MENACE
New member
AWESOME! Thanks!
Done with these bad brakes!
- Thread starter Morphyne
- Start date
AWESOME! Thanks!
MENACE
New member
I should have been more specific. I meant in regards to installing the Wilwood or Stoptech brakes. I'd like to know of any issues with them while installing, tips, and how they perform.
SAC-CA-Runner
New member
I'll let you know in a couple of weeks as I ordered the Stoptech fronts thru SOS. Great to deal with! But I've put on Stoptechs before on my Audis and they are EASY. Bracket mounts where the OEM bolts are. Then slide the caliper on the bracket, nuts and done. I have the sport with 340mm, but the rotors on the ST kit are thicker, better venting and I got the 6piston setup. I didn't upgrade my rears as they are actually bigger than the fronts and I prefer a little bit of front bias. But I'm betting the dust shield will need trimming. I'll be doing this when I swap my OEM LCA to Total Chaos, UCA to Icon from SPC, new bearings, CVJ axles and doing some cutting and welding!
MENACE
New member
I'll let you know in a couple of weeks as I ordered the Stoptech fronts thru SOS. Great to deal with! But I've put on Stoptechs before on my Audis and they are EASY. Bracket mounts where the OEM bolts are. Then slide the caliper on the bracket, nuts and done. I have the sport with 340mm, but the rotors on the ST kit are thicker, better venting and I got the 6piston setup. I didn't upgrade my rears as they are actually bigger than the fronts and I prefer a little bit of front bias. But I'm betting the dust shield will need trimming. I'll be doing this when I swap my OEM LCA to Total Chaos, UCA to Icon from SPC, new bearings, CVJ axles and doing some cutting and welding!
Awesome! Thanks a lot! Look forward to hearing your feedback on them and if possible post pics! :rockon:
Mike07SE
New member
Billynath1988
Senior Member
Its almost 100% related to weather/road salt/ salt belt conditions. The rubber boots the protect the caliper pistons break down.. the pistons in the caliper corrode or get crooked once, after a few heat cycles they get stuck. the get stuck either in or out or half way, causing a pulling or over heat of the rotor.. the rotor warps.. the cycle continues.
Unfortunately this is the case with most of the issues on these trucks here and most other vehicles. Id be much more upset if my 1200 dollar willlwood racing brakes got lazy in 3 years then if my 200 dollars power stops did. That RR kit is beautiful but you can have fresh perfectly working brakes 4 times for the cost of that. If they avg 2 years in the worst conditions..you get 8 years of braking for the price of 1 front set. which im fairly confident wont last 8 years.
Last edited:
Centrix calipers are utter shit. Mine lasted 11 months driving around Vancouver, Canada... probably the least hostile environment to a car anywhere in Canada.
Don't waste your money, they're cheap for a reason.
derekdevasia
New member
Well, for me, every single time I've had frozen calipers, it's messed up my brake pads or rotors. If they're seized shut, for example, it might be enough that you can't tell, but it will heat up that rotor and warp it, along with glaze over that brake pad. Happened to me the other time. Last time, only one side was working 100 percent, the other was working 50 percent. So I have one brake pad set that's great, and the other where one of the pads is worn down and the other has tons of life left.
I'm not going to replace my calipers, and leave warped rotors on, or put on brake pads that are uneven and cause pulling. Last two times I've frozen up, I've had to replace brake pads both times, two rotors the previous time, and one rotor the last time. That stuff adds up if you buy quality brake pads and rotors, not to mention the headache of installing it and bleeding the brakes. To bleed the brakes properly on these trucks takes a decent amount of time if you don't have a machine. I'm talking about the "40 depress of the brake pedal, bleed, then bleed again" and I always still end up with air in the lines.
So, with brake pads at 50 a set, and rotors at 50 a piece minimum plus calipers. Then 80 for a shop to brake bleed if you don't want to deal with a headache, the RRacing kit doesn't seem like such a bad idea when you're looking at 380 to replace your brakes every two years. Not to mention the added stopping power you get with the 6 piston setup. I guess it all depends on what your time is worth to you.
For me, I'd rather have a brake kit that works and doesn't break every two years. I'm tired of having to do it, I'd rather spend my time installing useless camping mods that look cool when I go to dunkin donuts
Billynath1988
Senior Member
Well, for me, every single time I've had frozen calipers, it's messed up my brake pads or rotors. If they're seized shut, for example, it might be enough that you can't tell, but it will heat up that rotor and warp it, along with glaze over that brake pad. Happened to me the other time. Last time, only one side was working 100 percent, the other was working 50 percent. So I have one brake pad set that's great, and the other where one of the pads is worn down and the other has tons of life left.
