Heat dissipation.

Are people having heat issues with their properly functioning stock brakes? Have they flushed their brake fluid with high temp fluid, and then tried high temp brake pads? If so then installing proper cooling will do miles over spending thousands on brakes.

Having a larger diameter rotor is a benefit for all of the above, yes. But the size is limited to the wheel, and like I've already said - odds are it's your tires that will decide how fast you will or wont brake.

I don’t think anyone is refuting your heat dissipation point. You asked why people upgrade. It’s not to improve stopping under emergency conditions. Its not for heat dissipation either. Again, it’s to slow the vehicle down from speed. Larger rotors, bigger calipers, bigger pads, more pistons, translates to improvement in braking performance period.

Of note, the rotors the OP linked have aluminum hats. They are larger and probably weigh less than stock.

Yeah I'm not refuting or disputing him either, maybe he's just trying to get his post count up quickly and/or likes beating a dead horse, guy must be fun at parties :laugh:

Thankfully there's an ignore feature on this forum :tongue1: