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Brakes for towing
- Thread starter Wyse
- Start date
Husker6.5
135' diagonal 16:9HD, 25KW sound!
I assume you're referring to the object being towed, not the tow vehicle. If you mean your tow vehicle, please fill out your Signature so we all know your rig and don't ask the same questions over and over again.
BTW, Welcome to the Truck Stop!
BTW, Welcome to the Truck Stop!
Appreciate the welcome. I’m looking to upgrade the braking system on my tow vehicle. Recently retired and pull through higher elevations.
Will L.
Well-Known Member
Toyota is the only manufacturer that wont be touched by any member of the National Truck Equipment Association - the group that certifies truck equipment shops that do things like utility trucks, upgrading tow vehicles, etc. The shop I owned was the same. Wouldn’t touch one for a million dollars. No hatred towards Toyota, I own a couple, My folks owned a 84 from new.
But Toyota corp would sue the installers or the aftermarket mfr of the parts when lawsuits involving death occurred.
Because of this not many aftermarket manufacturers will make much.
Even running TRD parts and you get in a wreck - the other lawyer will eat your lunch and you’ll do really good to get your insurance to pay anything if it is a major claim.
The best advice is daily drive the Toy, and buy a Chevy/Dodge/Ford to tow if yours isn't doing well. That said...
The offroad supply shops has about the best selection for upgrades to the Toy- 4wheelparts and the like.
Get brakes on each axle of the trailer is always a good thing and in some states like Nv, anything over 1,500 lbs requires it anyways, but most campers and boat trailers get away with it because no state inspection.
Avoid Timbrens like the plague. I sold many- trust me on them being bad news. Firestone airbags are a far better option, along with a trailer tongue scale to know you are setting it up right in the first place.
I will leave which brake controller to others here that have tried multiple types, my hair is grey and I am biased on that. Haha
But Toyota corp would sue the installers or the aftermarket mfr of the parts when lawsuits involving death occurred.
Because of this not many aftermarket manufacturers will make much.
Even running TRD parts and you get in a wreck - the other lawyer will eat your lunch and you’ll do really good to get your insurance to pay anything if it is a major claim.
The best advice is daily drive the Toy, and buy a Chevy/Dodge/Ford to tow if yours isn't doing well. That said...
The offroad supply shops has about the best selection for upgrades to the Toy- 4wheelparts and the like.
Get brakes on each axle of the trailer is always a good thing and in some states like Nv, anything over 1,500 lbs requires it anyways, but most campers and boat trailers get away with it because no state inspection.
Avoid Timbrens like the plague. I sold many- trust me on them being bad news. Firestone airbags are a far better option, along with a trailer tongue scale to know you are setting it up right in the first place.
I will leave which brake controller to others here that have tried multiple types, my hair is grey and I am biased on that. Haha
- Staff
- #7
As for brake controllers, I can vouch for Tekonsha products. They have an excellent reputation.
Welcome to The Truck Stop!
Welcome to The Truck Stop!
red
Being a lake bum in Texas
The Tekonsha Prodigy P3 brake controller works very well, rated as one of the best and I've had no issues with mine.
Despite the advertising, keep in mind the Tundra is a 1/2 ton and size the load according to specs for other trucks in that range. Toyota was highly, hopeful, with their towing specs treating it as almost a 3/4 ton.
Despite the advertising, keep in mind the Tundra is a 1/2 ton and size the load according to specs for other trucks in that range. Toyota was highly, hopeful, with their towing specs treating it as almost a 3/4 ton.
Tekonsha Prodigy started out with a RED LED display. Then the stupid F'Ks went to a BLUE LED display that lights the cab up like a Xmas tree at night ruining night vision as well as blinding you. Make sure you avoid the BLUE LED krap.
Husker6.5
135' diagonal 16:9HD, 25KW sound!
Like those idiot kids who think that lighting the interior (like the footwells) of their tuner cars with blue LEDs at night is "cool".
red
Being a lake bum in Texas
The color is programmable
Will L.
Well-Known Member
@Wyse
Are you looking for better braking capabilities on just the truck itself?
the Vegas to Reno race crews all in town and I got w chance to talk to an old friend who happens to have been sponsored by Toyota for some years. He gave one and only recommendation for brake upgrades to the truck itself with a caution I knew of already but bears repeating for those that dont know about rotors off road.
Drilled, slotted rotors offroad mean an amazingly short life for the pads and rotorsDirt or mud gets in there and becomes literal sanding. So if you do a lot off road- know that coming into it it gets expensive quickly, so use the solid rotor in that case (although less heat shedding and more brake fade than the other). If on road then the brake changes will be far less often than factory because they are so much more capable and less fase so pay the extra $100ish and get drilled and slotted ones.
“Big brake kit front and rear by Stop Tech”. He said expect to pay around $4,000. He said there is one other company that makes a similar kit for about $350 less but eats the pads more often and has less performance. Other than that the knock off kits barely do any better than stock and are basically a waste of time.
He said make sure you have an updated backing plate even if you don’t do the upgrade. The newer one draws in better airflow to cool the rotor. So there is a little research you’ll need to do on that by taking a pic of your existing one and comparing online.
Unfortunately there isn’t any much cost improvements to be made, other than General maintainability. If you haven’t done it recently, flush the brake fluid. It draws in moisture and the fluid goes bad, causing weaker braking that because it happens slowly over time most drivers don’t notice. The old school thing of turning rotors is a bad idea for the metal type the factory uses, it hardens it and makes braking worse so if that has been done get new rotors. Also the caliper has more torque when at maximum spread so the thinner the rotor and more worn the pads the less braking power there is- only 5-7% but it all adds up. The only ‘normal’ pads that out perform the factory ones are made by “Hawk”. If brake fade from heat is an issue you can always have a new set of factory rotors and caliper coated with TLTD heat dispersant to help out. Twisted Steel Performance, a vendor here can do that for you.
