Tundra brake upgrade questions
- Thread starter NathanOfSeattle
- Start date
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T4Rscott
New member
Where do you see sales on brake calipers? I have yet to find any on sale. So please tell me if you know where the best deal is. So far B&R Auto Wrecking in Oregon has a pair of 199mm for 80.00. Napa has them for 104 each after core.
80.00 compare to 208. That is a bit of difference. The 80.00 includes shipping as well.
Scott
ChildrenOfBodom
Moderator
Will 199 or 231 fit on these.. They are stock 2001 limited wheels.
yes, they will
KSWAY
New member
I got mine off ebay from a guy that was selling the whole spindle set up with calipers off a 2005 Tundra with 45K miles on it. I offered to buy just the calipers and he sold me both 231 calipers loaded with pads for $70 shipped
.pads looked brand new..
NathanOfSeattle
Member
Do you guys think upgrading the brake lines to stainless steel ones would be worth it while I'm doing this upgrade? It's such a process to safely lift my 4 Runner onto my jack stands that I feel like I should get in as much work as possible 
I found these on eBay: FRONT - STOPTECH Stainless Steel Brake Lines w/ Teflon | eBay
I found these on eBay: FRONT - STOPTECH Stainless Steel Brake Lines w/ Teflon | eBay
SAC-CA-Runner
New member
That's what I'm using and have had them on a week no problems. I cleaned mine up well and painted them with VHT black paint. So they look brand new. Then got rotors and pads from Autozone. Let me tell you...stopping is MUCH MUCH better now.
I am going to order the stainless lines from Wheelers and put them in when I put in my Ultimate Lift that should be here this week!
Once I get everything on and done, then I'll put up a build thread with what I've done and with pictures. Just don't have the time as I'm getting ready to move to Denver.
NathanOfSeattle
Member
Aside from removing the wheels (obviously needed while doing the Tundra brake upgrade) what else is involved in replacing the brake lines to stainless steel ones?
SAC-CA-Runner
New member
Ummm, an open end wrench (11mm, I think), brake fluid and bleeding the brakes. That's about it. I have a Motiv Bleeder so it makes it easier for me, but you can do it with someone pumping the brakes. Just may take a little longer.
NathanOfSeattle
Member
That's it? For both fronts and rears? Sweet. I thought you may have needed to remove other components to gain access to the other end of the brake lines.
NathanOfSeattle
Member
Finally got around to doing this and it was much easier than I thought. However, I notice that my brake pedal sinks to the floor before any braking power is applied. I'm pretty sure I bled my brakes properly. I used the motive brake bleeder kit. I bled out each caliper until no air bubbles came out. I noticed the brake fluid reservoir is at the "min" level.
What have I done wrong?
What have I done wrong?
the great him
Elite Member
did you start at the right rear and then go to the left rear then the right front then left front? you need to start with the furthest away and work you way to the closest one, bleed the rears too even if you didnt play with them... i just did my 231s yesterday and i have amazing pedal feel, i can make the ABS come on on dry pavement now, no way was i gonna be able to do that with my stock brakes.
NathanOfSeattle
Member
Oh no, I just did the 2 fronts since I didn't touch my rears at all. Is this likely the problem? I didn't think I had to worry about bleeding the rear brakes since I only touched the 2 front brakes.
the great him
Elite Member
bleed them all would be where i would start, if that dosent cure it you might be looking at a leaky master cylinder but i think if you bleed all 4 and start with the furthest away and progressively move to the closest then you should be fine...
binhsterbinh
Member
It wouldn't hurt to bleed the rear ones too starting from the passenger rear and then driver rear.
I installed my 231mm calipers last week and had a pedal go to the floor after multiple bleeds. I even changed my master cylinder and built my own power bleeder thinking I was doing that process incorrectly. I couldn't even drive my car it was so bad. In the end, it turns out I installed the calipers backwards (left on right and right on left) causing the bleeders to face downwards instead of upwards. When they're faced down, air is not able to evacuate out of the calipers and no bleed will fix that problem until corrected.
Since 231mm calipers are not marked L or R, the only way to validate is to make sure the bleeder valve is facing up.
I doubt your master cylinder went bad. Your problem is most likely due to air in the lines. Also, make sure that master cylinder reservoir never goes dry or else you'll have to bleed the master cylinder too.
NathanOfSeattle
Member
How were you able to install it backwards? I test fitted both sides prior to mounting and found that I can only properly mount it one way (with the bleeder valve facing up and on top rather than on the bottom) since the brake line is lined up to go into the hole in the caliper. Mounting it the other way, I wouldn't be able to get the brake line into the caliper.
So in summary, my bleeder valve is facing up, which I mean, the calipers are mounted with the bleeder valve on top rather than on bottom.
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binhsterbinh
Member
Yeah the brake lines are the 2nd indication. When I installed my driver caliper, I had bent the brake line on accident while trying to suspend the old caliper on a bucket. With that in mind, I ended up just slightly bending the brake line to plug it into the new incorrect side Tundra caliper. It doesn't take much of a bend to do either whether bent or not. I then actually realized the potential of mixing it up and tried to switch it back to how it should have been installed. Since I bent the line already, of course the correct one didn't fit either, so I went back to doing it wrong...
Long story short, I made a couple huge mistakes that caused a few days of work troubleshooting.
If your bleeder is on top and you have issues, maybe try activating the ABS on loose gravel and bleeding the whole system again. You might want to bleed rear before that to see what happens and go from there. Also, I hear that if the E-brake is not tightened on the drums in the rear, it'll take more pedal distance to fully engage the brakes. 5-6 clicks on the E-brake handle should be really tight and hold the car in place.
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NathanOfSeattle
Member
Thank you guys for all your help! Doing a full brake bleed (rather than just the 2 front calipers) did the trick. My stopping power is incredible. And no more brake pulsation! If you're on the fence about doing this upgrade, and you plan on keeping your 4Runner until the wheels fall off, just go ahead and do it. You won't regret the results.
I'm wondering though, when I had the stock brakes on there, I had bad pulsation. I didn't know about this upgrade, so I went ahead and just replaced my rotors with stock rotors. A year later, the brake pulsation came back. So that got me to do the Tundra brake upgrade. My question is, why would the stock rotors go bad so quickly and how do I know I won't have brake pulsation again even with the Tundra brake upgrade?
I'm wondering though, when I had the stock brakes on there, I had bad pulsation. I didn't know about this upgrade, so I went ahead and just replaced my rotors with stock rotors. A year later, the brake pulsation came back. So that got me to do the Tundra brake upgrade. My question is, why would the stock rotors go bad so quickly and how do I know I won't have brake pulsation again even with the Tundra brake upgrade?
the great him
Elite Member
did you look at the two rotor side by side... there is a massive difference in the thickness of the two the tundra rotors are much thicker thats why we do this upgrade!
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NathanOfSeattle
Member
Oh yes I know the Tundra rotors are thicker. I just don't know why with the stock rotors, even after replacing them, I would have brake pulsation so soon. With other cars I've owned, I've never had brake pulsation. It was only when my 4Runner now did I have this and have to replace rotors. So it makes me curious why with brand new stock rotors, I would get brake pulsation. Are the stock rotors just too small for the weight of the 4Runner?
4-Ripcord
New member
Becuase the stock rotors were designed for the tacoma, which weighs less. With a 4runner, the brake rotors have to soak up more heat on each stop than a tacoma would. Becuase these rotors are so thin, they cannot dissipate that extra heat well enough and get too hot and become warped.
4runners should have had tundra rotors from the start.
4runners should have had tundra rotors from the start.
