Brake Upgrade: StopTech Rotors + TRD Performance Pads

Did you order from an authorized seller? I know these are from China and I believe they're machined for slotted or drilled applications in USA. Off topic, but I ordered a set of hawk hps pads from Amazon a while back for another vehicle. Turns out amazon wasn't an authorized seller and they arrived with lots of cracks. Who knows where they came from.

 

I was going to order them from Amazon but one was listed as powerstop and seemed illegitimate to some degree so I ordered them through Tirerack which I thought was legit but I’m not sure. No local retailer near me carries them either

 

I think tire rack is an authorized seller for stoptech. Maybe they were made in different batches? Can you check them with a digital caliper to see if the machined thickness is the same?

 

I’ll break out the calipers after work and take the measurements and see if they match up. They are probably the same but I’m a little paranoid because I have no way of making sure it’s actually cryo treated

 

read from page 38 and on from this thread. I’m pretty sure I got dealt something other than what I paid for (cyro rotors).

 

It's possible. I wonder if tire rack would do an exchange?

 

Break out the calipers and scale when you get home. Stoptech updated the design after their acquisition in a cost cutting move. The original rotors are heavier with thicker veins than the newer version. I wonder if you got one of each.

 

They have been out of stock since August, and not shipping until December, so... who knows what you got. I cancelled my order and went OEM.

 

I don’t own a precision scale, just a cheap Amazon body scale, but both rotors come in at 18.6 lbs. I measured the veins with the calipers and on the rotor with “

$61 120.44129 Automotive Replacement Front Brake Rotor Fits Select 2003-2009 Toyota 4Runner, 2007-2014 Toyota FJ Cruiser, 2005-2022 Toyota Tacoma

120.44129” stamped on it every other vein seemed to vary slightly in thickness whereas the rotor with no markings seems more consistent. Their thickness measured from pad surface to pad surface is also the same so maybe I shouldn’t worry about it?

edit: In the thread on page 38 they talked about the sport rotors being lighter weight than the original ones. OP’s rotors were over 19 lbs so either my scale is off or I got the cheaper rotors :/

 

Not related to this specific upgrade, but tangentially related from overall perspective of "braking" tech. @crashnburn80 suggested posting here when I asked for his thoughts on this...


Impressive performance claims. The costs cited leave me speechless, despite having ugpraded my GT500 to Wilwood AERO6 & AERO4 Big Brakes and considered carbon-ceramics for my Z06. IIRC, costs for those were "only" about $3.5K for the former and about $13K for the latter.

 

Those are Akebono 10 piston calipers with special compound pads that bite/penetrate the tungsten.

 

Just a word of warning, I don’t know what the deal is with these StopTech rotors but they are a little undersized compared to stock. The pads are riding all the way to the very outside edge, even past the chamfered edge of the rotor. I would say for the headache these have caused they aren’t worth it anymore after going to cheaper Chinese manufacturing. It’s probably better to spend your money on a different option. Unless I’m unlucky and no one else has had this issue

 

Rear disc conversion kit +master cylinder upgrade for sale: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/colorado-trading-post.148930/page-1803#post-26591430

 

Did the front rotors and pads recently.

Power Stop Performance Brake Rotors JBR1121EVC
Power Stop Z23 Evolution Sport Brake Pads

$57 Z23-976 Front Z23 Sport Carbon Fiber Infused Ceramic Brake Pads with Hardware For GX470, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra [Model Specific]

Z23-976

BUYER BEWARE if ordering the rotors from AutoZone. They have them listed every slightly less than twice as much as any other vendor at the time, and their online listing says "Rotors" where every other vendor says "Rotor". You still only get one from AutoZone. It looked like the best deal by a few bucks assuming I would get two. Yes, common sense should have told me that with the same exact part number I should have known better, but the twice the price thing made me believe. Once the single rotor arrived, I called AutoZone support and explained the situation. They called their supplier and had a second rotor shipped free of charge. Still seems super scammy to me.

 

@crashnburn80 I've been reading through this thread and there's some awesome info here, thanks so much for all of this!

I was looking at the big break kits as well but I just priced out the Stoptech Cryo rotors and TRD pads you mentioned on the first post. It seems like I could get those and pair them with some Wilwood Calipers for a fair amount less money (Wilwood part Nos: Left Hand - Part No: 120-14540-RD Right Hand - Part No: 120-14539-RD)

Was wondering if those calipers would work ok with the rest of this setup?

Those Calipers run about ~$350 each vs the Stoptech Calipers you have on which are running ~$900 each ... I have a hard time believing there is that much difference in value between those if they'll fit with the rotors and pads mentioned ... am I missing something?

 

Those calipers are not compatible with the stock brake components. They require a 14" rotor. Stock is 319mm, or 12.5". To run aftermarket rotors, you typically need to buy into the entire big brake kit system. I believe there is a single exception if you do the larger 4runner rotor swap I think there is a kit to just do aftermarket calipers for the 4runner. However even stock 4runner calipers have higher fluid demands than the Tacoma calipers. So going with a BBK 4runner caliper would likely be a stretch for the Tacoma master cylinder (the 4runner has a larger master cylinder than the Tacoma). So going that route you'd also need to look at a larger MC swap to make it all work. SOS sells a Sequoia MC conversion kit for the Tacoma. Lots of variables.

It is much easier for most to just run a complete kit by a single brand that is proven to work, for Willwood that would be this: Wilwood 327mm two piece rotor super light 6 piston

After running the BBK, I honestly didn't think it was worth the money. Maybe if you have a very heavy truck, massive tires, or tow heavy loads and regularly have brake fade. But I think the TRD pads plus the StopTech rotors was ideal my my Supercharged Tacoma on 32s. I also focused on not adding a lot of unnecessary weight. While the Cryo is great in concept and may be useful for those that warp rotors, the slotted rotors cannot be resurfaced. So any grooving they develop cannot be fixed. In hindsight I wouldn't opt for Cryo for my use case, because if the rotor develops grooves, the only remedy is to replace which somewhat negates the extended life span of the Cryo option.

 

Thanks for the reply here so quickly! Super helpful info ... so you think just leaving on the stock calipers and replacing the rotors and pads is fine? In that case would you still go with the TRD pads and Stoptech rotors or is there something else you think is worth looking at given the Stoptech acquisition and downgrade in quality?

 

The StopTech rotors still have more cooling veins to increase cooling surface area and cooling performance, they just lack the additional mass to help with heat soak vs the older units. The only other rotor that is redesigned in stock size I am aware of for improved performance is DBA's performance rotors. Their 4000 T3s are available for the Tacoma. The 5000s are super slick, but I haven't seen them for Toyota trucks.

 

ok so one last question … the wilwood BBK you listed is roughly $500-700 cheaper than the StopTech one … if I was going with a BBK I’m assuming that price difference is worth going with the Wilwood?

 

The Wilwood kit is smaller, but has more advanced 2 piece directional rotors with aluminum top hats which reduce rotational mass. The StopTechs will take more heat soak, but the Wilwoods will cool much faster. After being unimpressed with the StopTechs, I’d try the Wilwoods but don’t have personal experience with them.