Advice on upgrading the brakes

Quick vehicle background: 2019 TRD Sport 4x4, 34k miles, heavy 35in MT tires (put on 5k miles ago), 5.29 gears.


I don't have the means right now to do a big brake upgrade. Just looking for any advice or recommendations for upgrading the rotors and pads. I definitely notice the truck is much harder to stop. Not sure if its just the weight of the new tires and the fact that they are mud terrains. Is it worth upgrading the rotors and pads with something aftermarket? Is it time for them to be replaced with the miles? Any help would be great. Also, the "brake pad slap" is definitely getting annoying. Thanks in advance!

 

Yes, your rotating mass has increased
So, yes going to be harder to stop. Don't think any temporary thing will help much, save money for upgrade to big brake kit. Pad slap you say. Pull and brake grease pads/shims and pins. Use you transmission to slow yourself down (down shift)

 

Thanks for your input! I figured the big brake kit is gonna be the best way to make the biggest difference. guess I gotta start saving. Thanks for the tip for the pad slap as well

 

You can upgrade to the TRD Pro 4Runner brakes they should be larger than the stock ones but you will need 17" wheels to clearance them.

I put them on my 2010.

A lot cheaper than Stop-Tech or Brembo or other big name true "Big Brake Kits" but still much larger and more stopping power than stock while still technically being "stock" so replacement parts are easy to find and inexpensive.

I also can't recommend stainless Steel braided brake lines from Crown performance or similar enough.

 

I do have 17in wheels. maybe i'll look into that. will different pads and rotors make enough of a difference over OEM to make it worth swapping those out?

 

The 3rd gens already have those brakes with the larger rotors (aka the old Tundra brakes).

OP I put the Powerstop Z36 Xtreme brake pads & rotors on my 21 and it considerably helped the terrible stopping distance and extreme lack of bite from the stock pads. I, however did not notice any difference whatsoever from installing the Crown lines like I have on other vehicles (though I swapped them in at 800 miles). They're still nice lines, but no larger diameter than stock so no increased flow rate. Highly recommend the pads (plus the kit is wicked cheap), but the brake lines only if you need extended for suspension upgrades.

Likely you won't notice as much difference as I did (33's with R/T treads and lightweight wheels), but should still be a significant upgrade if you're still on the stock pads.

 

Crashburn80 did a nice write-up on brake upgrades. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/brake-upgrade-stoptech-rotors-trd-performance-pads.523829/

 

Depends on the pads and rotors I suppose, my truck weighs around 6k lbs, I have OEM rotors and OEM (Akebono) ceramic pads up front (along with properly adjusted rear drums, this is critical and they need readjusted somewhat often) and I feel my truck stops just fine, I can lock up my fronts and haven't ever noticed brake fade.

I'm also manual and engine brake the hills and whatnot.

 

This kit seems like it would be a solid option for the time being until I can do a big brake kit. ill probably look into doing that. Shows there are optional calipers too. are they just an OEM equivalent?

 

Correct, they would not provide a performance gain by themselves.

Beefier pads are where you will pick up the most gain. I tried their Z23 Evolutions at first and they were better than stock as well, but not good enough to get to the performance I'm used to (i.e. - track-tuned sportscars). The Z36 got me closest to what I was looking for on this platform. Felt like I always had to mash on the pedal before to get the truck to do anything, now it feels like it should.

Rotors will be a personal choice, but I've never had cracking like described in that other thread and been running d/s for years in a range of environments. Also have not tried the TRD pads. Been very happy with PowerStop since I started using them a few years ago.

 

I've heard that, and I've also heard they don't, just slightly larger than the 2nd gens but not as big as the 4Runner Pro, you'ed have to check and compare caliper casting numbers.

I believe I have the 14WA from the TRD Pro 4Runner and the 3rd gens come with 14WG.

 

Ah that might be it. I know these are basically the same as the earlier Tundra ones that were the old go-to for upgrades - which a buddy was researching a while back for his 02 4Runner when I learned that these were the same, but didn't know they made an even bigger one and why they decided to put it on the 4Runner lol.

Looks like according to this the 14WA offers a 338mm rotor vs the 319mm's found on the 3rd gens: Tacoma Brakes - Swaps and Tech | Tacoma World

 

Did you use the Tacoma caliper bolts, (the bolts used to attach the caliper), I have most of the parts I need, and noticed that the thickness of the 4Runner bolt is quite a bit bigger than the 4Runner bolt..

 

Can you lock up the brakes, IE activate the ABS, fairly easy? Are the rear brakes properly adjusted?