Tundra front brake upgrade

You have a few options when it comes to brake lines...

1. (Cheapest) Use the existing Tacoma brake lines and banjo bolts, very carefully drilling out the end of the banjo bolt so it will fit the shorter threaded insert on the Tundra caliper.
2. Purchase Wheeler's Stainless Steel front brake lines, since they come with a banjo bolt that is short enough to work with some Tundra calipers, and hope that (a) they are short enough and (b) that the calipers don't have powder coat on the mating surface.
3. (Best) Purchase an Tacoma-to-Tundra Stainless Steel Brake Line Kit that replaces the banjo connection with a hard brake line, just like the Tundra has from the factory.

Personally, I'd go with option 3, since it allows you to use any 13WL Tundra caliper...should you ever have to replace one and be in a situation where you can't get one that works with #2 (and wouldn't work with #1 either).

You can read about my experience here when one of my calipers seized up on the trail and I had to replace it. And then, Making It Right: Tacoma-to-Tundra Brake Upgrade.

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Got new lines from wheelers off road

 

Ok. Thanks. Flbadrian. I was fixing to start that project next. But as my luck would have it, I was driving home from work today, and about 60 miles from home my temp went all the way up. I pulled over and shut it down and after awhile took off the rad.cap and watched all of the water shoot up in the air like ole faithful at that park. Luckily it was pouring rain and so I got some water from a ditch and poured it in with the motor running and the heater on high. And it cooled back down. So I limped her home. I cleaned out my overflow a couple weeks ago and have had crazy things with my heater happening. I can turn it on hot and fan on low and it would get hot. But when I turn the fan up on high the air would start to cool off. So I thought I had air in my system, cause I also had the throttle body off. But I ran it for about 45 mins with the rad cap off and thought I got all the air out. And drove it all weekend and no problems. And when I drove it 107 miles to work no prob. And drove it around to get lunch,no prob. And I started home i got about 45 miles down the road it got hot all of the sudden. I do remember turning the heat off to about halfway between hit and cold. But when I got cold water from the ditch in it and the heat on high, it cooled down.. And I left the heat on high and drove it the other 65 miles home it didn't heat back up. But it will if I turn the heat off? I'm thinking it's a thermostat? I went and got one tonight so I can replace it in the morning. My bottom hose was cool compared to the top one. So I'm thinking thermostat? What's ur thoughts? I hope like hell it's not the water pump. I was told it was replaced last summer. I'm going to order the timing belt kit, just because I didn't know if he replaced all the seals and the thermostat and the rest of the stuff. The timing belt and water pump was replaced. But it will take a week for it to get here and this is my only driver, so I can't be down and I'll have to drive it the day after tomorrow to work a 107 miles away. If I replace the thermostat tomorrow and drive it around without the heat on it should overheat if it's the pump, shouldn't it? If it is then I'll guess I'll end up having to go to the AutoZone and get a knockoff and lay out in the rain and replace it. But dam I would hate to get wet as hell laying in a gravel driveway just to put on a pump that I'll end up replacing within a month or so when I get that kit in with all Toyota parts. And plus I don't have all the tools that I was going to get, a little at a time. Like the cam holder, belt tensioner, seal puller , seal driver kit, harmonic balancer holder. All I have is a cheap clover leaf looking puller right now. So this job was going to be a little ways off. I've never replaced a water pump on this truck, but from what I've read I don't need to take all of that off. Seems like i can just take tim.cover off, loosen bolts off of tensioner until tension is off of belt, take center pulley off and mark belt and move the right side of it off enough to get the water pump off and bingo. Dam I hope it the thermostat!!!

 

Thank you also turbodb. Nice write-up. Explains it all well. It might be a little while now, before I get around to it. It seems like my ole gal is telling me that she wants me to take care of something else first. For a truck that was taken care of , it seems like I'm doing something on her every weekend. But I can't complain, its mostly maintenance stuff. And from what I can tell nothing but the water pump and timing belt and alternator have been replaced. And I believe it. All the nuts and bolts have never been broke loose. It's a California truck. Brought from alburn Toyota. I'm the third owner, the guy I got it from only put 20,000 miles on it and he had it sitting for two years when he had it. It was his other truck that he used to drive to work back when desiel was real high. When it got back çheaper he stopped driving it and drove his desiel. Then got a 2nd gen. He was saving this for his grandson, but he's married and his wife was wanting a UTV . So I showed up and put cash in her face. HA. I did end up bringing him a case of beer so it wouldn't hurt so bad. But yeah, after sitting like that, I had to start replacing all of the rubber stuff. Wipers, and CV axles were the first things. I just completed the valve cover gasket job. All of the fluids. But that was a waste, cause they were all new except the oil. New wheels and tires and headlights and a lift. Oh and a new clutch from Marlin. Cause it had the original with 210000 miles on it. And started slipping when I put some 265' on it. But the little truck seems like a good one. I never had a first gen. All my buddies have when I was growing up and I always liked them. I brought a new 2nd gen in 09 , and did the same lift and wheels and tires and stuff but we're 285's. And it didn't hurt the power as much as it did on this one. Kinda why I thought I would go with the 265's. But dang it's a big difference. Still love it. Just go slower. Around here there's not very many people that know how to set up gears. Just some ole dirt track racers. And if it's not a race car, they don't want to mess with it. I could order everything for about a grand,(if I had it) but I would have to drive a couple hundred miles to a city and have the 4wheel off-road shop put them in, but they won't do a front elocker with it. So if they don't know how to do that, I don't want them putting in my gears. Cause i know exactly what they're planning on doing, they plan on just swapping in the gears and using the same shimms and not measuring anything or setting backlash. I know sometimes u can use the same shimms, but u have to be able to measure everything and set em up right. Maybe one day!! I'll have the funds to head up to Washington to nitro gear and have them put some in then go for some trail riding up there in California. There aren't any kind of truck trails around here to go riding on for the weekend. All the state land is mostly walk in hunting land. No trucks or ATVs. Plus they're not big enough to do anything with anyway. I guess it will help me from getting her all beat up.

