Touchy brakes

i couldnt agree more with this statement. touchy sob's and embarrassing at times for passengers that never have driven in the truck. takes much finesse to come to a smooth stop..

 

Same thing here! What could be causing that b/c it drives me nuts. Kinda glad to know it's not just mine though.

 

It was the same way on my 4Runner when I first got it a month ago, even touchier than the Tacoma.

Again, now that I'm used to it I love it. Strong brakes = more better.

 

I still can't get over how super extra touchy they are when wet, like after a carwash.

mo better ...but damn

I like it. stopping this thing is not a problem

 

Upping the tire size to 265/70R17 or 265/75R16 takes a bit of the initial grabby edge off.

 

Glad I found this thread before I took it into the dealership...Just hit 5000 miles and was hoping it was something that would wear off and got worried when it didn't. Makes me look like i'm having a seizure when i'm trying to creep through the drive through. Wife hates them...maybe she won't drive my truck anymore...

 

It took a little getting used to. That's all. They're what one guy called, "really good stoppers".

 

I know this thread is over a year old, but FWIW, I shortened the length of the brake pedal push rod on my '15 TRD/OR by 1 1/2 turns...made a big difference in smoothing the breaking response. Also, I believe there is a much better feel to the brakes at low speed in general when the VSC-OFF button is engaged, but that might be my imagination as I've tweaked multiple things at the same time...

The stock breaking feel was way too touchy/progressive for my taste...almost as if the pressure from the master cylinder to the wheels increased without further footpedal pressure...especially in the final 25 feet or so of a complete stop.

...read from Bendix (for their hydraulic boosted solution) that there could be a clogged vent on the fluid fill cap causing odd behavior...sounds like a stretch, but who knows.

 

Coming from a Honda as my last vehicle, as soon as I stepped on the brakes my head jerked forward. Now that I'm used to it it's not a problem, but man they are sensitive. I actually really like them now and it has helped me out in a couple of situations.

 

Likely my final post on this one, but after fiddling with the brakes on the '15 TRD/OR/DC for the last 18 months - I figured I would try to summarize where I wound up and what I think made the most difference.

First - some of the things that *maybe* helped - but were mostly part of the process or circumstantial:

• Of the electronic mods, (having VSC disable itself after startup and the ABS kill switch) - I've reverted to leaving them both as stock - VSC and ABS fully enabled) - while daily driving - so no electronic changes at this point.

• Ensuring that the system is properly bled of any air is definitely important and worthwhile, but no smoking gun for me (in this case) in terms of pedal feel. I likely didn't have any air in the system.

• Same for rear shoe adjustment with the star-wheel - definitely necessary for good brake performance but not a massive win for my pedal feel - probably because the self-adjustment mechanism is working properly and mine was not out of spec.

• Suspension lift with stiffer springs and shocks (Headstrong and Bilstein 5100s) and bigger wheels and tires (275/70/17 AT3s on Methods) - better ride, less nose dive, better looks - check!

These (3) are what I believe had the most impact on pedal feel - for me, less touchy and an overall improvement:

• Pedal Height - previously I had shortened the adjustment rod, lowering the pedal height, but now I have it fully extended to the longest length possible while still being able to align the cam-clevis-pin with the hole in the pedal. Messing with this length is one of the first things that I tried and the thing I changed most often, so in the end, I'm not exactly sure how far off from stock it is now but it might not be much. Either way, I think this is more personal preference than anything...and I may wind up changing it again...so, although it definitely makes a difference - I can't say that my current setting is any better than stock (or even that far off).

• Pedal Return Spring - OK, so I removed the pedal return spring - but before anyone *freaks* out, keep in mind that this is a RETURN spring and removing it poses no additional menace to the general public or my passengers than having me behind the wheel in the first place Anyways, this made quite a bit of difference in the pedal feel - nice, light, smooth foot travel prior to brake engagement, and less resistance with better feedback once the master cylinder actually applies decent pressure to the system. For me, an improvement that I'll keep. (Worth a try - you can always put it back on )

• Parking Brake Cable Adjustment - This was the biggest surprise. After exhausting everything else I could think of, I decided to simply tighten the emergency brake foot pedal cable at the adjustment on the top of the foot-pedal itself (where the cable end is threaded and there are double 10mm nuts. My parking brake worked fine prior, but I could get +10 clicks out of it before it was fully engaged, and I tightened the cable to where it maxed out at around 6 clicks. Now, I don't know exactly why this seemingly made such a big difference for me, but I suspect that it basically does what the star-wheel does, only for the bottom of the brake shoes rather than the top...meaning that, perhaps by removing "slack" in the parking brake cable, the bottom half of the brake shoes are drawn closer to the drum, and in concert with a properly adjusted star-wheel, allow for more surface area of the show to contact the drum at the same time...in other words, when they are both adjusted properly, the curve of the shoe is more parallel with the curve of the drum, so when the brake is applied, more of the shoe makes contact; rather than only the top 1/3rd of the show...or whatever...

Anyways, these tweaks have definitely improved my perception of the drive-ability of the truck on the braking side of things. It's still not a Honda (duh), or even like a 1st Gen...there's still an occasional bump (or hiccup) in the pedal when the hydro system kicks in to re-pressurize; and there's still a bit of finesse required for a totally smooth experience when coming to a complete stop...but I think it's an improvement and hopefully somebody out there finds this helpful...