GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

How many pistons in the caliper does the 2GS 01-05 have?

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

2 pistons also.

adamgamz

Thats what I have an 01 GS300. I just finished the passanger side. This is what I found out, you have to over torque the tie rod crown nuts past factory specs to gain a few more threads to grind away, there is no way around grinding some metal from the corner of the caliper. It is really tight in there, but the caliper holes just barely line up, and I mean barely. I'm going to bleed the brakes and put the tires on, finally done. Oh also you need to cut away a few inches off of the brake dust shield behind the rotors, otherwise the rotors rub.

tom steele

i personally found if you grind the tie rod down when you go to get it of you ruin the tie rod so if you need alignment they'll more than likely ruin it and come back saying you need new ones then say the don't fit so don't bother going that route one short cut leads to other nightmares. i made rcas about 3/4 of inch thick just enough for clearance then when you get alignment there's no problems also just go to auto zone and pick up the ls 400 calipers about 95 bucks per side plus 65 for core then take you calipers back later when they don't have the ls caliper to compare side by side and you will get the core back and if you want to go real cheap go to ebay for rotors

Kyle Harty

iTrader: (17)

Thanks for the pics Adam, I'm gonna be tackling this next week, found a deal too good to pass up on complete LS front brakes.

Anyone know if there's a reference list somewhere of spare tires/wheels that would work with these brakes? Obviously LS400 spare but it might make things easier to find if I've got some options.

adamgamz

well I didn't want to lower my car another 1" or so. I don't see why the alignment shop will have a problem with some unused threads being cut off the tie rod as in that picture, they don't adjust the crown nut on the tie rod isn't used to adjust the alignment and the tie rod adjustment nut isn't modified in anyway so there shouldn't be a problem. I'll be taking my car in for an alignment in the next week or so under my lifetime alignment with Big 10 tires so I'll update if there are any issues. In the end I'm glad I did it this way, the only thing I would have done different is use a jack to pop the rotor, cutting it led to some problems. There was still some metal on the hub from the cut off rotor so the new rotor wasn't going on flush and would bind against the brake pads when I spun the tire. I had to pull it apart and grind everything smooth, now its perfect. The brakes are bled and everything looks good, also the pedal is nice and firm.

big brakes for the big power!

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

So to clarify, the LS400 calipers did not require adapters at all, you just used the standard press-in that came with them? I have been trying to answer this for the IS300 vs GS caliper setup for a while now. I worked with Racing brake to develop a new caliper bracket that will fit TT rotors and use the floating 2 piston caliper. If the LS bolts right up to the GS though, this would not be possible to use the same adapter but perhaps we can change the machining options to the mounting locations to make it work.


This would give you GS guys a lower cost option to run larger TT rotors up front.
Here they are installed on an IS3.





Thanks for the detailed pics of the tie rod machining. Perhaps with my new RCA we can avoid this step for LS4 retrofits and not worry about ride height restrictions. Still working on it of course.

Fig

adamgamz

Yes LS400 rotors and LS400 calipers bolt right on but you need to shave down some unused threads off the tie rod stud, also I had to shave a bit of aluminum off the caliper right where it hits that tie rod stud as the caliper holes were sitting about 3mm too high and wouldn't line up. I can't see Supra TT brakes being much better than these, I've owned several MKIV TT Supras since 96, the brakes seem about the same but I prefer the look of the LS400 caliper over the Supra calipers.

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

OK great, I appreciate it. Yeah from my experience I have not seen a huge difference from the TT to the LS4 caliper design besides weight. But both are very competitive to aftermarket alternatives and IMO the seals are better than most BBKs out there. I will start looking into the possibilities with changing the mounting pattern on the Racing Brake bracket.


car looks great BTW, a real monster I am sure Let me know if you are interested in some stainless steel hood struts that I developed but never sold any of for the GS
Fig

Kyle Harty

iTrader: (17)

Adam, I'd be interested to know if there were any problems when you get the alignment done, I just got my LS brakes today, looking forward to doing this!

EDIT: I weighed the LS brakes and stock brakes last night; GS drilled/slotted rotors, calipers, and pads weighed 36 lbs. even; LS drilled/slotted, calipers, and pads weighed 32.4. So it's 3.6 lbs less unsprung weight with the LS setup.

adamgamz

No problems with the alignment, I'll post up some pics. My car is running like an animal now, I built the R154 with Marlin Crawler parts, seems to be holding the power nicely.

idrvgs300

hey adam, your car is looking good... but i had one question for ya, what are you doing with the rear brakes? are you going to leave them stock or upgrade to something else?

adamgamz

I'll probably leave them stock. My car is looking totally different now. I need to get some new pics up, Just installed HID's yesterday. I removed and sold the body kit, sold the wheels and tires and installed some Blitz Type 03 wheels with 285's on the rear. Saturday night was fun, I went out on the street and just destroyed every car I came across.

idrvgs300

haha good stuff, have you dyno Ur car yet?

adamgamz

no I need to, I should be making about 550RWHP on pump has at 18PSI. I ran into a modded Mustang, it was an older 93 LX 5.0 with some wide tires, loud as hell. I pulled him really hard, by the time I was in 3rd I was up by 8-9 cars, he pulled up next to me at the next light and screamed out "That car is a sleeper!" I love my GS300, just a fun car to surprise people in.