Mods You Regret or Would Do Differently If Starting Over

Bluesky 07

Bluesky 07

Senior Member
Saw a thread with this theme in the 3rd Gen section and brought it over as it has the potential to be a great learning tool. Fire at will!
 
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I would have done the 5th gen brake upgrade with 4th gen rear rotors from the start instead of having issues for 2 days and redoing my e-brake hardware unnecessarily just to go back to 4th gen rear rotors at the end. I also would have done a cleaner job doing my AIP bypass, but I plan on redoing that anyways.
 
That_Titanium_4RNR said:
I would have done the 5th gen brake upgrade with 4th gen rear rotors from the start instead of having issues for 2 days and redoing my e-brake hardware unnecessarily just to go back to 4th gen rear rotors at the end. I also would have done a cleaner job doing my AIP bypass, but I plan on redoing that anyways.
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I wish I had never done the 5th gen brake upgrade with Centric calipers...froze in less than 14 months of use. People have reported the same.
 
I regret trying to clear-coat my headlights and not getting new ones. The originals were long gone and had small superficial cracks in them already. It looked nice originally but now the spray-on clear coat has started to peel off towards the top of the headlight.

I should probably upgrade to the 06-09 housings but those are kind of a hassle and I haven't made up my mind yet...
 
Don't cheap out on headlights, buy the Toyota CV/Axle seal kit, use your 4x4/low range monthly to keep the actuator happy.
 
Would I regret getting 2" spacers? I know that 1.5" spacers would require cutting some plastic, but would I have to body chop for 2"? Also getting 3" front lift and 2.5" rear if that'll matter
 
That_Titanium_4RNR said:
Welp....thats what I used....great.....what would you recommend using instead?
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I had a similar issue after about 2 years with the centric 5th gen calipers. I went to the complete stoptech kit with calipers for the 5th gen. About a year so far and seem great. I recommend cleaning the pad guide pins at least every 6 months with this caliper style. Its easy enough and takes about 10 minutes, you dont even need to remove the wheel.

If you feel like dropping money, RRracing sells a big brake kit thats probably awesome, but its $$$

Edit: I meant Power stop
 
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Billynath1988 said:
I had a similar issue after about 2 years with the centric 5th gen calipers. I went to the complete stoptech kit with calipers for the 5th gen. About a year so far and seem great. I recommend cleaning the pad guide pins at least every 6 months with this caliper style. Its easy enough and takes about 10 minutes, you dont even need to remove the wheel.

If you feel like dropping money, RRracing sells a big brake kit thats probably awesome, but its $$$
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Would you mind linking said stoptech kit?? please and thanks haha
 
 
That_Titanium_4RNR said:
yeah I had seen those calipers before but wasn't sure if they would be a good option, also not crazy about the red paint. I've used their "sport" pads and rotors before and wasn't really impressed
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The red mostly hides behind the wheels, Id call it very subtle.. The corrosion on the caliper pistons from the seals drying out and the slide pins getting jammed are the reasons these calipers die. The rust protection, better boots and keeping the slide pins clean on these seem to work well without spending on the upgrade.
 
When I did my Exhaust Cut Out (04 V8, Maybe eventually I'll do a Write up)

I got a 2.5 inch Cut out Pipe from Summit, Which was a 3" pinched down to 2.5 at the ends. Our exhaust is around 2 5/16ths. Yeahhh The supplied Clamps didn't cut it; had to make spacers, Weld in the pipe and Massage a lot of metal to make it leak free.

Get the 2.25 Cut out or have an actual shop do it, if you want to make noise too. Oh well...

STILL SOUNDS BAD ASS
 
derekdevasia said:
I wish I had never done the 5th gen brake upgrade with Centric calipers...froze in less than 14 months of use. People have reported the same.
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Yep, if I had to do it over, I wouldn't do the 5thgen "upgrade". People claim significant breaking increase, then again, there are people who believe in the yeti and aliens........................

That_Titanium_4RNR said:
Welp....thats what I used....great.....what would you recommend using instead?
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I would get "coated" calipers from RockAuto to prevent rust. Then again, these calipers are a horrible design. If you have the money and are motivated, there is a power stop brake kit. Does away with the factory calipers.
 
Mixing..

OME and bilstein...i know i know everyone sez its "fine" but i just didnt like the valving/spring rate mix...

Thats all...
 
Nav Override Loss

I seriously regret having bought a nav disc update off of ebay and when I inserted the disc it evidently also did a firmware upgrade that, while eliminating the need to push the screen button to start the nav, took away the ability to go into the hidden menu one could access through pushing the left top and bottom corners of the volume screen quickly and then select navigation override, thus allowing nav programming while underway. I only used this for my passenger, but it was a nice feature that is now lost. I'd gladly give up the new roads that were identified to restore that feature, but putting the old disc back in does not fix the issue. :hurt:
 
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