Rear disc brake conversion on 2nd gen

The original poster of this thread is looking for a disk brake kit or information about one. aaaaaaaaaand what do most of you idiots do?? you reply with dumb arguments about how "drums are better" "tractors have drums, so my tacoma is a tractor" "i no maf gud, but insert equasion her".


The drums are total garbage on a vehicle that goes fording.

who else has gone fording or launched their boat and then the drums seize up? now your truck is a paperweight and you can no longer tell people how reliable your precious taco is...

I ended up drilling a 3/8" hole in the bottom of the effing drum (straight down from the adjuster slot)

if I get them wet, I spray wd-40 in the adjuster slot (after parking it)

when i go to leave, I spray them out with brake cleaner (it can drain out of the bottom hole)

Its either this effed up procedure, or an even more effed up procedure involving 4Lo and/or lots of cursing/hammering

Disc brakes dont have this problem and are easy to keep clean regularly.

 

so today I found out apparently 4th gen T4R comes with rear disc brakes.
It seems like basically a Tacoma. But with an enclosed cab.

has anyone successfully put that system on?
I’d imagine its the cheapest, available, and probably correctly weight biased

to pretty much get 4runner parts from a junkyard.



I’m guessing the ebrake might be a cable style. Ratcheting mechanism on the back of the caliper
Unless it’s an internal drum ebrake inside the rotor

which judging by the width of the above rotor hub barrel pic, and gaping hole on the hub, it might be. Like a star tooth adjuster in the hole

 

the sos kit implements 4runner calipers, rotors, and parking brake

 

@Lucario Runner noted it. You will need a bracket or make your own but SOS already did the work for you. It is def a drotor for the e brake and since the 4runner is smaller drum the e brake is not as good for the Tacoma, its even mixed on the 4runner. @Lucario Runner and I both have the rear kit installed. Besides the e brake It was a nice add.

 

So seen a vidio of this special hold down spring tool. JTC TOYOTA CAMRY, TACOMA, TUNDRA... REAR HANDBRAKE SPRING DRIVER, JTC # 4487 | eBay Can access through hole in axle flange . Just replaced axle bearing yesterday .Wish I seen thi video before replacing bearing .

 

I have a 2012 Tacoma access door and my bed has two long drawers the whole length of the bed that are filled with tools for my work @ 600 lbs I'm driving around with always up and down a big mountain everyday. Brakes are not stopping as good as should I think rear disk brakes would help and make me feel safe. Does this sound like a good reason for disk brakes conversion on my truck and which one should I get?

 

IDK man, I would look more into general maintenance of your current brakes & brake system. How's the brake fluid? How are the pads & rotors up front?

How many miles are on your Taco? I hear that Tacoma rear drum brakes frequently go 150-200K miles and more without needing much maintenance.

My 2014 4.0L carries ~500 lbs of attached hardware (bumpers, bed cap, lumber rack, etc.) and it stops just fine on stock brakes. Maybe your current brakes are just worn out from lots of steep slopes & you need new pads, possibly even new rotors.

This how-to for front brakes might help you some:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-front-brake-pad-change.38025/

 

Thanks for that but new brake pads were installed about 2 years ago. Brakes feel weak and lots of pressing needed to stop, peddle goes down a lot, and could not lock up if I tried. I travel up a mountain about 8 miles and down the mountain 5 miles each way about 10 minutes so its vey steep especially going down travel between 40-50 mph up and down.

 

Ri-i-i-i-ght.......

Bro, your brakes need service. 2 years is a good long while in severe/mountainous service at 40-50mph with a medium cargo load. Brake pads are going to wear like anything else, that is, the harder you make them work the sooner they will wear out.

Either DIY or take it to a shop and have them inspect/service the brakes, the front in particular.

It's also possible that the brake fluid is low for whatever reason, i.e. something is leaking. Or, you've been chronically overheating the brakes which would also cause accumulating damage to the brake fluid.

 

Wow, thought brakes last for 5 or more years, but it is possible that they are run down. Brake fluid is still full, I changed my own brake pads with no problems until recently feeling unsafe when stopping with a heavy load. I thought conversion from drum to disk brakes would solve all my problems and since I drive around with an extra 800 lbs at all times disk brakes is a good thing. But if drum is fine and just may need new pads and shoes, then I'm all for saving money and no need to change something if not needed.

 

I did the SOS rear disc brake conversion a while back and it comes with a master cylinder. My truck weighs 5700lbs in full form and needed the extra stopping power. Stops on a dime.

 

Yes, I think disc brakes would be very worthwhile for you being that you have added a lot of weight semi permanently to the back (and tow perhaps?). Lmao, I mean we only got those shitty drums because Toyota wanted to maximize corporate profits for as long as possible (4th gens finally have discs!).

That said, it also sounds like you may have some air in the brake system somewhere (could even be in the ABS module); long pedal travel is the telltale. I would properly bleed the lines as a first step and make sure there are no leaks (those let air in too). Do you have a TRD off-road with electric brake booster or regular vacuum booster?

 

Bruh, you some some longer brake lines in there

 

When is the last time that you flushed your brake fluid? That alone will can have a significant change.

 

Just going to reiterate here --

Your brakes are now operating within their outer margins of functionality. They may continue to "fade away" gradually, or there may come a sudden moment when you mash the brake pedal to the floor and there is NO brake response at all.

Go directly to a competent mechanic and have them fix your current brakes.

Your existing brake system needs service before you go trying to change the rear brakes from drums to discs.

Properly maintained & adjusted stock Taco brakes should be able to easily lock up & skid (or get full ABS activation) even if you're carrying 600-800 lbs of cargo, driver, etc. 600-800 lbs is well within the normal max payload of any Tacoma.

If you can't afford to hire a mechanic, stop driving 40-50mph down steep hills, reduce to 25-30 mph. If your job / life schedule is so tight that you can't slow down to 30mph or less until your brakes get fixed, you may want to spend a bit more time each day praying to the god(s) of your choice.

 

weight moves forward

 

That was an old picture when I first did the conversion. Here's an updated one with longer brake lines.

 

Anyone that has done the booster conversion, do you still have your old booster laying around that you can take a few measurements off of it for me?

 

For someone that does heavy off-road use running bigger tires and weight would you recommend the conversion?

While rock crawling I damaged my e-brake cable, backing plate rear wheel cylinder and other components inside the drum and need to replace so I'm considering going rear disc conversion. I'm thinking this could be a good time rather than replacing with original parts.