Hilux Brakes

[H20PRF]

IM Still waiting on some people to get back to me about replacing the fronts, inc the calipers ...........

[Dluxv6]

Daz
go Dba gold in either slotted or slotted/drilled kangaroo paw design for more effective heat dissipation
i have the latter type and absolutely love them car stops beautiful
cost was $600 for discs and set of pads
lots cheaper than brembo or such

http://www.dba.com.au/node/5335



Cheers Drew

[H20PRF]

Thanks Drew,

Will look into that mate , cheers for that !

[Bucko]

i have drove a TRD with disc both of the ute ends and it seem good, so is there a kit to put them on my sr???

[Tonym]

there must be a kit available if you drove one with 4 wheel discs because TRD or Toyota dont/didnt make em with 4 wheel discs

[Surfseeker]

Guys,
I am in the process of getting all the bits and pieces together to do a brake upgrade on my truck.
My plan is as follows:
I have bought prado 120 series calipers ($120ea from a wrecker). I have had these calippers totally refurbished at a brake reconditioning mob and (because I am fussy) painted black to match the rest of my truck. They have come up really well and I am very happy with them. These are a much more substantial item than the original items.
In these calipers I will be fitting bendix 4WD pads which I believe to be the best.
I am currently waiting on a set of EBC 3GD slotted and dimpled (not drilled) gold passivated rotors to arrive. I am told that these are also the best available (unless you want to go really exotic).
While I am at it i will replace the flexible hoses with braded ones. If someone knows the length and specs of these hoses it would be good to know so I can get them made up before I pull things apart.

So after this is done, if my truck doesn't stop I will be amazed

Hopefully this will all be finished by the end of this week so I will let you knw the results.

One thing worth mentioning here was that I bought 17 inch wheels with this in mind. Of course i did what many people do and bought only 4. Thinking I would leave the spare as standard.
It suddenly occurred to me that after doing this convertion the standard spare wheel would not clear the new brakes...... not good. I then bought a 17in spare only to find that when it was fitted underneath the vehicle it was really loose in comparison to the standard 15 inch spare. The extra size in the rim meant that it just didn't sit as well on the cross member that it tightens up against. So then i had to cobble together a bracket to stop it wobbling about.
So there is a bit more to this conversion than you might think.
But my truck will stop.....

[H20PRF]

Hey Surf,

So i take it that the Prado Calipers, are a direct fit ? if so what your suggesting would a very cheap way out of this issue.

Cheers

Daz

[Surfseeker]

Daz,
Much as i would like to I'm afraid I really cant take credit for the idea behind this mod. It has been well documented here
although to be honest I can't find anyone else who has actually done it.
The Prado cailpers should be a direct fit as of course they are the same as fitted to the TRD Hilux. One thing i probably didn't clarify was that the rotors I have ordered are also prado sized (330x28mm).

Is this mod cheap?
If you have to buy wheels/tyres to suit (remember you need 5!) then probably not. If you already have 17 inch rims (It also works with some 16 inch) as I have then i recon it should rock!

I am not sure of the total cost but I recon about $1000 all up. What do you get for this?
Good quality bigger 4 piston calipers (the Prado units are very well regarded).
Some of the best rotors available which are 33 mm bigger than standard.
The best pads available.
Braded hoses.

So yes, i recon "Bang for your buck" should be good with this mod.

[H20PRF]

HI Mate,

Ive got Pro 0 Comps 17x8's already mate, with a fifth wheel underneath, The new Rotors i can get from DBA , i will have a look for some calipers and see what i can do, theres plenty of brake places around here.

Cheers

Daz

[Surfseeker]

Sounds all good mate....
Though I had the EBC 3GD rotors recomended to me by a few different places.
I was going to go the DBA 4000 rotors but from what I have heard these may be better. Made in the UK and a bit more expensive. Aparantly the material the rotors are made from greatly affects the stopping ability and these are the goods. They look cool too....
If you find the calipers at a wrecker also get the disc backing plates. You will need them for the bigger discs.
Look up the thread "Fitting Prado brakes to 16 inch wheels" Full info there.

