BPV Bracket install

lifted the rear of my Taco and drove it that way for a week, no load in the bed then decided to install a BPV bracket that I fab-ed up, made a noticeable difference in braking some what more responsive.

If you make your own bracket and shim it away from the orginal mount as I did, so it would not interfer with the brake line behind it, depending on the amount you shim it away you will need longer metric bolts to refasten it to the oem bracket the metric bolts are 8X1.25 I bought bolts 1 1/4 in lenght $0.82 apiece, Ace hardware.

 

yep.. that's pretty much the whole point...

 

How would just installing a bracket make your braking better?
I installed one that came with my kit. The only reason they give you one is so it's not just loose with no support.

 

the stock BPV senses load in your bed and adjusts your rear brakes so in the event you need to stand on them, they kick in like a son of a...

when you lift, the bed and frame moves further away from the axle, so the BPV senses that as no load, so it lightens your rear braking... switching out the BPV bracket sets the sensor back closer to stock, and if you want to burn your rear brakes a bit more, you go with a longer bracket, etc...

 

I never noticed any kind of sensor when I installed mine. I just thought it was to support the brake likes. Hmmm...better go look.

 

that whole lever assembly with the boot on it is connected to a cylindrical looking sensor up on the frame... something like that... i will try to get under the bed and get a pic...

 

its rubber looking thing on the left...

 

yea. That dont look anything like what I have. The bracket they gave me was just a piece of thin steel that moved the brake line up off the axle.

 

This is the bracket they gave me.



And this is where it leads. Is this it? There's a sensor in there? I cant really see that lifting the line up off my axle had anything to do with lifting this sensor up.

 

you have the right one... i have that same one....

the pic i posted above is a custom bracket that's fabbed up for folks who are running either LT in the rear or monster lifts...

it does the same thing, but eliminates the rod that goes from the sensor to the axle...

 

if you disconnect the rod from the axle and move it up and down by hand, you will see that sensor move up and down inside that rubber boot...

im so not a technical person...

maybe Enola Gaia or Chris 4x4 could chime in and better explain how it all works...

 

Gotcha. so this pic ^ is actually the bpv? It looks quite small compared to yours.
Guess I learned something today.

 

Mike's mentioned all the basic points ...

The BPV (actually "Load Sensing Proportioning and By–pass Valve" in Toyotese) is intended to adjust relative braking between front and rear wheels based on how much load is in the rear. It 'reads' the load using a lever mechanism that changes angle as the bed lowers in position relative to the suspension / frame (presumably under load). The lever manipulates the valve, which in turn manipulates the amount of effective pressure applied to the rear brakes.

If you change the relative elevation of the bed without adjusting the BPV mechanism, you throw things off. If you lift the bed enough the BPV might never 'register' that a load is in the bed, and under-pressurize the rear brakes. If you lower the bed enough you might trick the BPV into over-pressurizing the rear brakes because it 'thinks' the bed is heavily loaded. Either way - you've thrown off the relative proportion of front / rear braking.

That's why any significant lifting / lowering mod project needs to include adjustment (and / or relocation) of the BPV.

 

Thank you for that explanation sir. Makes perfect sense now.

 

coolio...

Randy lost me after "basic points..."