Brake Caliper swap Playdohs

[kbushnz]

Hi All
I am currently doing a rear brake caliper swap to get rid of the crappy drum hand brake setup...
I have made up brackets for the donor calipers to fit...
And its all going well...
But was thinking who else might be interested in this conversion...
If yes I will get more plates cut and provide details of what I have done...
It uses the Subaru Leone Calipers as opposed the the MR2.
Drop me a PM if keen....

[d_b]

keen. do a write up please!

[kbushnz]

keen. do a write up please!

Will do one soon... Dont want to let all my secrets out of the bag until I know it fully works hahaahha lol

[Jerry]

Keen as well

[Bravobrak]

Hi what kind of truck are you modding? I would like to do this to my prado any ideas or info will be handy. What are you using for the brackets? Cheers

[kbushnz]

Hi what kind of truck are you modding? I would like to do this to my prado any ideas or info will be handy. What are you using for the brackets? Cheers

Its a KZJ78... Same setup as the LJ7x ... Using Subaru Leone Front Calipers.. Brackets designed and laser cut by me....
At this stage I am still working thru the finer issues.... And will post some pics later.
Others have used Toyota MR2 calipers....

Calvin

[Bravobrak]

Hi Calvin,

I have the LJ78 2.4TD. The slow model prado. Keep me up to speed with your progress re handbrake mod as we are thinking down the same lines. Have you got a prototype plate yet?

Joe

[kbushnz]

Hi Calvin,

I have the LJ78 2.4TD. The slow model prado. Keep me up to speed with your progress re handbrake mod as we are thinking down the same lines. Have you got a prototype plate yet?

Joe

I do have a plate made and it pretty well installed....
Made up a cad dwg for the laser cutters.....
Plan is to do a run of cutting plates and sell them off....

[Bravobrak]

Calvin, I will keep watching to see what you come up with. I will be interested in 2 plates for my truck. If you do not mind putting up a pic or two in relation to the placement of the callipers on the rear and cabling arrangement. Let me know the cost of these plates you have designed.

Cheers
Joe

[kbushnz]

Ok here is more info for those that are interested...
Now I had a few rider with my install.
Parts must be off the shelf or with very minor modding.
This is cause I didn't want to get out in the sticks and have any issues getting parts to get me home.... So when you read on you will get the idea.
Parts list
Calipers from Subaru Leone, Front. Larger disc model.
Rear discs from a Nissan GQ (the ones with internal handbrake)

Some have already done this mod on various trucks but none to date on the Playdoh... Or from what I have seen.
One of the previous mods was to use the front disc from a landcruiser and machine away the edge of the rear drive flange to make it fit over...
I didn't like this approach as if I stuffed a rear drive axle I would need to mod one rather than just shove a replacement unit from a wrecker bolt it all up and off I go.

