I have recieved the big (231mm) Tundra calipers and rotors from parts.com today and will be attempting the install tommorow. I paid $450 shipped for "loaded" calipers and new rotors ($600 before the caliper deposit is refunded). Some have upgraded to the Tundra brakes but not the bigger 231mm caliper (that resulted from the Tundra brake TSB). The rotors are the same size on both the old Tundra and the new 231mm Tundra brakes. The question that remains is:
a) Will the 231mm calipers fit the stock 4runner 16 inch wheel.
b) Will the 231mm calipers fit without mods. The smaller ones do with minor trimming of the dust shield.
I'll let the board know soon (unless anybody else has done this, if so please let me know before I waste my time!).

 

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...=tundra+brakes

Searched for "tundra brakes", a whole bunch more but I would suggest reading through that thread...I read it all the way through a while back and it was PACKED full of info, if you have any questions after reading it or if you've already read it then rock on with the questions!

Fink

 

also, you might want to PM ebelen. he's done this mod

bob

 

I am quite sure both the 199mm and the 231mm calipers will fit a 16" rim.
Ditto what Bob said, definately PM ebelen because I know he did this mod.

 

re:

https://www.yotatech.com/showthread....t=tundra+brakes

I read that thread (and all others on this upgrade), in fact that thread is what started me on this quest and thus I finally went ahead and ordered and have recieved the 231mm calipers (which will be going on shortly). The question I have is the same as was posed un-answered in the middle of the afore mentioned thread (pasted below)....

" Originally Posted by ColImport
they said that both 199mm and 231mm are from tundras 2000 and above, I would love to get the bigger ones but dont know if they would fit even after shaving the dust cover?? any pointers?? MTL? thanks for your help! "

...This was never answered or addressed. Potsy (the auther of the original thread) used the 199mm calipers so could not say one way or another.

In any case, soon we will know the definitive answere as, unless ebelen used the 231mm calipers, I may be the first guinee pig!?!

 

get the 231mm. The smaller Tundra brakes were for the 15: wheel packages. When I order mine they willbe from a 2002 or newer Tundra with 231mmm brakes. That is all that matters. It works....

 

Are you sure the 199mm are for a 15" wheel? .....not from the TSB giving way to the change in 2003?
I would like to know for sure if anyone can verify this?

My understanding was that the 199mm was used on Tundras up to the end of 2002 and 231mm from 2003 on and that both are for the 16" rim.

Somewhere on Tundra Solutions there is a picture someone posted showing the difference between the old and new calipers, but it no longer shows up in the old link I had in this thread (difference was clearly visible): https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f28/tundra-brake-problem-26739/

Another good thread on this:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f5/interest-group-buy-tundra-calipers-69671/

 

As I tried (without success) to answer Filthy's question on the pad size, I couldn't. All I know is I used the same part numbers that Potsy noted in the Tundra brake thread. I didn't measure and I don't have receipts from the parts.

I don't believe the smaller pads were for 15" rotors. I believe they were the original undersized pads that came with the Tundra that were then changed for the larger ones to correct issues w/ braking.

My calipers were brand new so I'm ASSUMING that I have the larger pads. Not to mention, I bought the fully-loaded calipers so I don't know what size I really have. I believe the smaller sized pads will only fit the older calipers but I'm not sure. Good luck. You'll love this mod.

 

I found a place selling Tundra calipers (loaded) both were 231mm, but one had a 4.7" pad and the other had a 5.2 or 5.3" pad??? WTF

They made the Tundra in 2wd with 15" steel wheels, why woudld they put the same brakes on all Tundras??

