Everyone is always talking about how easy the big brake upgrade is on our cars. Well now you'll be able to see. I put a set of Supra TT calipers, cross drilled rotors, and stainless steel brake lines on my car. It's night and day difference compared to what it used to be like!! Here come the pics.

First you jack up the car and pull off the wheel.

 

Next you'll see where the brake line comes thru the wheel well. You'll see a little slide-on clip that holds the brake line to it's bracket. Pull off that clip. Now take an adjustable wrench (to hold the rubber brake line bolt) and use a 10mm open end wrench to unscrew the hard brake line from it. The rubber brake line will just fall free from that mount now.

It's best to stick something in the brake line at the wheelwell...so all the brake fluid doesn't run out of the line. Makes it MUCH faster and easier to bleed the brakes. I just rolled up some paper (rolling papers wont work here) and plugged it.

Next there's a second mount for the rubber brake line (can't be seen in the pics) on the shock mount. It's got two 10mm bolts, just remove them with a socket.

 

Now you'll pull off the caliper. On the back of it there are two large bolts holding it to the car. I used a 11/16 socket, I don't know what the correct one in metric terms is. But that one fit perfect. Just remove those two bolts (on TIGHT) and slide the caliper off. Now it'll look like this...

 

Next you have to remove the disc from the hub. They're not held on by bolts or anything at this point...just rust. The one from the passenger side of my car came off with just a tap. The driver side....I thought it might have been bolted on somehow. But it wasn't...too bad that disc can never be used again. Thank god for big hammers. lol

 

Now you'll need to remove the dust shield. It's too small for big calipers. I'm guessing you could trim the edges off so that it's still there, but there's really no need for it. So you pull off 4 10mm bolts and it will then move freely, but it's still attached.

 

Well I wasn't about to pull the bearing and hub and crap off, so I got a pair of dykes (heh), and just cut the small edge of the shield. I then bent it and pulled it right off the hub.

I'm holding it in the foreground here...

 

Next you just do all this in reverse (well not the shield part...lol). Put the new disc on the car (hint #42: use a factory lugnut to hold the disc on there for now..MUCH easier as seen in pic).

Put the new caliper over the disc, and attach the two bolts on the back. Tighten them a LOT.

Route the new (or old if you didn't get new stainless lines) brake line the same way as the factory by the shock, and connect it up top to the hard brake line. (make sure you remove whatever you plugged it with first...heh). Slide that little clip back on to hold it, and lo-and-behold...you have big brakes on there now!!

 

You still have to bleed the air out of the brake system tho...or you're not gonna be stopping.

Two people are needed for this job. For this example, we'll call them "Alk" and "Ida."

In this nice blurry pic...you'll see a gold fitting which is at the back-top-right of the caliper. You need that 10mm open-end wrench again.

First, have a bottle of brake fluid handy. Fill the brake fluid resovoir in the engine to the MAX line and put the cap back on.

Next, get a small piece of tubing that will fit over the fitting. This is so the brake fluid will not just run down the caliper. Not good for brake parts. I used vacuum tubing, which I had PLENTY of from installing my turbo. Any small (about 4") piece will work.

Now have Alk sit in the car to man the brakes, and Ida is at the caliper. Alk will push on the brake pedal, at which time Ida should open the fitting with the wrench. This will allow air and brake fluid to spray out of it. Before the pedal is to the floor, close the fitting...or air will just be sucked back in. So brake push - fitting open - fitting closed - brake release. I used like 1 second bursts to do this...just make sure Ida closes the fitting before the pedal is all the way down.

Do this a few times, or until no more air comes out of the tube. You'll know. Brake fluid will flow smoothly out then.

When done with that wheel, check the brake fluid level in the engine. Fill back to the MAX line, and do the other side of the car. When you finish that one, don't forget to fill it back up the last time!

Now go out and try your new brakes. (well after you put the wheels back on) You should be noticing a HUGE improvement in braking ability!!

 

Before...

 

After.

Yes those pics are of two different sides of the car...the new caliper will be in the same location as the old one.

It looks a BILLION times better than it did before! Wow an upgrade for looks and performance...amazing.

Now you don't need help anymore so you can say "Ok Alk Ida, back to your caves to hide" heh heh

Any questions on install? Ask me, I'll try to help.

So now you've seen how to install a turbo and how to install big brakes. What's next on my pictorial install list you ask?

Well...my clutch will be here in a couple days...so you'll get to see me dropping the tranny out of my car. Joy joy.

SR

 

Hey Computerwiz. The upgrade looks nice. What brand of rotors did you go with and are you planning on doing the rears?

gadgetSC

 

how much did the whole upgrade cost you?..... you got them used I take it?

Jason

 

Ok...I know this has been asked before, but will Supra brakes fit into both SC3's and SC4's?
Which year Supra brakes do you look for and does it matter?

Looks sweet dude!

Tony

 

Great job there. What size are the stock rotors and what are your new ones. Would the new ones fit with the stock rims, and if not, how big do you have to go? And how many pistons are on the new calipers?

Word of warning.....cross-drilled are usually (not always) a waste of money. Slotted rotors are too. Most important factors in breaking are the diamer, swept area, caliper pistions and pad compound. But no doubt they look awesome. I put cross-drilled on my camaro and love em.

Again, nicely done.

 

Totall gratification in the brake dept.,gotta love those bolt-ons!
I've been trying to get ahold of some Supra control arms,and they're hard to find.