[Surfseeker]

An update if anyone is Interested.
I have now completed this conversion. I photographed it as I went. Now if I can work out how to upload photos onto this site.....
The conversion was pretty straight forward. The hardest bit, by far, was removing the backing plates for the discs. In order to access these you first need to remove the hub assembly, which of course has a drive shaft. In the scheme of things this is still not all that difficult, it just took a bit more time than I thought.
Once the backing plates were fitted and the hubs replaced things went together very easily. The rotors fitted straight on as did the calipers. Even the short copper brake line (which I thought I would need to replace because of the bigger calipers) fitted perfectly.
So all very easy and once fitted the new gear looks the goods. It makes the standard gear look....well pretty bloody crap to be honest with you.
But does it work?
Yes and no....
The brakes are clearly very much more powerful and to be honest most would be happy with that. But being the fussy bugger that I am I expected the pedal feel to be better as well. In all honesty the pedal is now a bit more "spongey" than before. The pedal is also appreciably "Lower" than before. I am not altogether happy with it at the moment but perhaps I just need to get used to the different "feel" of the brakes. Clearly the pads are still bedding in but i do not expect this to change the feel of the pedal.
I did the work myself but got assistance from a brake remanufacturer whenever I was unclear on something. They have tested the car and given it the thumbs up. They suggest that as the calipers are so much bigger than before it stands to reason that the pistons are bigger also. Bigger pistons require more fluid movement before they clamp the rotors. In order for this to happen you need to push the pedal further. All very simple really.
So now I either get used to it (which i think I probably will) or upgrade the master cylinder. If I have to do this then you would probably conclude that this mod is all getting a bit difficult.
I will keep you posted.
Now if someone knows how to upload pics....

[H20PRF]

Hi Mate, www.photobucket.com

best way mate

[Bull]

I was afraid that might be the case.
Will the Prado master cylinder fit the Hilux?

[rodw]

Sounds like it is all going to work well. Pleased somebody has tackled this one. I am watching with interest.

Here was some advice about how to do photos mate. I think there is a dedicted thread on this somewhere.

With the pictures, the best way to do it is to set up an account on http://www.photobucket.com -just upload your pics and edit them there. Then click the "post reply" tab, and insert the IMG code which can be copied straight from photo bucket or used with the IMG tab and the actual photos url. I'm sure there’s some threads on it if you use the search function.

[Hilux Max]

i dont think the brake master cylinder is the issue here, just my opinion.

the trd hilux has the factory brake master cylinder and the brake feel on that is great, not spongey at all. probably the one best part of that vehicle.

i think the spongey brakes and low brake pedal is to do with the brakes not being bled properly...i think you still got air in your brake lines.

Id re-bleed them again with someone helping you out. Also, a little note in case others read - just because you replace only the front rotors, you should still bleed the rear brake lines as part of the brake bleeding procedure.

Alway start at the brake nipple furthest from the brake booster and work your way up.

So you'd start at the left hand rear axle first, then the right hand rear axle, then left hand front then right hand front.

yes, it may help changing the booster, but i dont think its needed imo.

[Downunderlux]

Yeah i agree with mmaxx,

The brakes should never feel spongy that is the compressability of air in the lines. The travel of pedal may have to do with the master volume, but if the hilux TRD has the same master cylinder then i think this should not be a problem.

[RACECAM]

guys, just fitted the prado brakes to mine and OH MY GOD!!! what a difference all hiluxs need these brakes from the factory just follow maxs descriptions and u will be onto a winner, mine must have bled all goo coz my pedal feels great with std master cyl and no abs

[H20PRF]

Racecam No ABS ??????? do yu have any pics of it all ?

[H20PRF]

Oh and Racecam, can yu load some pics for us all please ?

[RACECAM]

Yeah ill get a wheel off on weekend and get some pics

Yeah no abs it makes braking more interesting