Why Big Brakes Won't Stop You Faster but Wider Tires Will - Friction and Surface Area Explained

Good video on brakes, tires, and friction.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CyH5xOcsXxs

 

I’m skeptical. Can you support this idea further?

Also, in the age of ABS brakes, there is little need for human controlled threshold braking.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G-GEUkiMuLk

 

Bigger brakes allow a RACE CAR DRIVER to get closer. In the real world, as long as your brakes, shitty or top of the line, can get your tires to lock up then abs takes over and you stop in the same distance. Tire width (and pressure, and heat) will help your stopping distance. That is all.

 

Is the point of this thread to say BBK's are useless? Sure they dont help with 1 60-0 cycle but the benefits are clear when you have alot of weight in the mountains or slowing down repeatedly

 

I would argue that yes, in the case of a light duty pickup truck, BBK's are just eye candy and pointless. Your stock brakes can already out-brake ALL of the tires we put on our trucks. I have yet to see a dumped 3rd gen on ultra high performance summer tires. Upgrading to better rotors, pads, and fluid will generally solve any brake fade issues most Tacoma owners will encounter. You can get 90% of the benefit of a BBK for 1/4 the cost.

The "benefits are clear" because with a BBK you get a larger rotor, made out of a higher quality alloy that dissipates heat faster, with a more effective cooling vane design, and more fade resistant pads. You can nail every benefit except for the larger rotor size quite cheaply. It has practically nothing to do with the massive, overpriced 6-piston caliper you just clapped on there.

You want to put a BBK on your truck because it looks cool? Go for it, they do look awesome, but boy howdy you're blowing a shit ton of money for little additional functional benefit.

 

I'll jump into this fracas.

There are real world scenarios where the average person can and does experience brake fade from overheating. Coming off a mountain pass is the most common, but running max payload through stop and go traffic have gotten mine hot before too. Bigger brakes can exchange more heat, which won't bring them to their failure point.

But does that mean that I'm all about bigger brakes? No. I choose instead to adjust my driving habits so that my brakes don't exceed safe operating temperature. That in my opinion is something we don't do or teach enough - instead of saying the equipment is inadequate, my first question is whether my behavior is appropriate for the equipment.

 

This is what big brakes can do on an armored Land Cruiser, which is similar in weight to Tacoma at max towing. This is not a massively larger system....

Quick read with decent data... I'd like to see performance pads installed with the stock brakes, though.
http://acearmour.com/armoured-brake-kits/

 

Im not one to put a kit on my tacoma, but on a WRX the difference is very clear, should have put that in my post. Anyone who mountain bikes will tell you there's a big difference between a 203mm rotor and a 160mm. Also the most important thing I see is having the larger rotor for extra thermal mass, which you cannot do in any other way.

My point is discrediting big brake kits because "tires will loose traction first" is a stupid point.

 

Why use data when you can use equations from highschool physics that ignore 3/4 of the problem? /s

 

I'll be blunt, if you're towing huge loads or running a heavy enough static payload that you're baking your brakes to death after upgrading pads, rotors, and fluid, you bought the wrong damn truck. You should have bought a full-size, which stock comes with an appropriately sized braking system. You've blown waaaaay past the GVWR of the Tacoma.

My point is that BBK's are purely vanity parts on a Tacoma. If you "need" one you've either bought the wrong size truck, or are such an extreme edge case that you're probably tube framing your truck for Baja racing...

 

So you're saying we really DON'T need rear disc brakes?

 

Yep.

 

Not at the Mall.

 

A good, entertaining, 2.5 minute explainer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT035DK8viY

 

Or maybe we need BBK rear disc brakes!

 

Agree. Similar to the shiny things sticking out from each of my doors. What in the world are they for??

Very true. @gudujarlson Im glad someone finally brought this topic up. IMHO and living on the East Coast theres no need for brake upgrades on these trucks. You are either way overloaded (like the armored LC data above) or you drive like an a$$hole

 

That appears to be data from a company that is selling brakes and thus I'm skeptical of its legitimacy.

 

There's nothing skeptical about it. It's a heavy vehicle making reported hard stops. A brakes job is to create heat. A BBK will be able to handle that heat better and not fade or fade later. You can clearly see that in this chart.

 

Mods please move this thread to the “Over 60 get off my Lawn” forum.