Matt Harwood Posted December 3, 2001 Share Posted December 3, 2001 Can anybody tell me how I can identify what front brake pads I need for my car? I've only had my car about 2 weeks and I need new front pads already. I keep getting told so many different variations and people want me to pay up front for them. (Toyota in Maidstone) What size brakes are fitted to a jap spec and UK spec? The man at Toyota looked at my front brakes and told me that I may have the UK brakes as this was an option in Japan? JIC have a bit on their web site saying that front pads are £32 from Toyota.... Toyota Maidstone told me £65 - Halfords told me £35 but there are 3 different types.... Help please anyone??? - I'm in Kent if anyone can recommend somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ring Master Posted December 4, 2001 Share Posted December 4, 2001 Im in Kent too, and sell plenty of mkiv pads. The UK "spec" pads are the following size : 122mm x 83mm x 18mm Once you know if yours is UK or Jap spec, I can give you more info on available pads and prices. I can do some impressive fast road/track day pads for the UK spec for just £58+vat and free delivery. email : [email protected] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Cargill Posted December 4, 2001 Share Posted December 4, 2001 AFAIK the Jap ones look small and have a roughish finish to the castings. The UK calipers are much bigger, smooth casting and have the Supra logo on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted December 4, 2001 Share Posted December 4, 2001 Matt, Give Paul Whiffin a ring (find his no. on www.whifbitz.co.uk) Ask him to send you some J-spec front Portafield R-4S pads (Fast Road). These will be the pads you'll need for everyday / slightly aggressive driving. But be warned 2-pot j-spec caliper'd brakes on a Supra are NOT EVEN CLOSE TO COMPETENT. They are the biggest weak point of the j-spec car! Whenever ypu go for a thrash/track day, remember that stopping 1.6tonnes of car is bl**dy hard work!!! Euro spec Supra's were equiped with bigger brakes (4-pot) because they knew the owners would drive them harder in Europe than in Japan. Which is why you might consider going the hole hog and upgrading your brake system. But for that you'll need to be sure that the bigger calipers will fit behind your wheels, if you have more than 1cm of clearance to your j-spec caliper to the spoke of your wheel then you have a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branners Posted December 4, 2001 Share Posted December 4, 2001 UK brakes and stock pads actually seem to work well together, so long as the fluid has been changed for something that wont boil up, so unless you plan on going totally psycho with the car I would suggest sticking with stock pads or possibly trying Justins fast road pads. If you plan on going psycho with the car then go for the Portfield fast road pads, or even better use the race pads but expect them to be noisy (like a bus..) and create a fair bit of dust. JB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted December 4, 2001 Author Share Posted December 4, 2001 Justin, I had a look at my brakes today and with the info on here, I have come to the conclusion that I have the crap Jap brakes... My pads measured approx 120 x 60 x not much any more! My calipers look like they are only the 2 piston type (2 on the inside, floating outer). What's available and how much? Any one know of a UK spec being broken for spares? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted December 4, 2001 Share Posted December 4, 2001 Justin, what type are your fast road pads? I really need a new set after 'cooking' mine at bentwaters. Matt, UK Spec brakes are rare as f*&k (since they're a very worthwhile J-spec upgrade). Seems the only place to get them is if someones 'upgraded' to either the brembos or AP's. I believe Justin could get them for a 'reasonable' price from Toyota new. Or distract one of the UK-Spec owners at a meet and 'borrow' theirs Martins/Emmas as a preferance as they're painted really well :biggrin: But if you get Doughies check the pads As Alex said, J-spec brakes really are the weakest link on the track. If you change the system, get the best brake fluid you can find too. If you're looking for cheap pads i'm pretty sure you can get EBC green stuff for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted December 5, 2001 Share Posted December 5, 2001 Matt, Chris Wilson, who's on this BBS does some intermediate pads (fast raod/track) for the Supra. his mail address is [email protected] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doughie Posted December 5, 2001 Share Posted December 5, 2001 Matt well Peter Howe's UK-spec car was sadly written off about 2 weeks ago or so. That had uk brakes(obviously) so i don't know if anyone can find out where it has ended up. Otherwise Justin Foden can get new UK-spec brakes for around £750 i think. something like that. Gareth ! bloody cheek !!!! :wink: i'm getting my own brakes overhauled in January with shiny new front disks, braided stainless-steel hoses all round, DOT 5.1 fluid, and the Toyota UK-brakes seal overhaul kit. I think that one of my pistons may not be working as the pads have been wearing unevenly. Probably cooked during the RAF BrakeWearer track day. Certainly the brakes don't feel as good as they were before the track day. The disks STILL have the remains of my pads smeared on them... one more thing (being a bit persnickety) how may different spellings of Porterfield can we get ??!? It's P-O-R-T-E-R-F-I-E-L-D. as in : http://www.porterfield-brakes.com/ not Portefield, Portafield, Portfield ... Paul Whiffin are you listening ?!?!!?!? (Edited by Doughie at 10:57 am on Dec. 5, 2001) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ring Master Posted December 5, 2001 Share Posted December 5, 2001 I supply brand new uk brakes, which includes callipers, discs, pads and rattle clips (everything you need short of fluid) for £729.99 