Big Ole' Brake Upgrade Thread for Third Gens

Must be the PolyMatrix Q
https://www.wilwood.com/BrakePads/BrakePadsProd?itemno=15Q-6828K

 

That's them. I really liked them.

 

Can’t wait to see your pics of the install. Might do this as well at some point. Just wish they had a read disc kit too.

 

What's in the box obvious edition:

 

Muffler bearings.

 

looking good. can't wait to see how they turn out. also hoping wilwood comes out with a rear disc conversion for the tacoma too.

 

Well. Not so bad a install. These 14” fit on 17” method mr701’s with and without 1.25” wheel spacers. I cannot speak to other 17’s.

 

Notes on install.

The only sort of hard part was cutting the dust shield. I decided I could do the cut without removing the shield. I leaned on the passenger side and did a better job on driver (left more of the shield in place). One more go at it and it would be even better. You can leave a good portion of the shield in place if you want. I pained the cuts while on the truck just by masking behind the shield.

I do not think is a good idea to remove the entire shield. It may seem thin but it would change it up a bit and when you are adding and removing the washer shims for the fine tuning of the caliper placement a very small amount matters..

Note!! You will need a 1/4” line wrench to bleed the front breaks. You need to bleed both the top bleeders. The bottom ones are not used. You also need a few sae sockets and wrench's. I say this because you may not have them as everything else in a taco is metric.

You will also need a full bottle of Break fluid when you bleed them. It simply takes time to hook up the break lines and you will loose a ton of fluid which means a full bleed job.

****I had to use all three of my torque wrench’s for this job 1/4 drive, 3/8 and 1/2. Going from 130 in/lbs up to 83 ft/lbs. 3 things to use it in. Mounting disk to hat 1/4 inch/pounds, main break bolts (1/2) and caliper bolts (3/8).

I would say it’s a 6/10 difficulty

The bedding process takes time. Give yourself 1.5 hours to do it. And you will experience all sorts of smells and sound when doing it, this is normal, I even had a real bad clunking sound but it went away as well. I think my driver side got some break fluid in the disk which was causing the pad to slip and re-engage. It sounded like I fooked it up some how.. I almost backed out but pushed thru it and now the breaks are great!!

Hope this helps out if anyone tackles this job solo.

 

I don't know what camera you used to take those pictures, but damn they are crisp. Looks great and will help with all added weight.

 

those look fantastic man. super jealous

 

Anyone try the sos 6 piston under 16 pro style wheels.
My winters are on 16s. So I'm considering swapping for this just the front.

The braking is pretty bad given all the added weight.

Also for those that did sos, what about master cylinder?

 

Does anyone know the part # for the stoptech 323mm rotors? The one for the 16" 6 piston stop tech kit.


I tried emailing sos and all they have to tell me is 'the rotors are thick and should last 30 000miles, they can be bought through us or any stop tech distributor'

That's fucking fantastic but that doesn't answer my question about part # since I'm trying to source the pads and rotors here in Canada so I know I'll be able to get parts when I need to do my brakes if I go this route of upgrade. Saying I can get them elsewhere but not helping me find info on it is making me but want to buy your product

I get you want to keep as much business as possible but I'm less likely to order from you if I can't source parts I'll need in the future locally.
Not fond of this idea of paying $105 shipping + taxes and brokerage fees whenever I need to do brakes.

 

He kind of did the same thing to me. I would check Stop Tech's website and/or email them.

 

4 fucking emails and keeps skipping out on part #

Fucking stupid. Great way to get a customer when their simple inquiries you be a cunt and withhold info on your product

 

Wanted to leave this here in case someone decides to tackle the SOS rear disc conversion and runs into problems.

If you opted for the master cylinder upgrade it is very important to have the actuator rod adjusted properly. I knew when I did my install that mine could stand more adjustment, but it was a huge pain to pull the master cylinder off, adjust, re-install, then bleed. I was also having bleeding problems so I wasn't 100% certain it was the rod. Anyway, finally went to the dealer and had them do the bleed, and had some braided lines made to come off the master cylinder. This would allow me to remove the master cylinder and mess with the rod and not have to worry about kinking a hard line or even breaking one. I was ready to make this adjustment.

Then other things happened. More important mods...you know how it happens. With the rod not adjusted properly you can expect these issues: inconsistent brake pedal feel. It'll feel great one second and the next it'll feel like crap. Another symptom I figured out later on is that brake pads won't bed-in properly. What that leads to is a striped material deposit on the rotor face. Essentially, the pad would go from gripping to slipping as the rotor turns through the pads. The best part of this is that you'll get an amazing brake judder at higher speeds.

I didn't realize the judder was related and bought another two sets of rotors and pads. My poor wallet. Everyone of them exhibited this judder. It finally dawned on me that it was related to the adjustment of the rod.

This weekend I FINALLY did this. Those h-shaped measuring tools won't work here. I just had to mess with it until I was happy. Keep in mind that small adjustments will make a big difference. Test drive the vehicle after every adjustment. This is VERY important. Don't go very far, but don't just run down the block. Your goal here is to get heat into the brake fluid. Why? Because the fluid will expand, pushing the pads against the rotor. Just running down the block won't get the heat into the system. If your adjustment is off and the heat gets into the fluid, you'll know it. The truck will have no acceleration and a lot of deceleration. This is why I say not to go too far. The hotter the brake system gets, the harder it brakes. Eventually, you won't be able to go anywhere. It might be a good idea to bring a wrench with you to back off the master cylinder mounting nuts. You'll know when you've backed off far enough.

Once you get the adjustment right you'll be rewarded with a solid pedal. Mine ended up barely being adjusted out. Like 1/32nd of an inch. Be patient because the results are worth it.

 

I just ordered the StopTec SOS BBK for the fronts on my 2020 OR Taco. The 340mm will fit with the 17" SEMA TRD Pro wheels I currently have according to Tom at SOS. I'd like to get a wider wheel so I could run bigger tires some day (when I can also afford a re-gear). Which exact Method 701 wheels are you running? 17x8.5", 6x135 0/4.75" ? These might be my current top wheel choice if everything fits.

 

Yes I believe that is the 701 I am running and the BBK fit! I would need to dig up the order to find the exact part number for the wheels. The wheels fit 315/70's but I run a spacer upfront at 1.25 to clear suspension components, not the breaks..

 

The 17" rim kit (340mm rotors) fit on my SEMA 17" TRD Pro wheels just fine with no spacers. The Methods have a little more clearance it looks like, so if I upgrade to those I should be fine. These brakes are great if you have a fat taco like many of us here do.

 

Do you happen to know the thickness of the rotors and the piston size for the calipers?

-B