New England B.S. Thread

I'll be needing new shoes for the Taco by the Fall.
I'm up in the air right now on what to get. The more I read, the more confusion.
60+k on my KO1s. Ran those on several of my trucks over the years and never a problem. Man, I wish they still made them.

 

We’ll be getting another set of Michelin Ltx for the venza before this winter; these ones have around 50k on them. I love the traction of my Duratracs in 265/75 but they’re loud AF; which I’m ok with.

 

I had the AT3 4S on my last truck. I liked them for the first year but after 20k the traction in wet conditions was pretty pitiful. At 35k I got rid of them and they probably wouldn't have passed inspection any longer.

I seem to have a trend of wearing tires out quick. No idea why, they wear evenly, just quickly. I don't spin or anything and rotate every oil change.

 

I'll have to keep my eyes on them then and check my notes. We might actually be closer to 15,000 miles than 10,000 miles. The last time I checked the treadwear they were wearing somewhat slowly, I'll have to put my gauge on them again and extrapolate. I'll ask my wife if she's experiencing any issues in the rain.

 

That's disappointing to hear about the Coopers. I had my own issues with them in the past but at least they were always great in the traction department, especially in the wet and snow. I was having wear issues with mine and they got loud and rumbly which I wasn't a fan of. I haven't had Cooper tires in probably 8 years at this point though.

 

@m603holden Happy Birthday Man!

 

Oil change and inspection this morning. Fingers crossed she passes without issue. Allowed one not ready item after all

 

Happy Birthday @m603holden

 

Got my exhaust gasket installed. Sounds much better...
wrote up a how to because there was no good info for the 2.7 2nd gen
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ment-on-a-2nd-gen-2-7l-4cyl-with-pics.730328/

 

LOVE the LTX MS tires...
BJ's had a great deal when I got mine...

 

That’s likely where we’ll get them next time since NTB doesn’t exist anymore. Toyota stupidly put 19s on the venza and the size is abnormally expensive.

we also only put like 6k on that car in the last year and a half since she works from home so maybe I’ll shop around for something different.

 

Ford did the same for my wife's Flex, put 19's on it from the factory. When I finally bellied up and bought snow shoes for it, it was more economical to buy a new set of 18" wheels with the tires mounted and ready to go vs. trying to find tires for the 19" wheels. I stayed with the same overall height and width for the tires, just a shorter wheel.

 

Alright peeps. Oil changed and inspection sticker completed. They said it seems like my calipers are starting to stick. I'll also be due for pads and rotors soon. Coming up on 80k. Think I did pads and rotors at like 40k. I run powerstops z36 towing pads and slotted rotors. I have really liked them but wondering what to get for calipers and of anybody has a recommended shop. Not certain I want to tackle the calipers myself. Also should probably bleed the brake fluid system and replace the fluid while it's being done.

 

For a mostly street driven rig these tires are perfect.

 

Gonna be moving up to Boston next month, figured I'd pop in here and say hi

 

Looks like no new shoes for me, trucks too tall and even going back to stock height won't get me in the garage. I did find a large surface overflow lot that I'm guessing will be my jam. Little bit of a walk but I could use the fresh air.

 

The ST Maxx's I had wore pretty good. The wet traction was never a problem, but snow traction was pretty bad the last year I had them, but they had really low tread by then. This time around I'm trying the AT3 XLT. So far they're quiet, give a smoother ride, and they don't hydroplane. No experience in snow yet.

 

Rebuild your OEM calipers or have them rebuilt. I swapped my Tacoma ones with remanned ones from Advance instead of dealing with the cracked seals I noticed around one of the pistons. The remanned ones were rusting within days and started to stick within a year.

I have never rebuilt a caliper but changing them isn't a huge deal, trickiest part is getting all the air out when bleeding. My Tacoma was tricky there and I needed to use a friend's vacuum tool to get it done right.

 

If you're happy with your setup I'd just replace your calipers with napa ones and run the same powerstops and rotors you like( new of course). I did the 4runner brake upgrade and love it but not sure you can fit it with 16s. I been hanging out in Freetown a bit... Happy to come over and help if you want. Calipers aren't bad to do. Bleeding the brakes is the hardest part of the job. I use a vacuum to bleed or the ol tube in a bottle one man bleeder... Still easier with 2 so you don't worry about the master getting too low.
I still have my stock calipers in the garage I just can't remember if one was sticking or if I just upgraded

 

I'm on 17s but maybe I should look into that as well? Is there a thread on it?