199mm Sequoia brake caliper swap on 98 4Runner
Ok ok, I know i'm completely late to the party on this mod and you guys are gonna give me shit about buying 199s vs 231mms, but seriously I looked for a good 2 months and nuttin'. My calipers came off of a 2001 Sequoia 4WD Limited edition. There were 231mm calipers that were on front end damaged Tundras, but I didn't want them. Anyways if I can get better stopping performance and no brake fade going down mountains and smelling hot brake pads, I'll be happy. Last trip from June to Mammoth, we were all smelling it, my brakes were vibrating, and smelling the pads. I'm sure my friends will drive their own car next trip haha.
BACKGROUND ON CALIPER DIFFERENCES AND CALIPER RECALL ON SEQUOIAS
I learned through reading that around 2002, Toyota recalled Sequoia calipers and replaced them with 231mms because of customer complaints about brake performance and brake fading. Make sense because the caliper itself is the same size as the stock 4runner, most likely uses the same pad size, (I didn't verify this), but has a slightly bigger rotor (ΒΌ" thicker) for a vehicle that has a significant weight difference vs a 3rd gen 4Runner. See below:
1998 4runner curb weight: 3,440 to 3,940 lbs (avg 3,690 lbs)
2001 Tundra curb weight: 5,070 to 5,295 lbs (avg 5,182 lbs)
Using the average of the weight of both vehicles, the delta between the two is a whopping 1,492 lbs.
Anyways in order to make the most out of my time in front brake land, I also bought a pair of Wheeler's Offroad stainless steel brake lines. My passenger side line was cracking near the caliper, so might as well replace it. Also, the lines are getting a complete flush and gonna use DOT 4 this time.
Some tech/data:
CALIPERS
- The 199mm caliper (really a misnomer---199 vs 231 is the *brake pad side*) is from what I can tell identical in size except for the width of the caliper opening. See my comparison pic.
- The difference is definitely in the inner cavity dimensions:
- The cavity length is identical at 4-11/16 inches.
- The width dead center though is different. Stock caliper cavity is 2-7/8 inches vs the 199mm caliper cavity is 3-1/8 inches, or 1/4 inch wider. This extra width accommodates the thicker rotors.
ROTORS
- Stock rotor width is only 7/8 inches wide
- 199mm rotors are marginally wider at 1-1/8 inches wide or a 1/4 inch thicker, which of course aligns with the wider caliper cavity of 1/4 inch (above)
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