Big Brakes, ECGS Bushing, & 5100s; Install @ 60 kMile and Review

Reached 60,000 miles on the
3rd Gen, so it was time for some maintenance.
This truck has some DD duties and transports my mountain bike on fire roads.
No real offroad action or rock crawling.
However, overlanding maybe a future consideration.
This post is not a "how to" post as there are a bunch of install videos out there. Rather this post is just a few notes on the work I did and my $0.015 worth.

With that in mind, here is a list three things that were done.

• ECGS CV Axle Clamshell Bushings and seal.
• Bilstein 5100's on all 4 corners.
• Longer Front Wheel Studs
• Power Brake's Big Brake Kit.
• Longer Front Wheel Studs

Notes:

ECGS Bushing:

• ECGS tools make installing bushing and seal much easier.
• Replacing the differential seal was a good idea
• Good time to drain and refill the front diff's oil.

Bilstein 5100s, front and rear:

• Straight forward installation, used the zero lift settings
• Good ride, much better than OEM when driving on fire roads.
• The truck sits just a little higher in the front, but it is now perfectly level
• Great shocks for the money.

Longer Wheel Studs:

• Aftermarket wheels cannot use OEM lug nuts
• OEM wheel studs only allow for about 5 threads of engagement to the new acorn lug nuts
• Rears were changed when new wheels were installed previously, but now for the fronts.
• Removed OEM front wheel studs and cleaned the front hubs
• Used
  $23 Dorman 610-463 Rear M12-1.50 Serrated Wheel Stud - 14.20mm Knurl, 55mm Length Compatible with Select Pontiac / Toyota Models, 10 Pack
  Dorman 610-463 wheel studs (available on Amazon)
• Now have about 14 threads of engagement with the acorn lug nuts

Power Brake Big Brake Kit:

• Great vendor, excellent customer service.
• This kit is top notch stuff.
• Not the cheapest option, but worth the price difference.
• Much better feel when stepping on the brake pedal.

A couple of progress photos:

Big Brakes Installed:

 

I’ve had my eye on the Powerbrake kit for quite sometime. Glad to hear another positive experience. Have only heard good things aside from the price of entry.

 

A lot of members put aftermarket wheels on there trucks but I haven’t heard of them replacing the studs because of it but now I’m curious of others.

 

The differences between OEM lug nuts that mount to OEM mag rims is shown below:

Before the big brake kit and longer wheel studs, there was about five threads of engagement for the front wheels.
Factoring in that Power Brakes have about ~1.25 mm thicker rotors at the flange to wheel bearing housing, there would only be about 4 threads of engagement w/o longer wheel studs.

According to the DOT, it is recommended vehicles with aluminum wheels have at least 4 threads of engagement.
Another DOT recommendation is the minimum acceptable lug thread engagement should be >/= the stud diameter for on road use.
Given that the wheel studs are 12mm x 1.5 mm pitch, eight threads are needed to meet that DOT recommendation. (i.e., 8x1.5 = 12mm)

Though eight threads are recommended, back when NASCAR had steel wheels, only three threads of engagement were needed.

Since I was removing the front wheel hubs to cutdown the dust shields, thought it would be a good time to install the longer wheel studs.
Just a piece of mind thing as I would hate anything to happen just because I didn't do this simple modification.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/lugnut-thread-engagement.457760/

A bit more info

 

Some great info! Can you remove and install new wheel studs without removing anything more than the brake rotor? Did you use the same studs for front and rear ?

 

Baboltin,

Installed the rear studs a while back. Think I followed the instructions from this link.

Extended Wheel Studs Installed - Which Brands Work | Tacoma World

The above link references

$41 ARP 100-7715 ARP 1007715 Wheel Stud Kit for Lexus

ARP 100-7715 rear wheel studs that were cut to length.

For the front, since I cut down front disc brake cover, hard to say if you do or do not need to remove the wheel hubs.
Looks like it is possible to install w/o removing the hub, but other may have more information.

 

Good information for if I need to or want to get new wheels and have to install new studs. I was looking at the black rhino wheels and wonder if anyone has experience with them and if they are capable of using a ET lug nut to not warrant having to swap out the studs.