Brake caliper upgrade 93 ES300
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Brake caliper upgrade 93 ES300
Im looking to see if any one has changed their stock brake calipers to another OEM caliper from either a LS 430 or something else with the fixed caliper. I am looking for any idea of what might fit before I go shopping
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Well what I am looking to do is move up to the fixed caliper with 4 piston. I heard that the 2 piston from the next generation ES300 fits but fix calipers give a nicer grab. Also, with the 17" I am running from an LS430 I know the space is there. I just like to know if making brackets is going to be need.
#5
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#7
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The LS400 calipers are more than enough. Unless you go with a bigger rotor, a more powerful caliper won't do you any good. I put a set of 1991 LS400 calipers on my ES, better pedal feel it's a nice upgrade.
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#8
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I'm running the two piston calipers from the newer es. Also I'm running a big brake kit that uses supra rotors that's 13" in diameter compared to the 12inch stock rotor. However this requires 17" rims
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i saw your 2 piston calipers and they look nice, but I want to go to the 4 piston that is fixed instead of the floating calipers for the front. I also plan on getting the steel braided lines . Those seem easy to find and dont require much trial and error.
#12
Lexus Fanatic
Yes.
The upgrade is very straightforward, here's what you will need.
The only issue I had was the brake line on the banjo end hits the caliper (the aluminum sleeve part of the line) making it impossible to tighten the banjo bolt properly. To fix this, I filed the aluminum edge down, it didn't take much I removed maybe 1mm or a so of material. It doesn't affect the line in anyway you are just filing down the outer area of the sleeve. Might be possible to just bend the line, but I didn't want to do that and risk breaking it.
The upgrade is very straightforward, here's what you will need.
- LS400 calipers (1991-1992)
- Camry V6/ES300 caliper brackets (1995-1996)
Camry V6/ES300 brake pads (1992-1996)
The only issue I had was the brake line on the banjo end hits the caliper (the aluminum sleeve part of the line) making it impossible to tighten the banjo bolt properly. To fix this, I filed the aluminum edge down, it didn't take much I removed maybe 1mm or a so of material. It doesn't affect the line in anyway you are just filing down the outer area of the sleeve. Might be possible to just bend the line, but I didn't want to do that and risk breaking it.
#13
Lead Lap
Without getting into physics lessons, the caliper or the size of the pads don't affect the stopping ability appreciably, tire size and rotor mass rule, but making small changes to the hydraulics is great to tune how the brakes feel. Most stock brakes are tuned to be sort of mushy and easy to stop hard, where most enthusiasts prefer a firm pedal that takes more force. In addition to caliper piston sizes, changing the size of the master cylinder bore has a big effect.
I totally understand that, nothing feels like a fixed caliper! Even if you are into making up a custom caliper bracket, keep in mind the trouble with fitting a fixed caliper to a front drive car is wheel offset, most FWD will have a large positive offest, not much caliper clearance between the rotor and wheel spokes. If you have wide, low offset, or racing type aftermarket wheels, caliper clearance will be better. Let us know how it goes if you do this!
#14
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I never expected or did the swap for better stopping power, the original parts could easily make the ABS kick in. But like you said Power6, the feel of the brakes is nicer which made it worth the time and money for me, the money part being minimal.
The newer LS models have 4 piston calipers I think, but I don't know what would be involved to make that setup work on an ES.
The newer LS models have 4 piston calipers I think, but I don't know what would be involved to make that setup work on an ES.
#15
Lead Lap
I never expected or did the swap for better stopping power, the original parts could easily make the ABS kick in. But like you said Power6, the feel of the brakes is nicer which made it worth the time and money for me, the money part being minimal.
The newer LS models have 4 piston calipers I think, but I don't know what would be involved to make that setup work on an ES.
The newer LS models have 4 piston calipers I think, but I don't know what would be involved to make that setup work on an ES.
Brake "feel" however is an important part of the driving experience. I am curious, I'll see if I can find out the piston sizes of ES300 vs. LS400, typically going a bit smaller in piston up front works well, for better feel, without messing up the bias/proportioning too much.