 

Do you still sell these? Been trying to order a set, and keep getting some error when I try to add to cart.

 

I do. What error are you getting? (I'll PM you as well)

 

Has anyone here done this and a rear disc conversion as well? I know they sell kits, but I'd rather not put chevy parts on a Toyota, when Toyota makes perfectly good brakes parts. I'm hoping to find Tundra rears so it's easier when doing maintenance.

 

The rears on a 1st gen Tacoma don't do all that much braking - 30% at most when the proportioning valve is correctly adjusted. As such, there's not really any good reason to do the rears; stick with drums back there for almost no maintenance and just do the Tundras up front.

 

I've considered that, but I can't help it, I feel the need to upgrade. I usually tend to over-compensate and upgrade all my brake parts bcuz I drive fast and usually warp the rotors pretty fast. OEM parts are never good enough unless they're on a high end car and my truck is 23 years old, so it's a little out of date. IMO every little bit helps.

 

Well, you aren't going to warp rotors in the rear because there aren't any back there... if you leave it the way it is. And while the truck might be 23 years old, you can't get any more braking than locking up the rears - something that's easily doable with properly adjusted drum. So, in this case, every little bit doesn't help or make a difference (except to empty your wallet) because a 1st gen Taco isn't a performance vehicle. Same way a wing wouldn't really give you any better downforce.

As far as parts go - sounds like you've found the kits (there are several), so you have options if you really want to go that route. They all require a re-engineered e-Brake, and they will disable your ABS if you have it. There is not - as far as I know - a bolt-on kit from a Tundra like there is for the fronts.

 

I went the CANADIAN CROSSED DRILLED ROTORS route with my 13WL TUNDRA Upgrade. Also the RED stainless Steel hose from Amazon $25 a set,
Thanks for your thread on the Tundra upgrade !

 

Got a link or a part number for those RED SS hoses?

 

Most guys on this site have come to the conclusion that the disk conversion for the rear is not worth the money or hassle. I can lock up my rears with the drums pretty easily. A disk brake would not lock ‘em up any better. You are also driving one of the lightest weight first gens you can get. Leave the brakes alone. You won’t see a difference

 

https://adventuretaco.com/product/tacoma-to-tundra-hard-brake-line-kit/

 

Mine are part of a kit for a 1993-2002 Toyota Corolla, the one with the banjo are 20" long and for that reason I used those instead in the rear setup. And the ones with the fittings I used upfront with the OEM TUNDRA hard lines Part No. 47351-35270 Front Right and 47352-35310 Front Left. AJP Distributors has a eBay store and a Amazon store as well. The eBay store link is this one here : https://www.ebay.com/itm/313069668873

 

DO NOT PUT BANJO HOSES ON THE 13WL CALIPERS, THEY WILL LEAK, THEY ARE NOT DESIGNED TO BE USED WITH HOSES DIRECTLY. ALWAYS USE THE HARD LINES SETUP.

 

MY REAR SETUP WITH THE RED COROLLA BRAKE HOSES & HARD LINES

 

This is the truth. Banjos are not the right application for the Tundra brakes, even though some may have had success using them.

 

I have ABS on my 2003 Toyota Tacoma Ext Cab DLX 4X4 and the SOS Performance Backing Plate kit does not disable my ABS. I opted to buy the backing plates and hardware only. No E-brake cables with mine or rotors or pads or shoes for inside the rotors, take a look at my pictures,https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...coma-4x4-from-sos.763058/page-3#post-27228147 I am not done yet with the complete install, adjusting the equalizer bracket with my aftermarket AC Delco E-brake cables, I also did not have to touch the proportioning valve either.

 

Nice. I've seen that you're doing that - maybe in the daily thread? Looks pretty cool.

I wasn't really saying that you can't put rotors/calipers on the back, only that it's not really worth it from a braking standpoint given the LSPV and the braking profile of our trucks. The drums can lock up the rears just fine, and aren't prone to overheating, even with a heavy load. (At least, as far as I've seen.) But, we're sort of getting off topic with the subject of the thread, which is Front Tundra's