Disc's for drums

2002 tundra 4x2. Drum brakes rear.....getting harder and harder to find a shop to turn those drums. What vehicle would I look at to get a donor axle assembly for the disc's. What else would I need to make this type of swap. Thanks

 

Ideally you'd need to weld leaf spring perches to a sequoia axle. But SOS makes adapters to run FJ calipers (? & rotors?)

might have to adjust the lspv to accommodate the larger brake pistons.

 

I wouldn't even think about doing this swap if your reason is because it's getting harder and harder to find a shop to turn drums. It's gonna be cheaper to just buy new drums from the dealer than trying to find a junkyard axle and master cylinder, or buying a complete conversion kit.

 

@des2mtn
Is the MC necessary? Did you try running em on the stock MC?

 

I would say yes, it's necessary. The stock one had more pedal throw, so I did not have much time with it. Really happy with the MC and manual LSPV combo.

In addition to the size differences, the drum brake master cylinder might have a residual check valve in it that'd cause discs to drag.

 

Access cab and regular cab have different rear axle width from Sequoia and I'm pretty sure Tacoma across all generations. Different provisions for suspension to boot, which means you're shaving and welding whatever disc setup you find. You'd need to delete the LSPV and swap with manual PV.

tl;dr - No plug-and-play solution for us access/regular cab folks. If you can't fab, you're fighting a steep uphill battle.

This question gets posted once a month, you'd have gotten all this info with a search.

 

Nobody turns drums anymore and the brand new ones are out-of-round egged out right out of the box. Sub'd for the suggestions.

 

Buy higher quality drums, auto parts stores are india tier quality stuff. You would be surprised at how low quality the places are that are making standard auto parts store stuff. The metal is literally whatever they can throw in a tub to smelt, the machining processes are so low quality it doesnt make sense. This is why those parts are dirt cheap, they are built by slave labor in india and the phillipines with bottom of the barrel quality to match the bottom of the barrel pricing.
You can find better drums if you would spend a few more bucks.
to the OP, going discs in the rear is a battle as others have stated. Swapping in a set of discs will make it look cooler but its a 95% chance it wont stop better. The vehicles with drum rear brakes have a different master cylinder, and much lower pressure to the rear lines for the drums. I dont remember the exact numbers but the front discs are like 1200psi and the rear drums get like 400psi. This means when you put a set of drums on the rear they will be getting about 1/3rd the proper line pressure to make them work properly. You really need the load sensing proportioning valve and master cylinder swapped to make the rear discs get the correct line pressure and clamping force.
The sequoia rear axle is wider, so swapping it in would be (i think) +2" wider per side over your stock axle, plus the Sequoia has coil springs, so you gotta cut that off and weld on spring perches and have to worry about pinion angles and correct widths and placement ect. This isnt something that i would jump into lightly this would be a fair bit of work to make sure you got it right.
There are some kits out there, expect to pay $2200+ for them and when you read thru the 15+ page threads about rear discs the common consensus is
"it looks better but i dont think it stops as good"
"long pedal travel and spongy brakes"
"wish i would have not done this"
"mine works awesome"
"this sucks i spent 13 hours and $2600 installing this rear disc kit and it doesnt stop as good as stock"

Buyer beware, you might have great success but many have been down this road and there are very few who say they would do it again.

 

Drum shoes have alot more surface area, but this aint bad.

https://www.silverminemotors.com/pr...e-upgrade-swap-kit-backing-plate-with-e-brake

If i had aftermarket wheels i wouldnt hate to swap for the cool points, but i'd go with a sequoia axle for the width & sway bar brackets.

 

any real world positive reviews?

 

Dunno, was just having a look to see if there were any cheaper options than SOS.

 

I’ve done three different disc brake conversions on four different vehicles that i’ve owned (three CJ7’s and a YJ). The only reason i went with disc is because i didn’t want my drums filled with mud, and discs are super easy to clean.

Downsides of disc brakes...

-the disc brake E brakes usually suck bad enough that they probably won’t be usable anymore. And that means a hydraulic line lock would need to be installed in place of an e brake.

-discs brakes have less surface braking area than drum brakes. And that’s the reason i don’t plan on converting my old Ford F250 highboy to rear discs.

 

I'm just shocked there's not a less-expensive bolt-on conversion out there. In the GM world for older trucks, there are several that don't cost an arm and a leg.