See sig for 4 runner details. When I am going down the freeway (70 mph) and I start breaking to get on an exit ramp, the steering wheel starts vibrating from side to side fairly violently and there is a general shake to the entire vehicle. This isn't the only time it does it, but it seems like the faster I'm going the worse it is. I rarely go faster than 70mph since that is the fastest street speed, so the highway example is when it is most apparent for me.

 

Your rotors are warped on the front. Replace them, and make sure the rear brakes are adjusted properly. If they're not you'll be overworking the fronts and warp the new rotors. Do a search on here, lots of info on rotors.

And don't let anyone talk you into turning the rotors, they warp even quicker if you make them thinner.

 

before you go and replace the rotors, loosen the lugs on the front wheels then torque them to around 80-85 ft lbs for the alloy wheels. drive them around for a few days and see if that helps with the vibration. if the lugs are torqued too tight or incorrectly, this will cause the vibration/warping of the rotors. you will know in a day or two if it makes a difference, if the vibration goes away, great. if not, then you can replace the rotors. this would be a good time to give your front brakes a close inspection also. you can check the front spindles at the same time and do any needed maintenance required.

lee

 

If your rotors are bad, I suggest upgrading to the Tundra rotors. The cost between the Tundra and 4runner rotors is minimal, if any. The extra cost will be changing to Tundra calipers. It cost me an extra $120 for the calipers plus core charge (which you get back once you do the swap). The calipers I got were Raybestos fully-loaded.

The brakes are so much better than stock. The upgrade consists of a thicker rotor and bigger 4-piston calipers. It is night and day with my new setup vs. stock.

 

Funny you should say that, I was talking to my dad earlier today (before I saw your post) and he told me just to get the rotors turned. lol. He's old school though so maybe turning the rotors used to be a good/common practice.

As far as using the tundra rotors/calipers, are there any installation issues, or is it just a simple swap-out?

Also, you used oem tundra rotors and raybestos tundra calipers?

 

I just happened to find this web site. Kinda makes me leary about the tundra stuff.

 

The swap out is very basic except a little bending or grinding so the brake pad is snug w/ the rotor. A mechanic that knows very little about Toyotas did mine for me. I did not use OEM tundra rotors b/c I like Brembo but I did use Raybestos fully-loaded calipers.

 

Shouldn't be leary b/c they fixed the Tundra problems. Also, the Tundra rotor is the same diameter as the 4runner, just thicker. The calipers are also 4-piston but the pistons are larger. These two reasons make the setup very nice for the runner, not to mention it bolts right up. Other big brake after market systems will run you in the $2k range. I'm not saying the Tundra setup is as good as these but I'm sure it's not that far off.

Lastly, Toyota fixed the problems by making a thicker rotor. The Tundra is a heavier truck than ours so we shouldn't have the same warping issues. Hell, the 4runner has been notorious for warping rotors as well.

 

there have been various solutions to this problem (search=brake shudder) and the tundra caliper/rotor seems to be the best. i will turn my current rotors once before i do this, very minor shudder at low speed and currently excessive squeeking (lube it!).
i am curious to know, who else notices any pulsing at low speed braking only? likely from the ABS, but is there any simple fix?

 

my truck the wheel shakes left to right when stopping but the peddle does NOT pulse.

durring HARD breaking it seems to be less of a problem, but it is most noticable under meadium breaking.

just the wheel shakes, there is no other vibe noticable in the truck (durring breaking).

 

I had the exact same thing happen to my rotors twice (while towing) and both times when I turned them they warped again within a week or two. If you are going the stock route, buy new ones!

 

The Tundra brakes were initially undersized but there was a TSB that came out to fix them. They no longer have this issue. Also remember that the Tundra is significantly heavier than the 4runner so even with the original Tundra brake design, you'd probably still see quite an improvement.

This is certainly on my list of things to do when I get more free time.

 

can anyone post up the pt#'s for this upgrade please? i just did the front rotors and pads and rear drums and shoes so ill be good for a while. it will be nice to know that when these go south, i can put on some h/d replacements!

lee

 

I am very interested in doing this. Will this conversion work on my 02 tacoma, if so what parts exactly do I need. Will say 05 tundra calipers and rotors fit. By the way I do have the 16 inch wheels.

Thanks for any insight and sorry for the hijack.

Shawn

 

If I'm not mistaken, the 02 Taco is pretty much the same as our 3rd gen runners. If so, the upgrade will work. I don't know about the 05 tundra stuff so I won't say anything about this.

These are the part numbers from someone else that has done this with all Raybestos:

Left loaded caliper = Raybestos RC11039

Right loaded caliper = Raybestos RC11040

Rotors = Raybestos 96931

I used the Raybestos calipers above but I used Brembo slotted Tundra rotors from the '02 model. These work great. You can also use the 231 mm Tundra OEM rotors from ('03 and above). These are thicker rotors than the prior models due to the TSB on warping rotors. I think I have the less thick rotors but still have thicker than our stock 3rd gen rotors.

 

Yea, my truck has started to do the same. I'm going to put off the new rotors for as long as I can.

 

ebelen1

Thanks for the reply, I have had brake problems on my truck since it was new so at this point I will try just about anything to fix it.

 

do you know of anyone that has done this swap on a 2nd gen? by the sounds of things, this would delfinately be the way to go as long as i can find pt #'s that will work.

thanks for any info you can supply,

lee

 

Not that I know of but why not just try posting a new request for anyone w/ a 2nd gen that has done this successfully? I know that others w/ 2nd gens have asked during the first post of this mod and no one seemed to answer.