MatosTaco's Build Thread

Here's a video explaining the process thus far. It covers the process of removing the stock rotors, installing the new ones, drilling the spindle, and test fitting the CTS-V caliper. I will follow up with how that failed in the next video, but this will give you a pretty solid understanding of the process.

https://youtu.be/SF_OyxqfEzk

 

I held off on doing the Brembo logo for now and just clear coated the calipers. I then drilled my spindle holes out to 14mm for the M14 bolts the ATS caliper uses. Sure enough, I could not get them to mount. The reason for this is the ATS calipers DO line up to the CTS-V caliper and both have holes that are slightly closer together than the holes on the Tacoma's spindle. This means I ended up having to take a unibit and bore the holes out to about 11/16" in order to get the calipers to mount.


Here's the ATS caliper mounted up finally. All said and done, it fit nicely and sits where it is supposed to.

20210529_193312 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I discovered a couple of things in the process of installing the stainless brake lines. First, I had overtightened the passenger's side line back when I did the Wilwood setup. For this reason, the tip of the fitting on the hard line that the flexible brake line connects to had flared. As a result of this, it would not fit into the new brake line no matter what I did. So, I ran out to Autozone and bought a 12" long, 3/16" diameter brake tube with M10x1.0 fittings. That store didn't have bending pliers in stock, so I ran out to another Autozone and got those today. I then bent a new line following the bends of the old one and installed it in the truck.


You can see it in this picture, it's the tube with the shiny fitting on the left side of the image

20210601_185609 by Jose, on Flickr


Here is where it connects to the new braided brake line... and yes, I do need new tie rod boots! Keep in mind there is a clip that will hold the large fitting on the braided brake line to the bracket coming off the frame. It is not on in the picture, but I installed it right after. The lines actually come with new clips.

20210601_185624 by Jose, on Flickr

 

The second thing I discovered is even worse; the fact that these brake lines are too long and using the supplied mounts to bolt them to the brackets on the control arm could lead to a situation where the brake line will fail over time. Take a look at the pictures below. You can see that at full steering lock toward the direction of the side the line is on, you can kink the bottom of the line.

20210601_193025 by Jose, on Flickr


It looks fine with the wheel turned away from the side the line is on (here is a picture of the passenger's side line with the wheel turned toward the left/driver's side). It's fine in this position, but can kink when turning in the opposite direction.

20210601_193121 by Jose, on Flickr


Stoptech makes a Tacoma specific braided brake line for these 2WD trucks. It is part number 950.4022 and is what we used back when we did my friend's Tacoma in the past. I have ordered a set of these just to be on the safe side. If you would rather spend some more coin and avoid literally all of these headaches, Stoptech makes a big brake kit for our trucks as well! It is part number 83.870.4600.71 but it is $2470.50 so I imagine only big ballers will ever have this on their Tacomas!

 

Another note. When you install the ATS calipers, you need a couple sets of washers. Per the no bracket big brake kit thread on here and Customtacos, you will need some washers for a 9/16" bolt and some for a 14mm bolt. The thread says the 9/16" go between the caliper and the spindle/knuckle and the 14mm go between the bolt head and knuckle. The 14mm washers I got are about 3.06mm thick and actually were the perfect size to go between the caliper and the knuckle. The 9/16" on the other hand required two to go between the bolt head and knuckle. I could have gotten away with just one, but the clearance between the bolt and the rotor would have been minimal and I fear they would contact when the rotor expands due to heat. For this reason, I think it would make sense to go with a 35mm long bolt instead of the 40mm recommended in the thread, as this would eliminate the need for washers. I used a flange head bolt so washers aren't a big concern.

14mm washer
20210602_124617 by Jose, on Flickr

9/16" washer X2
20210602_124441 by Jose, on Flickr

 

While I wait on my new brake lines to arrive, I figured I would make some progress on the coilover fix.

I started by cutting two 20.5 mm tall sections out of a 1 1/4" galvanized steel nipple
20210602_173136 by Jose, on Flickr

These are the two pieces once cut and the edges ground down to remove the galvanize(makes it easier to weld)
20210602_181254 by Jose, on Flickr

Welding in that area is a pain because you can't get close enough to get a good view of your weld. To add to the problem, my welding mask was on the fritz and it finally gave up
on me. I still managed to weld the front of the pipe, but it isn't as pretty as I would have liked. Oh well, it's fairly solid. Looks like I'll be buying a new mask tomorrow. Ignore the
slag in front of the weld, I knocked that off later with a flat head screwdriver.
20210602_203931 by Jose, on Flickr

 

In other news, the alcantara wrap I ordered from Redline Goods (back in March), finally came in. It looks to be better made than the leather one I got last time. Me being me, I already removed the leather from the IS300 steering wheel and started the process of wrapping it in the alcantara. They made a mistake in my order and added black stitching instead of charcoal, but that's actually ok by me. I still have charcoal string from the last wheel wrap, so I plan to do a two tone setup this time.

Fresh out of the package
20210602_210216 by Jose, on Flickr

Looks kind of rough around the edges
20210602_210220 by Jose, on Flickr

Black string I won't need, though I appreciate the pins to help poke holes in the alcantara
20210602_210223 by Jose, on Flickr

Charcoal/grey string for the win!
20210602_210244 by Jose, on Flickr

 

While I was in the wheel well, there was no way I was going to just let the rust from my battery failure stay put. So, I put a wire brush in my drill and got to work removing rust from everywhere. It took several cycles of using and recharging my power drill batteries, but I was able to get the rust scrubbed from every last nook and cranny on the frame and engine bay. The battery tray area was particularly bad. I may remove that tray and develop a plastic replacement in the future.

Before
20210603_165720 by Jose, on Flickr

After scrubbing with wire brush and some coats of Rust-Oleum Rust Reformer.
20210603_210350 by Jose, on Flickr

Other stuff I touched up
20210603_210409 by Jose, on Flickr
20210604_103111 by Jose, on Flickr

I just added an extra coat of VHT roll bar and chassis black on all of it this morning. That will take it from this perfect satin black to a semi gloss, but it will still look nice and the rust protection is much improved with the extra coating.

 

Well, I was stitching away at my new alcantara steering wheel wrap when suddenly...the stitches popped like some cheap pepboys steering wrap. 2.5 months of waiting shot down the drain. They didn't leave enough material for the wrap to close around the wheel and so the stitching popped when I tried to get it to close. Redline's quality really has gone down the drain these past years. I really can't believe these are the same people who made my wrap from years ago (which worked perfectly).

Nowhere near enough material here
20210604_122028 by Jose, on Flickr

Popped string
20210604_122049 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Looking at it closely, a large part of the problem is the fact that they have sewn the tabs at the seams on top of each other instead of spread apart as you would normally see. This makes it difficult for the material to stretch and overcome the lack of extra material.
20210604_132738 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Well, the pipes are welded in, the rust proofing is done, the Tacoma specific stoptech brake lines are on, and the brakes are bled. The pedal feels rock solid and I am happy to finally be (almost) done with this project!

This upper pipe secures the bushing perfectly. I don't see the rod failure happening ever again.
20210604_185818 by Jose, on Flickr

I am quite happy with the Tacoma specific brake lines. At full lock in either direction and no kinking
20210605_125229 by Jose, on Flickr
20210605_125259 by Jose, on Flickr

While I was in there I discovered why my AC doesn't work. Looks like either the seals at the compressor are bad or the lines themselves are
20210605_141905 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Now I'm finally motivated to clean these filthy wheels up!
20210605_202643 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Here is the latest video update of where I was with the truck. I'll follow this up with a final video for the big brake series and then probably make a condensed version with just the necessary details.
https://youtu.be/1nGwR_P46vU

 

Will be taking the truck for a spin soon. Excited to see what the Brembos bring to the table. Hopefully, the unsprung weight won't have increased too much.

 

I ended up buying heat resistant vinyl and cutting out the old school Brembo logos. I applied them to each caliper and then clear coated over for good measure.

The goal was to look like the Brembo calipers on my old GSXR, I think it came out pretty good
20210608_144415 by Jose, on Flickr
20210608_143642 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Now I really, really need to clean these wheels lol
20210608_143422 by Jose, on Flickr

As soon as I bed the pads and really bake that clearcoat using the heat of the brakes...

 

Here is the latest video update

https://youtu.be/iYJnkHqjvrY

 

I had taken the truck for a spin last week and was not happy with the way the brakes felt. I did a full bleed of all corners of the system and the pedal feels much better. Another test drive will reveal whether or not it needs more bleeding.

 

This whole process has revealed other things I need to fix. One is the intake scoop in the grill has begun to crack, another is the source of my AC system not working, and the final is that my front bumper is all rusted underneath (aftermarket replacement). While everything is apart, I will probably replace the radiator fans and wire up a fan controller of some sort.

 

While I get those, more important things done, I figured I would have some fun with the 3D printer. So, I went ahead and printed this to replace the Lexus logo in the IS300 wheel I got. This was the second test piece, just to verify fitment. I will make the final one in black once my new roll of black filament arrives.
20210616_222803 by Jose, on Flickr