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80 front brakes: recommendation for rotors & pads?

Hulk

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Based on behavior while braking recently, I'm thinking my 1996 FZJ80 front rotors are warped. I'm going to first see if there is enough thickness to get them turned, but if I need to replace them, I'm curious if you all have recommendations for OEM or aftermarket parts?

Rotors
Stevinson West sells new OEM rotors for $73.30 which seems reasonable.
Slee sells DBA T3 Rotors for $219 each, which makes me wonder about braking performance gains available from aftermarket rotors.

Pads
I've been running 100 pads on the front for many years. The upside is they last forever -- I used to replace 80 pads with regularity. The 100 pads don't provide better stopping power, but they last much longer. The downside is that you can't install any of the shims for the pads if you're doing both new 100 pads and new 80 rotors. Too much thickness.

But I could be convinced to go back to 80 pads if I could get better stopping power. @rover67, what do you use for front pads on your 80? Recommendations?
 

IoN6

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I did DBA T2's all the way around with 100 pads back in 2017. Think I have a cracked passenger front that is squeaking to beat the band. No visible gouging on the rotors, so hoping that is it anyway.

ABS delete did wonders for stopping power. Can, and have, locked them up since doing the delete.
 

rover67

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I use EBC yellow stuff pads but they make a lot of dust.

I will say that turning rotors may not eliminate the warped rotor feeling. The metallurgy of the rotor can change and turning it won’t eliminate that only make it straight again. The varying coefficient of friction on the different parts of the rotor causes the pulsing feeling and will never really go away no matter how much you machine them. So, I always do new rotors. I personally don’t think there’s an advantage doing fancy rotors. I’ve always used good quality replacements or OEM. Good quality replacements would be like Brembo from a trusted source like tire rack or something. I’d say if you’ve been happy with your formula do it gain with new rotors and pads and be happy for another several years. I like the yellow stuff pads but they do make a lot of dust and wear out quickly which are negatives. They don’t fade as fast as OEM options and have better bite though which is a big positive.
 

Notyourmomslx450

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I used all OEM. I also deleted the ABS a few years ago. Stops great.
 

DaveInDenver

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I've had good luck with factory rotors not warping and pads working without a ton of dust or noise. I know they're not flashy, though. Just seem like reasonably good performance and not too much beer money.

I know most of the world no longer has rear drums but I'll *only* use factory there since no one else at any price bothers to put the two threaded holes you need to pop them off.
 

Inukshuk

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Based on behavior while braking recently, I'm thinking my 1996 FZJ80 front rotors are warped.
What behavior? Hard braking shudder is usually loose wheel bearings, Occasionally worn tie/relay rod ends. Rarely warped rotors.
 

subzali

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I’ve been happy with my OEM rotors and OEM 100 series pads on my green 80. Especially when I can replace the rotors 3x for the price of the DBAs. The DBAs on my white 80 got damaged from worn out pads shortly after I bought it and I went with Powerstop because it was easy at the time but the white 80 doesn’t stop as well or as smoothly as the green 80.
 

Hulk

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Success! No more awful brake wobble. I installed new OEM 80 rotors with 100-series EBC Blue Stuff pads. (I actually ordered the Green Stuff pads but the EBC box contained Blue Stuff pads with a note from EBC that they upgraded the pads due to stock levels.) As usual, the combo of brand new 80 rotors and new 100 series pads means the pads barely fit in the calipers. I didn't put the shims on the back of the pads. I'll probably pull the pads in a few weeks and stick the shims on the back of each pad once the pads have worn a wee bit.

The old rotors look fine to my eyes. I'm going to take them over to Scott at AA and have him measure them and maybe turn them. With a heavy beast like my 80, I generally think it's a waste of time to reuse rotors that have been cut -- it's only a matter of time before they warp again. But I am genuinely curious how bad they are.

@Inukshuk - I had already jacked up the 80 and tested for play in the wheel bearings. Also, I replaced both the drag link and tie rod with all new ends in the past few months. I bought the super heavy duty drag link and tie rod from Slee -- they are ridiculously beefy. In my case, the fix really was brakes.

Note from EBC:

IMG_1432.jpeg
 

Stuckinthe80s

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Just to add to this and share an "Ah-hah!" moment regarding pricing on brake stuff. If you shop around, you'll note that OEM pricing on rotors are pretty much the best price you'll find. Matt, it looks like you've already figured this out but for the sake of the group...
 

rover67

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Nice, glad you ended up with the blues. I tried greens once and they got too hot too fast.
 

RayRay27

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I will say having the part time kit in my rig with the fronts running free and the ABS off, the truck does stop fine but GD is it scary when you have to lock up the brakes to stop! I had an incident merging onto NB I-25 from Santa Fe blvd in the rain. The truck would not stop and just keep sliding with wheels locked up. It was a pucker factor of 10 out of 10.
 

rover67

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I will say having the part time kit in my rig with the fronts running free and the ABS off, the truck does stop fine but GD is it scary when you have to lock up the brakes to stop! I had an incident merging onto NB I-25 from Santa Fe blvd in the rain. The truck would not stop and just keep sliding with wheels locked up. It was a pucker factor of 10 out of 10.
can you adjust brake bias to get more to the rear?
 

DaveInDenver

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@RayRay27, locked up wheels is kind of the opposite issue most Toyota trucks seem to have. Where you're pushing -hard- to the point of trying to pull the steering wheel off. But the hoss just ain't stopping!
 

RayRay27

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@RayRay27, locked up wheels is kind of the opposite issue most Toyota trucks seem to have. Where you're pushing -hard- to the point of trying to pull the steering wheel off. But the hoss just ain't stopping!
I was accelerating to get onto I-25 from Santa Fe and it had rained a little bit, the car I was behind made a abrasive jump to the right lane to avoid a chair that had fallen off a trailer and was sitting in the middle of the lane. I jammed on the brakes fully locking them up and slid about 30 feet blasting the chair. I was pulling as hard as I could to stop the truck to no avail.
 

DaveInDenver

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I was accelerating to get onto I-25 from Santa Fe and it had rained a little bit, the car I was behind made a abrasive jump to the right lane to avoid a chair that had fallen off a trailer and was sitting in the middle of the lane. I jammed on the brakes fully locking them up and slid about 30 feet blasting the chair. I was pulling as hard as I could to stop the truck to no avail.
That's what I mean, you were testing the road and tire lack of fraction, not the brakes. Maybe you mean the fronts were locked and not the rear?

That's the problem I have, the front brakes are just inadequate and basically never lock up on non-icy surfaces regardless of ABS. If the brakes are locked there's no more braking you can do.
Not sure? Never looked into it.
There's a LSPV (Load Sensing Proportioning Valve) that sets front-rear bias on the older trucks. There's a rod that actuates it.


When you lift you pull that rod down, which reduces the amount of fluid that can be pushed through it and ultimately to the back brakes. Normally there's a little bracket you put on to raise the rod and re-normalize.


The whole system works marginally OK stock but change anything and you usually end up with too much or too little bias. And especially if the system is unbalanced to start under a panic stop with the nose dive the bias is further pushed forward as the rear is unweighted.
 
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nuclearlemon

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i unconsciously shift into neutral when i'm braking now because 80s are so horrible at locking up ;)
 
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