PowerStop Brake Upgrade Kit

I’m getting a sense that my brakes on my 2022 SR5 Premium 4WD feel weak, or marginal. I’m at 37,700 miles.

The brakes are not noisy, nor do they pull to either side when braking, but I feel the need to replace them, if only the fronts at this time. The factory pads are nowhere near worn out.

I stumbled across a YouTube video showing a guy replacing his front brake pads AND rotors, with this kit from a company called “PowerStop”. The rotors are drilled, and slotted. He used their stock # Z36 kit.

Has anyone here tried these PowerStop brand brakes on their T4R and have anything good or bad to say about them? They ain’t cheap, I’m wondering if they’re worth it, and whether or not I should pony up and do the rear brakes as well, or if just doing the fronts will suffice. I’m not hauling or pulling heavy loads, just driving around with an empty vehicle the majority of the time. Thanks for reading.

 

If it ain’t broke, why fix it. I always thought drilled and slotted rotors weren’t recommended for off road vehicles because they can hold mud and debris.

 

The OEM brakes are good. 4 piston fixed calipers that not even my GTO has from factory. I played the rotor and pad game on my Tacoma and got nowhere. I would go with a larger rotor and caliper for increased heat capacity but until then OEM.

 

I have the Z36 kit. I notice zero change over stock. I bought it because my rear brake pads needed replacing and I thought F it, I'm going to spend some coin and "upgrade".

I don't tow or haul with my 4Runner. If I could do it all again, it's a coin toss if I'd make the same decision.

 

I have the z36 on my truck right now. Worth it? Nope
Definitely not for off roaders. As @Slopemaster said they get gunked up.the trick to mushy brakes for is to regularly bleed them. Especially in warmer climates.

https://youtu.be/y5nD7MhYDkM?si=kC9P-pLD5OQ-toAI

 

Have to echo this. I changed the brakes on my Ford Raptor to the same kit and didn't notice a thing.

 

If you off-road, slotted rotors do fill up with mud & dirt.

 

Post #263

https://www.4runners.com/threads/a-...-in-a-4runner-limited.8250/page-9#post-109115

 

As others stated I wouldn't recommend drilled and slotted rotors for the 4Runner.

I do have some personal experience with Powerstop. Added their rotors to my Subaru STi a few years back. They warped within a couple of weeks.
Upgraded to DBA rotors based out of Australia and they held up great even through my abuse.

I'd stick with OEM unless you've added a lot of weight and need larger rotors and calipers. Which is a very expensive option.

 

Fluid change and bleeding was the first step i did. Added some new Akebono pads and they are good enough for now. I was looking at going with a six piston setup but for the price, i'm holding off.

 

I’ve used power stop rotors and pads on a few vehicles, not the 4Runner though. I had no issue with them and did see some improvement in braking. I think that is most likely due to the pad compound rather than the slotted rotors. A standard rotor with a more aggressive pad is probably the best route for the 4Runner.

 

Check out powerbrake. Not cheap but I have heard good reviews


https://trail4runner.com/2022/04/28...t-installation-guide-for-the-5th-gen-4runner/

 

Drilled & slotted rotors decrease surface area of the rotor - you will have better performance with stock rotors than aftermarket drilled & slotted. Larger solid rotors will make a difference, but it won't be super measurable. These vehicles aren't creating enough heat to benefit from a slotted or dimpled rotor

 

For my Nephews birthday (the day after Xmas), I bought him some engine and safety related parts for his Nissan Frontier.
One of those things was stock rotors and pads from Rock Auto, to replace the brand X, drilled/slotted disc's and metallic pads.
They were filthy and packed with junk. After fresh fluid and a good bleeding and a proper bedding, he reports a solid pedal and strong stopping power.

He always appreciates the practical B-day gifts that my Wife and I give him. And he also Auto-crosses with his 280Z so he likes the fancy stuff for that since it doesn't see much street use.

 

I had an Eclipse when I was a young man. Wanted a big brake kit. Someone talked me into getting really nice brake pads. Glad they did because it was world's of difference. Insanely more stopping power. I just had to replace them every 10k miles.

I would try EBC or Hawk brake pads first and see how it goes.

When weighted down going camping or off roading braking at highway speeds feels fairly anemic and I've been meaning to try pads out first before dishing out thousands on a big brake kit.