I'm not going to replace my calipers, and leave warped rotors on, or put on brake pads that are uneven and cause pulling. Last two times I've frozen up, I've had to replace brake pads both times, two rotors the previous time, and one rotor the last time. That stuff adds up if you buy quality brake pads and rotors, not to mention the headache of installing it and bleeding the brakes. To bleed the brakes properly on these trucks takes a decent amount of time if you don't have a machine. I'm talking about the "40 depress of the brake pedal, bleed, then bleed again" and I always still end up with air in the lines.
So, with brake pads at 50 a set, and rotors at 50 a piece minimum plus calipers. Then 80 for a shop to brake bleed if you don't want to deal with a headache, the RRacing kit doesn't seem like such a bad idea when you're looking at 380 to replace your brakes every two years. Not to mention the added stopping power you get with the 6 piston setup. I guess it all depends on what your time is worth to you.
For me, I'd rather have a brake kit that works and doesn't break every two years. I'm tired of having to do it, I'd rather spend my time installing useless camping mods that look cool when I go to dunkin donuts
Understandable.. Dunno if i could deal with the 1200 price tag vs a caliper or two and a set of pads..and maybe fresh rotors every few years. trust me Im not happy about it lol. but if you got the money to do it.. im sure its gonna stop like a stadium truck.
WMU53
New member
Brake Tips
Possibly the following will be of assistance.
Order for the job the following items.
Rotors.
Brake Pads.
Shim Kit - For the new brake pads. Coat these and all contact areas, support plates, rear of the pads, "External" area of piston with a ceramic brake lubricant or any hi temp grease.
Cylinder Kit - In this kit is a package of "grease" specifically for the piston seals, rubber bushings and remaining rubber parts. Use this grease on the Slide pins.
Support plate kit: Optional if you are able to clean the existing plates. I do not have a sand blaster so brushes and files are my source and could not clean these plates adequately.
Gasket for the union bolt.
Brake fluid.
Brake cleaner or Acetone.
Small diameter plastic tubing for bleeding brakes and a catch container for the fluid.
Two types of grease have been mentioned. DO NOT use a petroleum based or ceramic fortified grease on the rubber components.
Anti seize for the two bolts mounting the rear disk brake hardware torqued to 77 ft/lbs.
Cylinder slide pins torque 65 ft/lbs.
Clean all areas and USE CAUTION NOT TO SCRATCH THE PISTON SURFACE.
Anyone having greater experience please add to the post.
Possibly the following will be of assistance.
Order for the job the following items.
Rotors.
Brake Pads.
Shim Kit - For the new brake pads. Coat these and all contact areas, support plates, rear of the pads, "External" area of piston with a ceramic brake lubricant or any hi temp grease.
Cylinder Kit - In this kit is a package of "grease" specifically for the piston seals, rubber bushings and remaining rubber parts. Use this grease on the Slide pins.
Support plate kit: Optional if you are able to clean the existing plates. I do not have a sand blaster so brushes and files are my source and could not clean these plates adequately.
Gasket for the union bolt.
Brake fluid.
Brake cleaner or Acetone.
Small diameter plastic tubing for bleeding brakes and a catch container for the fluid.
Two types of grease have been mentioned. DO NOT use a petroleum based or ceramic fortified grease on the rubber components.
Anti seize for the two bolts mounting the rear disk brake hardware torqued to 77 ft/lbs.
Cylinder slide pins torque 65 ft/lbs.
Clean all areas and USE CAUTION NOT TO SCRATCH THE PISTON SURFACE.
Anyone having greater experience please add to the post.
WMU53
New member
Photos of prepared rear components
View attachment Rear brake service_Photos.pdf
Attachment has photos of the serviced components.
Note the small package of pink grease that is used for rubber bushings, piston seal and metal bushings.
After removing the original rubber bushing, two in the center of the photos, the pictures show before applying the pink grease and after application of grease (rust on the bush) to the exterior. An original bush was used to clean and lubricate the interior of the channel guide housing by installing and then removing the bush. To install the longer bush a handle from a spark plug wrench was used to move the rubber through the channel. Very sturdy material! It would be possible to reuse these components.
Even though piston was cleaned the external area remains slightly corroded. Will not impair function.
Used wooden sticks to apply grease and clean the grooves of the housing receiving the piston seal.
Used a metal polish to clean the cylinder slide pins and lubed them with the Toyota PINK grease as it is compatible to rubber components.