Are you looking for better braking capabilities on just the truck itself?
the Vegas to Reno race crews all in town and I got w chance to talk to an old friend who happens to have been sponsored by Toyota for some years. He gave one and only recommendation for brake upgrades to the truck itself with a caution I knew of already but bears repeating for those that dont know about rotors off road.
Drilled, slotted rotors offroad mean an amazingly short life for the pads and rotorsDirt or mud gets in there and becomes literal sanding. So if you do a lot off road- know that coming into it it gets expensive quickly, so use the solid rotor in that case (although less heat shedding and more brake fade than the other). If on road then the brake changes will be far less often than factory because they are so much more capable and less fase so pay the extra $100ish and get drilled and slotted ones.
“Big brake kit front and rear by Stop Tech”. He said expect to pay around $4,000. He said there is one other company that makes a similar kit for about $350 less but eats the pads more often and has less performance. Other than that the knock off kits barely do any better than stock and are basically a waste of time.
He said make sure you have an updated backing plate even if you don’t do the upgrade. The newer one draws in better airflow to cool the rotor. So there is a little research you’ll need to do on that by taking a pic of your existing one and comparing online.
Unfortunately there isn’t any much cost improvements to be made, other than General maintainability. If you haven’t done it recently, flush the brake fluid. It draws in moisture and the fluid goes bad, causing weaker braking that because it happens slowly over time most drivers don’t notice. The old school thing of turning rotors is a bad idea for the metal type the factory uses, it hardens it and makes braking worse so if that has been done get new rotors. Also the caliper has more torque when at maximum spread so the thinner the rotor and more worn the pads the less braking power there is- only 5-7% but it all adds up. The only ‘normal’ pads that out perform the factory ones are made by “Hawk”. If brake fade from heat is an issue you can always have a new set of factory rotors and caliper coated with TLTD heat dispersant to help out. Twisted Steel Performance, a vendor here can do that for you.
That may be on a LCD backlit display. In 2013 they had a Blue LED unit sold at U-Haul... No it wasn't a multicolor capable: it was bright blinding high-glare blue, period. It was too late after install to get something different. Just saying look out for things we take for granted esp. overlooking "night vision" from companies that can't get over the "Cool" marketing B.S. of Blue LED's.
Matter of fact that blue LED SOB was in that red truck...
Husker6.5
135' diagonal 16:9HD, 25KW sound!
A fitting end for that SOB!
I turn rotors when new , haven't had any new ones that would not cause a problem if they were just installed . Maybe it's a cheaper brand , maybe the name brands don't want you to know how bad they are when new . Bought a new set of Bendix drums for my dually years ago and had to turn them 3 times to get them round . You don't know how long they sit in a warehouse , how many times they were dropped /kicked around until you picked them up .
Husker6.5
135' diagonal 16:9HD, 25KW sound!
Factory machining tolerances for most of the major name brand replacement rotors are much better than they were 20-40 years ago. "Back in the day", my mechanic used to always put new rotors on his machine and check them for thickness variations and runout and wound up having to turn about half of them to get them either both sides parallel or uniform thickness across the rotor or both. CNC machining out of the box has made a big difference.
Will L.
Well-Known Member
The idea of any rotor or drum going out of round/ true from sitting on a shelf under its own weight regardless of time-
The thousand of pounds of force applied when breaking would destroy that soft of a metal in minutes of driving.
Yes the old drums, and old rotors, especially cheap aftermarket ones are manufactured out of spec frequently.
This is something the better asian mfrs dont suffer from. Many are hardened 1-2 mm deep. Face hardening works from the outside in. You could cut it but you shave off the hardened part and end up with a rotor soft and easy to warp of heat spot. Also, many now make the rotors just above minimum thickness. Those are simply not designed to be cut.
I will turn gm rotors all day long. My yotas- nope.
The thousand of pounds of force applied when breaking would destroy that soft of a metal in minutes of driving.
Yes the old drums, and old rotors, especially cheap aftermarket ones are manufactured out of spec frequently.
This is something the better asian mfrs dont suffer from. Many are hardened 1-2 mm deep. Face hardening works from the outside in. You could cut it but you shave off the hardened part and end up with a rotor soft and easy to warp of heat spot. Also, many now make the rotors just above minimum thickness. Those are simply not designed to be cut.
I will turn gm rotors all day long. My yotas- nope.
Husker6.5
135' diagonal 16:9HD, 25KW sound!
Like those 68-72 GM A-Body (Chevelle, Skylark, Cutlass, Grand Prix, Monte Carlo) rotors had so much meat on them you could get 4-5 turnings out of them, depending how bad the scoring, with no problem of being close to the minimum thickness.
Ditto on no turn Toyota rotors. At 145K on the original rotors, I'm getting pedal pulsing and it feels like it's the right front one. Not going to turn either of them, just buy a new pair of drilled-only rotors. Although the ceramic pads only have 20K on them and have plenty of meat on them, replace those too with the new rotors.
Ditto on no turn Toyota rotors. At 145K on the original rotors, I'm getting pedal pulsing and it feels like it's the right front one. Not going to turn either of them, just buy a new pair of drilled-only rotors. Although the ceramic pads only have 20K on them and have plenty of meat on them, replace those too with the new rotors.