Tacoma Rear Disc Brakes

Yeah, I think it's really because much of the 3rd gen is carried over from the second. If it were a full redesign, it most likely would have been disks. For some reason, the 4Runner gets redesigns more often than tacos. 4Runner is up to 5th gen, and tacomas are only up to 3rd gen, or 2.5 to some people.

 

Yah, that is what I was thinking as well. 3rd gen may quickly become a 4th gen before we know it. Toyota really milked the 2nd gen as it has 2.1,2.2,2.3..etc. I almost went with a Nissan Frontier due to more HP and 4 wheel discs but you could not argue all the data backing up the Tacoma. Its long over due for discs thats for sure. I would not be shocked if the next one came with either a well though out disc setup or a larger disc in the rear, similar to many larger trucks to generate the better stopping power. I was pretty close to doing the conversion on my 2nd Gen but as many have noted, there may be little to no gain and may even perform worse. I can only think its due to many items such as brakes not designed for it, master is not ready for 4 wheel, etc.

Would be interesting to see a bigger rear brake setup with a correctly matched master and respective parts.

 

The 4Runner didn't restart the generations in '95. The Tacoma did. Before that it was the Pickup or "Hilux."

 

True. But if you also count the pre Tacoma gens, would it be more the 4Runner?

 

No.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux

Even if you counted the Toyota Trekker which was the precursor to the 4Runner the Hilux (or Pickup) has more generations.

 

Okay, so if we start from 1995, the 4Runner and the Tacoma went through the same number redesigns.
I think they did it to save money, and because the drum brakes work fine.

 

pretty much

 

I guess not. I have a TRD, 4x4 manual trans with access cab and 6 foot bed.

 

So...never take a FJ, 4Runner, Tundra, Sequoia, or Land Cruiser off road?

It was cheaper for Toyota to leave the drum brakes on there. And not because disc brakes are that much more expensive than drums....there was a time that was true, but not now....but they clearly didn't want to put even a little coin in adapting them to what was essentially an existing frame/platform from the G2.

 

Its because when asking Tacoma owners whats was important to them when picking a truck, towing was very far down the list. I think there were 20-25 things listed before towing. And without a need to stop alot of (trailer) weight, you dont really need disc brakes in the rear.

 

Hardly relatable. Have you seen how the rotors are designed? And how light the bikes are. Can anyone tell me why they want disc other than for looks, because performance wise you won't even know the difference on a midsized pickup.

 

To tell you the truth? Disc brakes are inherently noisy (much more than drums) , and with all the noise complaints by ppl (like $hitty99) and some who don't even own a 3rd gen, Mike thought it best to leave them for later, when all the problems are sorted out for the 3rd gen haters.
Moreover, rear brakes don't or won't improve breaking much if any, to warrant or balance the cons and extra expense as most of the stopping is at the front.

Hope that helps!
Cheers!

 

There you go OP, over $1k, now lets get the raving reviews! lolo!

And that's the truth!

 

Rear brakes on automobiles? That's a luxury item...

 

And if you have trailer brakes on a heavy load which you should just up the setting. No big deal.

 

It doesn't bother me a bit that my Taco has rear drum brakes. The front brakes do about 80% of the work because there is more mass behind the front brakes than the rear. Basically rear brakes do more to stabilize the vechile when stopping than they contribute to stopping power. Also, with all the fancy brake controls Toyota put on my off road, I'd hate to muck something up by converting it to rear discs (not to mention the appx $1000 cost to do the conversion). My 2 cents.

 

The answer is easy & simple: cost vs benefit.

 

www.torquenews.com/1083/2016-toyota-tacoma-rear-drum-brakes-thumbs%3Famp

Thumbs up for drums on Taco.

 

Sadly, I can only press like on this once. To someone who actually spent painstaking hours researching and calculating bias, rotor diameters, pad friction coefficients, piston diameters, and master cylinder knee points to design a kick-ass brake system on my fun car (Miata), I can tell you that the $1000 you spend on rear discs without touching the master cylinder will be wasted.

Some poor sod is going to pay over a thousand bucks to learn they're being an idiot and actuating discs with line pressure that's intended for drums. Cue the painfully longer 60-0 "oh fffffffffffuuuuuu-" playing out in slow motion. It would be sad if it wasn't usually born of a dumb sentiment that "discs are king no matter what."

Drums take WAY less pressure to actuate than discs do- ever notice that kid's dirt bikes come with cable operated drums?? That's because even shitty little kid hands can clamp hard enough on a cable lever to lock up some drums.

That SOS kit doesn't include any bias adjustment, nothing at all to do with the master cylinder... Would you volunteer to drive a truck that has significantly less brake pressure than it needs?

For non-offroads, I'm gonna wager Toyota already has their brake bias set heavily frontwards (every manufacturer does, rear brakes locking first is a recipe for tears) and I wouldn't be surprised one bit if you hit some knee point in the master cylinder where rear line pressure is 1/4 or less of what the front is.

Again a valid point, I don't know exactly what sort of Japanese space magic the OR uses for its brakes, but you can be assured that it's going to run drums at an adequate drum line pressure, which is inadequate for discs.