Mxkmster

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

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I know somebody who used Toyota Avalon calipers. Not sure about the details

Mxkmster

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.

01ES300NYC

iTrader: (2)

u should be able to use 91-92 ls400 calipers

LeX2K

If you have 16" or bigger wheels yes they work. But you will need the caliper brackets from a 1995-1996 Camry V6 or ES300.

01ES300NYC

iTrader: (2)

bingo!!!
i was just looking up that info...
Im getting ready to upgrade my wifes calipers next month....

LeX2K

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.

EEngineer

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

EEngineer

Upside is great braking response! Absolutely amazing

Mxkmster

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.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

On your 2000? If so, how much of a PITA is it? In much detail if you could. Assuming new carriers or do they actually bolt up?

LeX2K

Yes.

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)

Just swap out all the parts and bleed the brakes, that's it. The one slightly odd thing is you will be putting the left side LS400 caliper onto the right side of the car, and vice versa. This is because the LS400 caliper is on the back side of the rotor, the ES300 on the front side. So to make it work you just swap left/right.

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.

Power6

Did you happen to measure the piston sizes of both calipers? This might be an interesting upgrade for changing the pedal feel of the system.

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!

LeX2K

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.

Power6

That sounds great. I may have gone off on a tangent, some are under the impression that a bigger pad, or more caliper pistons or a bigger rotor "stop better" but i see you realize the tires are the limit of how fast you can stop the car. Just about any stock brake system is good for one or two full ABS stops at a time which is more than most need outside of a race track.

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.