Pleased with the OEM material! Cleaned up well enough for service.
View attachment Rear brake service_Photos.pdf
Attachment has photos of the serviced components.
Note the small package of pink grease that is used for rubber bushings, piston seal and metal bushings.
After removing the original rubber bushing, two in the center of the photos, the pictures show before applying the pink grease and after application of grease (rust on the bush) to the exterior. An original bush was used to clean and lubricate the interior of the channel guide housing by installing and then removing the bush. To install the longer bush a handle from a spark plug wrench was used to move the rubber through the channel. Very sturdy material! It would be possible to reuse these components.
Even though piston was cleaned the external area remains slightly corroded. Will not impair function.
Used wooden sticks to apply grease and clean the grooves of the housing receiving the piston seal.
Used a metal polish to clean the cylinder slide pins and lubed them with the Toyota PINK grease as it is compatible to rubber components.
Pleased with the OEM material! Cleaned up well enough for service.
Mike07SE
New member
Well, I pulled the trigger on these today! RR-Racing is not far from my house so as soon as I get confirmation that they're ready I'll be picking up. Will follow up the install and initial impressions!
Bumbo
New member
I always wanted one of these big brake kits... I never knew they made them for our trucks. I did mine last year with some centric parts and fixed it already but id consider doing it if I had to repair it again... I like that I can swap it over to a GX.
Question: If one does get a big brake kit for the front, what do you do for the rears? Even if you don't upgrade the rears, is there any way to adjust or tune the breaking bias?
I would think the front to rear distribution would be off by just over-sizing the fronts.
Question: If one does get a big brake kit for the front, what do you do for the rears? Even if you don't upgrade the rears, is there any way to adjust or tune the breaking bias?
I would think the front to rear distribution would be off by just over-sizing the fronts.
Mike07SE
New member
Part of the reason I'm going up to the shop is I also want to discuss with the team there their thoughts on making a caliper bracket for a rear BBK. Wilwood (the brand the fronts will be) have a lot of options that I think can be implemented in the rear. One of the Wilwood calipers I'm interested in is the Combination Parking Brake (https://www.wilwood.com/calipers/caliperlist?subname=combination%20p-brake) which utilizes a cable actuated lever to pressurize the caliper piston to act as an e-brake. For me I think this would be a simpler and more effective e-brake than the drum-in-rotor setup (or I could be going down a deep rabbit hole). Or keep it simpler and see if the Aero4 caliper would be a better compliment to the Aero6 on the front.
MENACE
New member
Looking forward to seeing pics of the install!
You won't regret it. I have the Stoptech ST40 355mm kit on my 3rd gen and it was awesome. Stopped just like my Type R does with excellent brake feel. I'm doing something similar for my 4th gen. I got my initial kit as a pretty good deal and that was the only way I can justify it. I can say that on this site, we're all willing to spend big monies on suspension upgrades, beefier parts, expensive roof racks, and armor. I'd say brakes are just as important and a grand for a part that will last you over 50k miles is well worth the investment. Plus it keeps your loved ones safe too. Can't put a price on lives saved in emergency braking with that extra 500-700 lbs you added with all those extra parts.
I also saw this deal on SOS. If I didn't already have two BBK setups, I'd be all over it.
2005-2018 TR3404 Toyota Tacoma Big Brake Kit Used Stoptech Calipers
I do prefer the wilwood 6 piston setup by RR though. Look forward to seeing your install soon.
I also saw this deal on SOS. If I didn't already have two BBK setups, I'd be all over it.
2005-2018 TR3404 Toyota Tacoma Big Brake Kit Used Stoptech Calipers
I do prefer the wilwood 6 piston setup by RR though. Look forward to seeing your install soon.
Mike07SE
New member
I think this is well put and pretty much sums it up. I know most people are scraping along to do their next big mod for their truck, namely suspension, but how often are the brakes overlooked? Most people here that have any kind of CO lift on their rig has spent at least $1K on their upgrade so I'm feeling that this shouldn't be any different. I also thought that the OEM brakes were more than sufficient for my needs - when they worked.
If this works to get me at least another 100K miles out of the truck while keeping the wife and 3 little ones in the back safe I'm all for it.
Last edited:
4RunnerAquasport
Senior Member
Damn, I just painted my new Centric 5th gen calipers lol. Wish I had seen this. Wilwoods will be next time for sure. Being in Florida I hope they might last a little longer than a year. Are there wholesale failures out there on these Centrics? Mostly in the road salt regions?