Here is my approach...
Remove rear axle assy's and cut off handbrake backing plate.
Save the mount bracket for the brake hose ! We will use this later.
Save the brake hoses.
Get a pair of Nissan rear discs and open the holes up for the studs to fit... Nissan studs are smaller than Toyota... If you ever stuffed a disc its easy to open some holes up at a local garage / workshop.
Now the center hole is larger on the Nissan disc so to achieve centering I had some rings made up and slipped them onto the drive flange. They effectively stay with the flange... Again if caught out you wouldn't need to swap these over for a dash to home....
The calipers them selves have had some adjustments to them.
The handbrake levers have been swapped from left to right and also installed from the opposite side....
This allows the lever to clear the chassis and also gets it close inline with the factory handbrake cables.
And also the position of the arms has been adjusted by un stitching the weld, rotating the arm and re welding. Could also do it by cutting a bit off and re weld on a new arm. Pictures later will explain it all....
The calipers have been positioned behind the axle as apposed to the original caliper position in front. The Subaru caliper wont fit in front as the shock gets in the way with the handbrake mechanism.
Also they have been positioned to miss the chassis when on the bump stops and the chassis is articulated. Particularly the sway bar attachment point on the drivers side.... If you have a drop bracket this install may not work as its rather tight in there.
The other mod to the caliper is its mount cradle. It needs a little material removing from its throat to allow it to sit deeper in the disc.
Lastly the pads will need a smidgen shaving off them so as not to overhang the disc...(Cert requirement)
Now the pads on the Subaru are bigger in surface area than that of the original Toyota ones... so losing a bit wont effect much.
The other thing to note is the piston is slightly bigger on the Subaru... so will have more clamping force.
Now earlier I mentioned to save a few things from your old setup...
The original brake hose from the right hand side fits perfectly on the left caliper. And likewise for the other side.
The two hose brackets from the old backing plate once flattened out make for good hose mounts tack welded to the axle housing....
The only thing I haven't done to date is to test out the handbrake cables.. As the trucks body is not on its chassis...
I suspect they will not pull enough...Simply by its design... But I have a cunning plan to adjust the lengths of the factory cables to make it work.... However the jury is open on that one..
Note: These are fitted with 15 inch steel rims... with custom back spacing. I will need to check my std 15 inch rims to see if they fit... So hold that thought ...
Now onto some pictures...

Disc with spacer

Calipers

Caliper handbrake Levers

Bracket left

More in next post

[kbushnz]

Caliper cradle

Cradle to disc gap

Right caliper on bump stops

Left caliper on bump stops

Pad over hang

[Bravobrak]

Calvin you have been a busy man by the looks of it! Well done on what you have done so far!! The spacing/clearance of the calliper to the rim does looks good in the pictures. Would like to know how the std steelies fit though.

On the right hand side :

The clearance of the calliper to the rear pan hard rod. Is it that tight and do they meet up if not modded? I do wonder if it will make a diff with a body/weight on the suspension and do they meet up in the vertical axis ? If so when you use the truck in anger will the two parts meet up for potential damage? Open to comments as I have not done this yet!

Pad over hang:

Will it get a cert with the setup as you have it now? I thought no overhang was allowed at all ! ?

Body:
Now that I have read some more I can say I have read your mid winch install and the 1kz manual pump mod. Next question is what are you doing to the body or is there a total change in body for the chassis?

Cheers
Joe

[kbushnz]

Hi Joe.
the caliper clearances are based on hard on the bump stops as well as twisted to one side and bottomed out. With a gap.....if it does hit it will take off the bleed nipple.
To be honest it will coil bind before it hits the bump stops.
Also it has the std panhard rod setup. I was running a dropper bracket but had to remove it to fit the caliper.
The pic of the pads are the before trim... they will need a trim to pass a cert.
as for body.... its has had a rear chop aft of the c pillar. And chassis shortened a bit.

[Bravobrak]

Hi Calvin,

Thanks for the reply and informative info. Let me know when you have all the mods done re-callipers and when certed. Will be interested in a pair of brackets or a file what ever suits and $ to be sorted.

Will keep in touch.

Cheers
Joe

[Bravobrak]

Hi Calvin

How did you get on with this mod? Are you back on the road and certed? If so did you have any problems with cert re rear brake mod?Will be following down the same line and looking fwd hearing from you.

Thanks
Joe

[kbushnz]

Not on the road yet but have hooked up the handbrake cables (factory ones) They needed shortening a bit but I now have a handbrake that works.
She is still dead in the garage....

[Bravobrak]

Hi Calvin

Thanks for the reply. Does this mod work with 15" rims with no custom spacing ? As you stated you are using spacers - what are you running?Did you have a inspector check out the mod and approved what you have done? Sorry for all the questions just don't want to do this and find problems with cert or inspectors!

Thanks

[kbushnz]

Using these calipers in projects has been done before. Just not on a playdoh as far as I know.
I expect no issues from cert man but time will tell.
Yes it fits a std 15 inch steel rim. Not sure on the factory alloys.

Once mine passes cert I will make the plates available for sale and put together all the parts I used and how I did the job.