I am going with the 231mm. Now I just need to find out the difference in pad sizes

 

O.K. job is done and this is the gouge. The 231mm (Tundra TSB upgrade brakes with the 5.7" pads) fit the 4runner BUT NOT THE STOCK 16" WHEELS, but read-on I was able to get them to work. There is only one rotor for both the 199mm and 231mm Tundra calipers. The rotor thickness of the Tundra rotor is what is greater than the stock 4runner. CONSIDERABLY thicker. I'de say the rotors are easily 5 Lbs each heavier than the stock 4runner. Now to the install: The rotor fits with no mods cuz it's the same diameter as stock. The 199mm caliper requires trimming of the upper portion of the thin metal splash shield as has been documented on this board. The 231mm caliper must be both longer and thicker than the 199mm because I had to trim both the upper and the lower portion of the splash shield to fit. This trimming is very easy and can be done with a hacksaw, grinder or even a tin snips. it took about 3 min per side. The 231mm caliper is (obviously) 32mm wider than the 199mm caliper. The additional width interfers with the stock wheel about 4 inches form the hub circle. I had to grind 1mm of metal from the caliper and 4mm from the area of the wheel that was touching the caliper to get it to fit with about 2mm of clearance. I would not grind any more from the caliper because the area that interferes is the bridge between the 2 pistons that carries the brake fluid and I am unsure how much leeway there is in this area prior to striking oil. The rest came from the wheel. The stock wheel (same from '99-'00?) can easily be ground down to fit without affecting structural integrity. The grinding took about 20 minutes per wheel. Total time for this job took 3 hours (but I still have to grind the 2 rear wheels and spare so that they can be swapped. Bottom line- yes the 231mm can fit but I think all the benefit of this mod comes from the bigger rotor which is the same for both the 199mm and 231mm calipers, therefore to avoid extra work go with the 199mm. Obviously if you have Tundra or aftermarket wheels this may or may not be an issue. Oh and they are sweet. And smooth! Nice smooth heavy and solid feel to the brakes. I notice a substantial difference under hard braking that is not negligable. I drive my truck hard and needed this mod (stock rotors where warped).

 

Hey Fingers, What was the condition of oyur brakes BEFORE the mod???

Thanks for the info on the diameters, we all have been a little confused

 

Awesome stuff in there! .....that clears up alot.

 

From what Fingers detailed, I def have the 199 mm. I didn't even need to shave the metal splash shield, just bent it out of the way. BTW, I have after-market wheels and I used Brembo slotted rotors for the Tundra.

 

That makes our discussions make more sense. Now time to get prices on the other rotors and calipers. Back to the parts store....

 

I did this because I had rotors that shuddered after they got warm with heavy use. They were not grooved or worn and the pads had about 85% life. Around town or cold they were fine but hit the mountains and after a few decelerations the brakes felt progressively crappy. It's not that they didn't slow the vehicle effectively but they whould shudder (more and more as they got hot) and make the driving unpleasant as if I was pushing to hard. It would make turning and braking decidedly unpleasant. Because the brakes were fine under normal use it was obvious to me that the problem here is the rotor size is too small to dissapate the heat of heavy or repeated use thus would overheat and cause the shuddering. I lived with this for over a year and now it s a thing of the past. Now a downhill decreasing radius turn that requires braking is a smooth affair. I seriously doubt that these massive (compared with stock) rotors will warp under nomal to heavy use.

 

Your posts helps sort out this issue alot, I am sure quite a few more will go this route in the near future (I am sure I will no doubt because I was having the same issue with the rotors when the get hot......when you overbuild it like this mod does, then that issue all but evaporates).

 

How did you grind down the wheels? Pics would help a lot for this mod.

thanx for the info so far, i've got all the stuff ordered and plan to do this sometime in january

 

I used a electric hand grinder with a 3" disk. I will be doing the rear wheels today and will grab some before after photos

 

Fingers,

What brand of tundra calipers do you have?

Thank you.

 

I used the Cardone loaded calipers from partsamerica.com. They are for a 2003 Tundra V8. This first picture compares the 2 calipers. Note the new Tundra caliper (231mm) looks different than the stock. You can see the area I ground down between the 2 pistons:

This picture shows the area I had to gring on the stock wheel (black marker area with arrows):

This picture is the area that interferes: