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quick toyota caliper question


Guest 74_350_Z

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Guest 74_350_Z

Ive been searching and cant seem to find what I need.

 

I was going to buy some calipers today but I forgot which casting number would I need for a 4/74 260? And 81-84 4x4 calipers would just bolt up to the stock rotor correct? Just didnt want to pick up the wrong ones.

 

Thanks guys- Joe

sorry for the newbie question. :oops:

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The toyota 4piston caliper swap was the single easiest upgrade that I've done yet. Calipers from any model 1979-1984 toyota 4x4 will bolt right up. I just went to autozone and bought a set of loaded calipers for $40 a piece, and twenty minutes later they were on. The only necessary mod is to remove or alter the brake dust guard.

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Guest z-pilot

I recently did the Toyota brake swap myself and love it. I did removed my dust shields. I don't have the brake cooling problems I used to have, but that could also be a result of the bigger calipers.

 

One thing I noticed is it is more sensitive to pulling to one side when braking after hitting puddles. I assume this is because the lack of the shields allows more water to hit the rotars. Small price to pay for better cooling when it is dry.

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most instructions say to remove the backing plates, cut em, put em back on.

 

no reason to do that.

 

grab a dremil with a cutting wheel. you'll need to remove the tire ( though i did both with the tires in place, would have been easier with the tires removed ). car securely resting on jack stands. parking brake on, rear wheels chocked.

 

hold the toyota calipers in place, get a look at things. the hard tube S brake lines will be removed from the original calipers and reconnected to the toyota calipers. those s tubes will have to be be bent a bit, to connect to the toyota.

 

note, are the bleeders on the existing calipers up or down, you want em up, make sure you get the rights on the right, lefts on the left.

 

i've been told ( it didn't work for me ), that, if you remove the cap to the master cylinder, put saran wrap over it, put the cap back on, make an air tight lid , the fluid won't leak, saves time bleeding later.

 

unbolt the nuts/bolts holding original caliper. wiggle the caliper around, work it loose but don't remove it.

 

get a metal coat hanger, figure a way to hold the caliper out of the way, once you remove it.

 

 

remove the caliper, with the brake line attached, hang it out of the way ( secure it ).

 

hold the toyota caliper where you believe it will bolt in place. mark off the area you need to trim away, to clearance the caliper. use a scratch awl or a marker you can easily see.

 

wear a good pair of goggles, and safety glasses, long sleeves, ear plugs and, gloves.

 

grab your dremil, and about 10 fiberglass cut off wheels. if you hold the wheel perpendicular to the backing plate and don't twist the wheel, you can make the cut with one wheel. if you twist the cutting wheel, it will jam between the scrap you are removing and the backing plate. should this happen, the cutting wheel will shatter and become shrapnel. wasn't that big of a deal to me, just beware and use protection.

 

put the wheel to the backing plate. be gentle, move slowly, don't force it, follow your lines. the noise is outrageously loud, use those ear plugs. follow the lines as best you can. you may end up having to make pie shaped cuts, removing a piece at a time. watch the wheel doesn't pull you along as it cuts, yanking the dremil away from you.

 

once you have made your cuts, be very careful, the metal edges are knife blade sharp. test fit the toyota calipers, happy ? if not trim some more. if so, and you have a file or burnishing tool, use it. if not, then use the sanding wheel on the dremil. you will want to get rid of that sharp edge.

 

once you've smoothed those edges, put the original calipers back in place. you may need to put one or both bolts/nuts in place ( a half a turn or so ) to hold the caliper in place, while you remove the S tube from the caliper ... use a flare wrench, don't have one ... buy one ! don't use an open end wrench. make liberal use of penetrating oil. again, patients and gentleness count.

 

have the toyota caliper at hand ( you have the correct one, yes ). get the S tube, to where it's turning by hand. remove the nuts/bolts holding the caliper in place. remove the S tube. slide the caliper off, layin it down, put the toyota caliper and new brake pads in place, stick the bolts/nuts in place, hand tighten. bring the S tube over to the toyota caliper, gently hand bend the S tube to line up with the toyota caliper. be careful not to misalign or strip the S tube or the caliper. finger tighten the S tube to the toyota caliper. once you are sure it is not stripping, use the flare wrench, snug the S tube to the toyota caliper.

 

use a torque wrench, tighten the bolts/nuts to specs. do the same on both sides. remove the saran wrap, bleed the brakes. you really do not need to change to the larger bore master cylinder. you can if you want, but there is no need to.

 

i guesstimated my cuts, did em with the original calipers and wheels in place. worked out fine for me.

 

one thing though, Alex warned me about ...

 

unbolt your wheel. remove the original caliper, as if you were going to do a brake job, bend the backing plate back enough to allow you to temp bolt the toyota caliper in place. put your wheel back in place ...

 

does your wheel clear the toyota caliper ? my stock 14 inch steel rims fit perfectly. apparently some 15 inch wheels may rub on the toyota calipers. i understand, using a grinding wheel, or stone on a power drill, you can clearance the calipers enough to fit your wheels. go slow, a little at a time, watch for heat, so you don't cook the seals.

 

 

this should give you a basic idea of what to do.

 

good luck, and it really is just about the easiest brake upgrade you can do.

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Wayne, your saran wrap thing didn't work but I can tell you what does. Get a broom handle, 2x4, or just random stick and use it to push the brake pedal about 1/2 way. Pushing the brakes a little closes off the port to the reservoir and for the rest of the system is basically the automotive equivalent of putting your finger on top of a straw and holding the liquid in when you pull the straw out.

 

Works great.

 

Jon

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok, got my calipers and bought new pads, retaining pins and hardware kit because the set of rebuilt calipers didn't come with any of this stuff. Got the pads and the pins in, but I need a diagram or picture of how the anti rattle clips fit these pads. I think I have it but I am not using both pc's of wire. Can someone help? One pc looks like a texas longhorn symbol and the other is a W shape. I think I know where the W fits, but not the T-Longhorns pc.

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