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TR4/4A TR4A - Brakes Upgrade

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83Pbass

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The brakes on my 65' A leave a bit to be desired. Plan on replacing rear brake shoes. Also considering the upgraded front disc's kit - slotted, drilled disc's, upgraded pads etc. Anyone have any experience with these? Is the performance as advertised are they worth an additional $400 -$500.00?

Thanks,

Jim
 
This is an unpopular viewpoint, but IMO "upgrading" the brakes is a waste of time. The stock brakes, when working properly, are fully capable of supplying more stopping power than the tires can transmit to the ground. The only exception would be if you are driving hard enough to overheat them (leading to brake fade), which is unlikely unless you are going racing.

And if you did get significantly more "stopping power" at one end, it would actually INCREASE stopping distance unless you get exactly the same improvement at the other end.

IOW the stock brakes should be plenty adequate to lock the wheels; and if you lock the wheels you actually have too much braking going on. A locked wheel has a lot less traction than one that is turning. Maximum braking happens when all 4 wheels are slipping just a bit.

So, my advice, save your money for repairing the stock brakes. Likely the pads are contaminated (so replace them) and the rotors are glazed (so condition them).
 
TR3driver said:
This is an unpopular viewpoint, but IMO "upgrading" the brakes is a waste of time....
Click to expand...
:iagree:

You might want to look into better-quality pads and shoe linings (Kevlar, perhaps, as offered by Ted Schumacher @ TS Imported Automotive -- NFI), but as Randall suggest, first make sure all is everything it should be.
 
I agree with you completely Randall. The Toyota brake "upgrade" will only effectively help with fade as the pressure being put on the pads is nearly identical between stock caliper and Toyota calipers. The information on the VTR site concerning the Toyota "upgrade" is actually erroneous and the original author has tried to get them to change it for years without success.

Slotted rotors could help with fade as well if your actually experiencing it, drilled rotors increase the chances of warping the rotor unless they are very high quality which costst a lot extra, otherwise they are bling that will most likely warp after the first emergency stop.

I'd spend the money on original equipment optimization. Newer material pads can be benefical as well though, as can good rubber on the road. Your tires actually do the stopping afterall.
 
I agree with Randall, Andy, and Shawn. Stock brakes are entirely adequate.
 
I think some may have replaced old, worn, sub-par stock brakes with an upgrade that uses good parts and thus seen an improvement.

Perhaps they could have gotten the same improvement by just rebuilding the stock set-up.
 
This is purely anecdotal evidence but awhile back I was replacing the rubber brake lines and the vendor I ordered from was temporarily out of stock (sale item). To get the car back on the road they offered me a set of the braided steel lines as a substitute at the sale price for the rubber hoses.

My perception is that these gave me a noticeably firmer pedal.

Also perceived that this was an above-and-beyond gesture by the vendor (even if their website sometimes makes it difficult to find a part).
 
You know, I routinely (like every spring) wish the brakes were better on my 4A. Then I realize that I simply need to push the pedal harder. Driving a car most days with vacuum assisted brakes makes one come to expect the lower pedal effort. I have to recalibrate myself to remember that I do all the braking on the 4A and don't get any assistance. Once I do that, I return to being happy with the brakes.
 
I switch back and forth far more often; and the main thing I notice is that I like the TR3 brakes better. When I jab the pedal, they grab right now, rather than waiting for a big vacuum cylinder to vent first (and an ABS computer to decide it's OK to apply the brakes). The family wagon feels like it moves at least several feet (at freeway speeds) before the brakes start to do anything at all.

Good point about the SS lines, Geo. I installed them to compensate for using DOT 5 (which gives a slightly softer pedal). Neither one really changes pedal effort, but the SS lines do reduce pedal travel slightly.
 
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