Also a few months ago I got stuck in the mud. In trying to get out the rocks in the thick mud scraped up the I side of some of my wheels and tore the weights off. Caked mud in the brakes and would have scraped to shit some nice looking big brake kit which would probably just be for show since some nice pads will probably do everything we need.

 

This right here, and if you think you've heard brake squeal, you haven't heard it until that dirt and shit gets embedded in the pads.

 

I have Powerstop pads on otherwise stock brakes. I like to think they're an improvement over the stock pads, but I'm not sure if it's just in my head. I will say that, even with a bunch of extra full-time weight, I am regularly impressed by how good the brakes are on this vehicle.

 

What is the exact symptom you feel indicating "weakness"? A lot of pedal travel before the brakes grab? A different pad compound can help. Don't know which one though.

Going to a larger caliper with larger pistons or more pistons can make the pedal travel longer - basic fluid mechanics. And with the electronic booster, there's no easy upgrade path with Tundra/Sequoia boosters.

Slotted rotors are good for keeping the pad surface clean and evacuating water, but in my experience on 4 vehicles, don't increase initial bite.

 

I let my son (Certified Toyota Master Tech) drive my 4Runner after I purchased it. He came back and said you have air in your brake system. I said “bullsh$t” it’s a brand new vehicle, it stops good, forget that. Next day he brought over a power bleeder and his Carista, which looked like an iPad to me. 30 minutes later he said to take it for a drive. I came back with a sh$t eating grin on my face and said wow, the brake pedal starts way higher on its stroke down and now it stops on a dime. He said on the ship over it might have encountered some rough seas and bounced around enough to get some air in the master cylinder, then into the lines.

 

i have used the Z36 pads on my 2011 with stock flat rotors and love them. Once the stock pads go on my 2022, i have a z36 set waiting to swapbin

 

I have used Powerstop brakes last 20+ years and excellent upgrade. Haven't warped a rotor yet on emergency lock down. You do have to seat them per instructions, but no fade or marshmallow pedal. Good upgrade if you tow or haul. Great if you don't. My rear driver pads seem to wear more quickly than front pads so keep an eye on rears before front.

 

I have this kit front and back. I've been happy with them. Of course I told my wife it would only take me 2 hours to do all 4....but hey it worked out when I finished up many hours later it was dark and no cars on the road. Perfect for bedding them.

 

My parking brake retainer spring came off with a rotor and that was 30 minutes of two people cussing it back together. Nightmare

 

Oem, no slotted or drilled junk

 

4Runner brakes have more pedal travel than many vehicles. If you're used to vehicles with no pedal travel it's understandable that you might perceive pedal travel as weak brakes. You can also look at it as easier to modulate the amount of braking you apply. 4R's also have soft, predictable response to the throttle pedal. Some folks perceived this as feeling slow and get a Pedal Commander to make it more responsive, others are happy with the more predictable response which is for sure better offroad and on slick surfaces. Unlike 99.9% of vehicles out there, 4R is actually designed to go offroad.

 

I have this kit. Installed at 60k miles and I love the way the new discs look over the OEM discs which were at the end of their life. The Powerstop pads are not that great over stock in terms of performance and very dusty. On my 3rd set of front pads now since the new discs. The second set were EBC green and those were junk - worse stopping power, super dusty and didn't last long. Now I'm using Porterfield R4-S pads which are great. Noticeable stopping power and super low dust. The Powerstop discs with Porterfield pads are a great combo. I do light offroading (desert and mountains in SoCal) but never drive my car thru mud that would affect the drilled/slotted discs.

https://porterfield-brakes.com/search-result/?years=2020&make=58&model=2027&manufacturer=7444

 

I feel like brake "weakness" is a personal perspective. I'm curious what your frame of reference is, like what did you drive before or what is your second car if you have one?
My last ride was an 05 Sequoia... This 19 4 Runner stops like a fking race car by comparison, so I have zero interest in trying to change that or improve on it.

 

IMO the 4Runner brakes are weak. I recently rented a new Toyota Corolla when on vacation and every time I touched the brakes almost locked them up because I was applying the pressure to the pedal as I'm used to on my 4Runner until I got used to how much better those brakes were.

 

A Corolla weighs a lot less and should stop better.

 

Doesn't change the fact that 4Runner brakes are too weak for me. Brakes will stop you, but I prefer a firmer, harder braking system. If we only made a kit to fit under a 17" wheel...

This is how I know: