Tundra Calipers Not Lining Up

I put Tundra brakes and rotors on my Taco. The pads and rotors are EBC and the calipers are NAPA reman. When I put the caliper on, and with the rotor held solid in place, the inside pad contacts the rotor while the pad on the outside does not. I feel like I have done something wrong but it does the same thing on both sides. You can see the pads are just sitting in the caliper, but putting the pins in doesn't change the clearance. What gives?!

 

Have you pressed the pedal yet?

 

When you put in the pins, are you making sure you put in that retaining clip? Or is it different with your setup?

 

Did you also ensure the pistons were fully seated as well? if pistons on one side are pushed out a bit that could be another possibility..

 

Once everything is assembled and you press the brakes and then bleed the system to get all the air out everything will be just Jim Dandy. In other words it will center up and all will be well with the world once again.

 

^What he said.

Also, how much were the calipers and are they much bigger? Was it a tough install? What all was needed. Inquiring minds want to know...

 

What Jimmy said

 

Were going to need a full write up, with pictures ,before we can give you any informed answers .

 

I don't see it as an issue, but Mcmaster carr sells thin shim stock washers in varying sizes/thicknesses, you could add some shims between the caliper mounting ears and the spindle to center it all if it bothers you. It is hard to see from the angle whether the rotor is centered in the caliper itself. But as long as there isn't any rotor/caliper contact it isn't really an issue anyways. I doubt you would ever get the rotors hot enough(actually glowing) to expand and make contact if they aren't perfectly centered.

 

Im curious as to why you decided that tundra brakes would fit and tackle the job of a brake caliper / rotor swap, and not know the simple basics behind a non floating multi piston caliper.

 

Now would be a good time to replace the brake fluid in the brake system, since you have to bleed the brakes anyway.

 

Are the brake pad pins going thru all 4 holes in the pads? or did you miss a hole? Looking at your pic, the inboard top pad hole is not lined up with the hole in caliper.

 

I'm curious as to why you decided to be a douche nozzle? Tundra brakes have been swapped onto Tacomas and 4Runners for a long time. There are plenty of write-ups about it. I had a set of calipers on my shelf and I decided to go for it. Sorry, not sorry, that I didn't ask your permission first. And FYI, "simple basics" is redundant.

 

The best general resource I've found is this. I was going to do it on my 4Runner, and I had a set of NAPA Eclipse semi loaded calipers for the job. Those were under 100 bucks per. That 4Runner ended up on the bad end of a hail storm. So when I did a LCA, UCA, King adjustable suspension, and new hubs upgrade to my Tacoma, I said why not do that too?! You have to trim the dust shield a little but that isn't hard. I had to also watch the clearance between my Total Chaos spindle gussets. I ordered a set of EBC rotors and pads, they are far cheaper than stock, but better than the NAPA rotors. I've had good luck with EBC in the past. The calipers and rotors are considerably bigger. You notice it right away. Just keep in mind you want 13WL calipers and proper rotors. If they ask you at the part store, say you want them for a 2005 Tundra 4x4.

So far it was simple, but I haven't gotten a chance to jump back in and fix the issue I posted up top. I guess I am supposed to be a brake expert before attempting to do something that many others have done?! Who knew. I'll let you know how it goes this week. I want to finish it up.

 

Which stamping Calipers did you get? Edit: I must have not refreshed in time... sorry!

When I did my swap (on a first gen) I ended up with GX460 Calipers & Rotors, which were listed as a direct swap on one of the write-ups, but I ended up with a similar condition to what you have, and ended up milling ~70 thou off the mating face of the caliper to get the rotor and pads centered with the pistons 100% depressed.

 

Check! I run Motul DOT 4, RBF 600, in my Pro RMK so I swapped over to that when I ran Crown Performance brake lines. I figured the Motorex 5.1 I have for my KTM was excessive.

I just slid the pads into the caliper without pinning them for a picture. I have pinned them but the alignment is still off.

This makes me feel a little better. My calipers say 13WL. I can check for other marks. Like you I followed the direct swap write-ups. I will connect my brake lines and try to press the pedal tomorrow.

 

I will try that. It appears so, but it can't help to check.

 

Anyhow, if you can bolt your setup on and torque it down, and get no wheel drag, I agree with what others have said, the pistons will center on the Rotor, and you will be in good shape.

If your pad contacts the rotor before you torque it down, or you get lots of drag once torqued (this was the case for me), you'll need to measure up and either mill or make a shim kit to center the rotor in the caliper.

Imo neither of these are great options since there is potential to severely damage the most critical safety system on the vehicle! I'm not sure which direction you need to go, seems like adding a shim... make sure you get one that is truly parallel and has a similar surface area to OEM.

 

When I torque it down with my pins in place, and everything GTG, the frame side pad drags so much that spinning the hub is near impossible. I could try a different caliper, but I'm guessing that might be a waste of time and money. I'll mess with it and see if I can make it line up. Thanks for the help!

 

Did you also run a few of the lug nuts in to a decent torque (with spacers so you don't bottom them out) to ensure that the Rotor is fully seated?