Brake upgrade issue

I was looking at Delta00’s build and wanted to do the same brake upgrade. I bought the front bought the powder-coated calipers from Callahan off Amazon and the hose kit from Wheelers. I ran into two issues. The first is relatively minor. My stock Caliper mounting bolts were a bit too long when bolting up the caliper to the mounting bracket. I used a thin washer to resolve this issue. The second problem is a bit more precarious. When I torque down the brake line on the passenger side using the new banjo bolt, I can still move the brake line by hand. In the photos you can see how much thread is left exposed in new caliper

Stock



New caliper



I’m sssuming that it is not a good idea to try and double up on the crush washers to make up the space.

I contacted the vendor about a replacement.

 

Did you try running a tap down the threads?

 

I don’t have a tap that fits though I guess I could go purchase one. I did use a pick to clean out anything at the bottom. There definitely was ‘junk’ down there. Happy to give that a go.

 

I think some people have to drill the banjo bolt also.

 

These are the new banjo bolts that came with the Wheeler’s brake line kit. My understanding is that these are a direct bolt in for the 13WL calipers.

I rechecked what raps I have and I believe the banjo bolt is a 10mm x 1.00 and all I have is a 10mm x 1.25 tap. So close. Ugh. Guess I’ll go pick one up today.

 

If you look here you can see how the male flare that mates with the female flare on the banjo bolt got crushed. Even if I went with ‘thicker’ crush washers, I still don’t think I would have the right seal. Part of me thinks I should disassemble the other side just to make sure the same thing didn’t happen on the L side as welll. It wasn’t leaking when I added fluid (line the R side was) but I’m feeling a bit anxious about it anyway.

 

@turbodb

 

?? Is turbodb another forum member that had same problem?

 

He knows a lot about the topic.

 

Ok thanks. I sent him a note

 

So, you're running into something that seems to be reasonably common with the Callahan and Powerstop kits - essentially, when they remanufacture the 13WL calipers, they don't fully chase the threads, and so it's hard/impossible to get a banjo bolt in there.

My belief (nothing to support this except deduction and experience) is that they do this because technically the 13WLs are used with Tundras, and on Tundras, there is a hard line into the caliper, rather than a soft line with a banjo bolt. The hard line fitting is "shallower" than the banjo bolt, and so everything works out fine.

Your options are essentially as follows:

1. You can work with Callahan to get new calipers and hope that they happened to chase the threads further on the new ones you get. I'd say you're 50-50 on this.
2. Modify the parts you have
   1. You can drill out the ends of the banjo bolts to make them shorter (or buy even shorter banjo bolts). I've never done this, but others on TW have, so you can probably find some photos in a search.
   2. You can chase the threads a bit further in the 13WL calipers. (Note: I wouldn't do this because you have no great way to catch all the shavings as you chase the threads).
3. You can return the Callahan kit and go with Napa 13WL calipers (L: CAL SE3263) (R: CAL SE3264). In my experience, these are higher quality calipers with better remanufacturing and the threads are always chased far enough to fit the Wheelers banjo bolts. ...at least on the 8 calipers (4R, 4L) I've been involved with.
4. You can choose not to use the Wheelers brake lines, and instead use the hard-line kit from LCE. It's not cheap at $170, but basically turns the front brake lines into Tundra (or, coincidentally, 4Runner) lines, with a hardline connection to the caliper.

Ultimately, I decided to go with #3 - I used Napa calipers and OEM pads (because they are the best, by far). It's a bit more expensive than using a Callahan kit (and about the same as using a Callahan kit with the LCE lines), but worth it IMO since the whole point of bigger brakes is to get better braking. So you want to get the best you can.

Write-up of my install here (and all the parts you need:
New-to-me Tires and a Tundra Brake Upgrade

• 2 Toyota Tundra OEM rotors (L/R: 43512-0C011)
• 2 Remanufactured Tundra 13WL calipers from Napa (L: CAL SE3263) (R: CAL SE3264)
• 1 set of Toyota Tundra OEM brake pads (L/R: 04465-35290)
• 1 set of Toyota Tundra OEM brake pad shims (L/R: 04945-35120, or 04945-0c030)
• 1 set of Wheeler's
• Some DOT4 brake fluid, and 3M brake cleaner

A great comparison of OEM to non-OEM (calipers, pads, etc.) here:
Hard to find Specs, Info & Measurements on 231mm 13WL Tundra Calipers & Rotors (archive)




(thanks @BartMaster1234)

 

Thanks for the reply turbodb,
I don't think chasing the threads would help any because I think the bolt is bottoming out. In fact, it appears that it crushed the fitting inside the caliper. I think they milled too much of the bolt boss away. I wonder if Callahan would cry foul if I changed my mind this time about returning one caliper and said I was sending back both? Would you return the entire kit including the rotors and pads, or keep those to use with NAPA calipers?

 

I went for option #4 and used the hard brake line setup the Tundra has. I used LC Engineering’s Kit and I’m very happy.

 

My vote is option 3.

 

Personally, I'd send it all back and go with the parts I listed above. Higher quality and less trouble. Better braking, which is the whole point of this mod in the first place. (I mean seriously, there's no point in putting on Tundra sized pads that are beveled to have the same surface area as an OEM Tacoma pad. You won't get better braking that way.)

Yep, me too. It's the "right" way, but like the right way often is, it's a bit more expensive at the beginning. Worth it though, for less trouble and better performance in the long run.

Yeah, if the LCE kit wasn't so expensive compared to the Wheelers lines, I'd like that option too (though still with Napa calipers and OEM rotors/pads). I just added Tundra brakes to my 4Runner, and the hard lines were definitely nice.

 

You can get those hardlines for like $8 each at toyota, they come on the 4th gen 4runner and gx470, probably the tundra also.
for the 4runner/GX the part numbers are 47314-35320 and 47316-35280
then just grab a ss brake line kit from stoptech for like $50. I just did this on my gx470 and was wondering why there wasn't a banjo bolt so this clears things up.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/112434780178

Another option is you can get a long male to female SS brake line, which is usually used on the rear axle (See lce kit above for example).
So grab 2 rear brake lines (you may need extended ones depending on length needed) and that would replace the hardline and flex line with a single SS line with no banjo fittings involved.
I have heard of people doing it with rear brake lines but I haven't personally done it so do some more research, I may try it on the taco when I do the brake upgrade just to have less fittings involved.

 

I went with Option #3. I took everything apart today and boxed it up. It will all go back to Callahan's this weekend. When the replacement caliper arrives next week, I'll just send it right back.

I ordered everything on the list. My local NAPA store has the calipers, I can get the pads shipped to me form Amazon by Sunday, but unfortunately it's going to take a week to get the rotors and the shims. Ugh. I may run by a local Toyota dealer tomorrow just to see if they have the rotors in stock. I know they will be more expensive, but I'd like to have my truck back on the road.

Appreciate all the feedback!

 

Good luck. Happy to answer questions if you have any.

 

Thanks! Am I correct in assuming that the brake shims are a ‘must have’?

 

You definitely need them if you're using OEM brake pads.