including VAT and delivery, all pukka Toyota parts. Difference between the jap and uk brakes, is , errr, mind-numbing ! The fast road pads I supply are EBC Greenstuff and they are £58+vat for a pair of fronts. Not great pads for hard track use, but they do the job on the road, even for a nutter like me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon F Posted December 6, 2001 Share Posted December 6, 2001 Justin Is that for all four brakes? How can I tell if my wheels will clear the calipers? I have a spare rim off the car. Is it possible to measure it to see if it will clear UK spec calipers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted December 6, 2001 Share Posted December 6, 2001 Gordon, unfortionatly alloys that can fit UK Spec brakes are quite rare as they are f'in huge. The best bet is to find a friendly local owner and try a wheel swap. Or get to a meet and if the weathers good i'm sure you could try them there. There were the exact clearances and dimensions in another thread on this, but i can't find it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith C Posted December 6, 2001 Share Posted December 6, 2001 Ah, yeah, brake fluid. I've had a bit of fade from my car a couple of times, and seeing as it's got Black Diamon discs with TRD pads I'm assuming the fluid is to blame. How do you go about uprating the fluid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted December 6, 2001 Share Posted December 6, 2001 Keith get some Motul RBF600 Race Fluid, you'll need about 1.5-2L's to make sure its flushed out the old stuff. Or you can try any other type of DOT5.1 fluid, just make sure its 5.1. AP600 Fluid is also another one to consider but it cannot be mixed with any old fluid. The other thing to do is upgrade to Stainless Steel Braided Brake Brake Pipes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon F Posted December 6, 2001 Share Posted December 6, 2001 AP600 and AP551 brake fluids are suitable for road car use. They both are dot4 compatable. AP500, which I think is discontinued now but still widely available, is a no no as it is massively hygroscopic. The AP numbers (600, 551, 500 etc) are the approximate boiling points in farenheit. I'd be impressed to see someone hitting 600 degrees brake temp on the road so 551 is more than sufficient. (Half the price of 600).Castrol SRF is also well worth looking at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted December 6, 2001 Author Share Posted December 6, 2001 Justin, am I right in assuming that all the UK spec bits will just simply "bolt on"? - Calipers/disks/brake pipes etc. I am also assuming that they will fit inside my current wheels. I have the 18" Lexus alloys. (There is almost 2" worth of space between the inner rim and caliper). (Edited by Matt Harwood at 9:15 pm on Dec. 6, 2001) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted December 6, 2001 Share Posted December 6, 2001 Its not the rim its the spokes that need the clearance. The UK spec Caliper is deeper and might bloke the wheel from being put on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted December 6, 2001 Author Share Posted December 6, 2001 I can virtually get my hand between the spokes and caliper, (not the best measuring device ever ). I would think I'll be OK. Surely the GS300 & GS400 would come with good brakes as standard? I dont want to change my wheels too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Wall Posted December 6, 2001 Share Posted December 6, 2001 This does sound pretty convincing, however it would be best to check with another car, as there are very few wheels that fit over the UK brakes without needing spacers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ring Master Posted December 6, 2001 Share Posted December 6, 2001 Matt, I think you'll be ok with the UK spec brakes, the £730 includes everything you need, new discs, new pads, new calipers, all you need to do is hack off the j-spec dust cover, change the brake fluid, and say hello to incredible brakes.....:biggrin: I guess some sexy braided hoses would go amiss.... If your in Kent, I know a couple of people close by with UK brakes who are on this list, and as we are all such a helpful bunch, im sure they would be delighted to let you try one of your wheels on their car for a few beers.....eh Keith ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith C Posted December 7, 2001 Share Posted December 7, 2001 Yeah - I can probably manage that. I'm half-considering new wheels anyway, so it'll be a good chance for me to see how different types would look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted December 7, 2001 Author Share Posted December 7, 2001 Is that all right Keith?... Who's Keith? And where are you? (Edited by Matt Harwood at 6:06 pm on Dec. 7, 2001) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith C Posted December 8, 2001 Share Posted December 8, 2001 Er - I'm Keith - the username is a bit of a giveaway I'm in Fartford (Dartford to everyone else) and Ashford ain't too far from me. Having said that, Justin's place at Brands would be better, as it's just round the corner from me, there will be more room to work, and it's easier to get to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted December 8, 2001 Author Share Posted December 8, 2001 Sounds good. I live in Medway and work in Maidstone so Brands is easy for me too. I'm assuming there is cover or workshop there? I wouldn't want to waste your time to be rained off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ring Master Posted December 9, 2001 Share Posted December 9, 2001 If you too fancy getting it togther at Brands next Saturday then great, I can sort out some cover if it rains and we have a nice big trolley jack too. Matt, if you want to sort Keith out some beers or something as this is obviously a nice favour from Keith (and itll cost him petrol). Should be a laugh, supras always welcome :biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.