Tundra brakes and perhaps 15" wheels..........

[Jon]

After all the abuse I've put my brakes through, not to mention they may be factory calipers with 345K miles, it was finally time for the Tundra upgrade. And yes I will agree with every other Tundra upgraded 4Runner, the swap is worth every penny! My brakes are submerged in water every weekend or more and often at times it is salt water.
After a 250mi trip to my dad's house in GA last year I notice horrible MPG's caused by locked up calipers. The calipers got worked in and out with a C-clamp and PB-blaster which worked well for so I thought. The pads were down to metal so cheap-o hick Car Quest brake pads went in, which were supposed to just be temporary. Never got around to change em.
All was good till last weekend. Went out with Local TTORA club & Emerald Coast Jeepers (Good bunch of Guys, can't say that about the crap they were driving. Myself and Nine8Taco were no doubt the most capable rigs out there, 5 Toyotas 10 Jeeps..ish wasn't counting. Had fun but knew my front end was on it's last leg. EVERYTHING! My trash bagged CV took a $hiat. Had one on hand, so we replaced it real quick in the garage. Come to find out my passenger side wheel bearing was F'd too. Dumb decision time...
I used the brake rotor as a base plate to press the hub out of the steering knuckle. Do NOT use a rotor in a press! They are only cast steel, I was in a hurry and didn't have the right equipment, that is when accidents happen. Could have been much worse.

Well I'm back at work now and out of time so my local shop got the press job. I know right, I actually pay someone else to work on my truck? WTF man? $67 later and the bearing is good to go. But the rotor is still KIA..... seems like a good time to refurb the front brakes.

I've read through almost all the Tundra swaps EVER! But I have a dilemma, I REALLY want to run 15X11 wheels. All of them say it can NOT be done. I have a set of Mickey Thopson Classic II's that I picked up real cheap and tires for 15's are $100 cheaper a piece. Currently rockin the 16" factory Toyota 6-spokes and would keep em if they weren't made for pizza cutters. Looking for 35x12.5 on a budget. That means 15's or real cheap wide 16 or 17 inch wheels which don't seem to exist.

Here's the facts- after grinding down the 4Runner Limited brakes the 15's fit
-Tundra brakes on and the 15's do NOT fit.
I might be able to grind a little bit on the Tundra calipers but I really don't wanna go too far. I'll get to that soon but for now here's the swap info.

I love Duralast parts, best in my book as far next to factory. Autozone is also the furthest distance from me by far. After seeing NAPA's horrible casting on BigFish's thread I looked outside the box and was surprisingly pleased.

Totaled around $320 after cores. Pics are b4 and after with comparison, I'll leave it to you..... dirty=old 13WM 4runner and clean stuff is 13WL Tundra.

Calipers are same diameter but TONS more meat!

Calipers and pads are bigger too

_
OLD

13WL Tundra

 

[CanukRunner]

fantastic eh?

The brakes need to seat for like a week though before they start to grab well..

What do you think about the tundra master cylinder. would it be a good upgrade to bring our pedal up? or would it just blow something up?

 

[the great him]

so a few questions, why do you want to run a 15x11 wheel that is such an oddball size, and if you are going to only be running a 12.5 tire, that will look funny on a 11 rim(thing stretched drift car tires). i am running 15x8s on my 85 pick up with a 33x12.5x15 tire. a couple of guys i know are running a 15x10 wheel and their tires almost have the stretched look, but its not bad cause they are running a 35" tire. but a 33 on a 10"+ wheel will be prone to losing the bead when aired down. also consider that most newer vehicles are coming with at least 16" and more and more are coming with 17s from the factory. the larger wheels are becoming more popular and thus tires are becoming cheaper for those size and more readily available. 15" tires can still be found, but not like they once where and only in select sizes. -i personally think the 15s will soon be weeded out except for a few select sizes ie 30, 31, 33, 35, 37s but only in a few styles, just the trend i see happening. if you are really set on running a 15" wheel then get a wheel spacer, and or find one with an offset that will push the wheel further out -the down side of this is the tire will not longer pivot on the hub/axis, but now swing in an arc causeing more stress and strain on your power steering system and possibly making it harder to steer off road in some situation. for what its worth you can find almost any size tire in a 17" that you could in a 15"(as far as off road tires are concerned) and more, as well as a greater variance in load rating. just my .02

below is a pic of my red 85 with the 33x12.50x15 on an 8" rim, and the blue truck is a friends 84 with 35x12.50x15 on a 10" rim just to give you a perspective on how rim width will affect how the tires look

 

[Jon]

Sound logic Sir. My current 285/75R16's convert to 32.8x11.2 so if I get 35x12.50R16's and throw em on my stock wheels (16x7) that's only adding 1/2" on both sides. Will that work? 12.50" on 7" sounds a little crazy. Maybe not?

There's nothing good on Craigslist right now for 16's or 17's but I'd like to go with a different wheel with more backspacing so I can ditch the 1.25" Spidertrax spacers up front. As you said, the further you space the wheel out more stress is applied to everything even bearings and ball joints take more abuse.

Just went out and measured the darn 15's again and the inner bead is actually 10" not 11".:roadkill:

 

[the great him]

16s are the wild card cause they are only a metric size, so if you want a 35" tire on a 16" wheel you will have to convert and it works out to be like a 315x70/75x16... but you still have to be careful what 16s you run with the tundra brakes, as some wont clear.

 

[TFJ-4runner]

I'll be grinding my second set of 16" calipers for my 15" wheels. I don't see it being possible to do it safely on Tundra Calipers but if you pull it off I'd be right behind you. Best of luck

 

[steezemcqueen]

I am running 315/75/16's on stock 7 inch wide wheels and wheel spacers. No issues.

brian2sun is doing the same.

 

[Jon]

Going to check out some 17X8 MB predators. Guy wants $250 for the set.

 

[Jon]

It's been well over a year now with the 35/12.50R17's and the Tundra brakes. Nothing negative to report. They've held up across the country from FL to CA and all the hills here. One of my favorite upgrades so far.

 

[hrt4me]

nice!