(Almost) bolt on brake upgrade

Almost...

You still have to make a calipers bracket.

*Disclaimer - messing with your braking system can have unintended consequences. This info is an excersize in the limititations I've set for myself in how I approach my car. Use as many toyota or lexus parts as I can. Do it on a budget but dont be (too)cheap. Things like cheap rotors and pads can easily be replaced with something better if it works out.


So ive been doing a lot of off and on research in to brake kit upgrades for a couple of years now. I've seen the threads on modifying st205 calipers, Porsche brembos and sti rotors etc.

I found a couple of options people may want to know about. These are Acura RL and Lexus LS430 calipers from the early 2000's. Both of these are radial mount just like the Porsche Brembo calipers. So making a caliper bracket isn't terribly difficult.

Now the Acura RL calipers would work fine since the rotor is around 330mm if I recall correctly, but the real winner to me is the LS430 caliper and rotor.

It's a 4 piston monoblock aluminum caliper and 12.4" (315 mm) rotor in stock configuration on the LS430 designed to stop a 4000lb car. The best thing about it is the rotors fit perfect on the 96-2000 Rav4 hubs which just so happen to fit our axle shafts and wheel bearings.

It seems like almost all Toyotas and Lexuses (Lexi?), with some exceptions like the 86, Corolla, and Prius, use the same rotor configuration.

5x114.3 bolt pattern
2.44" (62mm) hubcentric
roughly 2" (50mm) in height
Roughly 1.1-1.2" (28ish mm)thickness.

This opens up a huge choice of rotors from the 11.65" (296mm) on the IS300 and many others to a massive 14.15(360mm) on the IS F.

Theres quite a few other size choices in there, but I wanted something that would fit under 16" wheels. At first I bought some cheap is300 rotors off ebay just to see what I was working with. At $30 I could eat the loss and not feel the pain if it didn't work out. I wasn't happy with the fit and realized I could go bigger. I ended up ordering a set of LS430 rotors but I still had clearance issues.

In come the wheel spacers. I really resisted this at first thinking I could just shave a few mm off here and there on the caliper. In the end I gave in and settled on 1" (25mm) spacers with the proper 60.1 hubcentric ring common to most toyota wheels with a 5x114.3 bolt pattern that also fits the hub. 1" is perfect since the wheel studs sit flush with the face of the spacers.

Now a note about wheel spacers. They arent inherently bad as long as you buy quality with the hub centric ring. Yes shit can go wrong if they are cheap lug centric spacers.

Now the cost.

Pair of front Lexus LS430 calipers ~$100
Pair of LS430 rotors ~$75
Ls430 brake pads $20
Pair of Rav4 hub/wheel bearing/seal kit $60-$100
25mm wheel spacers PAIR $40

Minus the bracket being made, that's <$350 for a big brake setup with your choice of rotors. Now the calipers may need to be clearanced slightly for larger rotors, but still, ive regularly seen the calipers go as cheap $35 each on ebay that may or may not need a rebuild. Best part about all of this is its off the shelf Toyota/Lexus parts with little to no modifications.

I'm still working on the rears, but from what ive read of other peoples success it seems to be highlander hubs and rotors are the goto for 5x114.3.

Random sampling of other toyota and lexus rotors and other comparison pics

All of these are 5x114.3 with a 2.44" hub centric. Numbers are diameter and rotor nominal thickness.

2003 IS300 11.65" 296mm 1.2" 30.5mm
2015 Camry 11.65" 296mm 1.16" 29mm
2019 Camry 12.01" 305mm 1.18" 30mm
2018 IS300 13.15" 334mm 1.18" 30mm
2016 RX350 12.91" 327mm 1.1" 28mm
2003 LS430 12.41" 315mm 1.18" 30mm
2009 LS460 13.15" 334mm 1.18" 30mm
2009 IS F 14.19" 360mm 1.18" 30mm
1998 Supra 12.72" 323mm 1.18" 30mm
2016 Highlander 12.91" 327mm 1.1" 28mm
2018 RC350 13.15" 334mm 1.18" 30mm
1998 Rav4 11.88" 301mm .71" 18mm

*1992 Celica st185 10.89" 276mm .98" 25mm 5x100 54mm hub centric

Thank you! This is some of the best info I've seen. Especially about the Rav 4 hubs.

So basically a 96-00 Rav4 hub pressed into the oem wheel bearing will convert the front to 5x114.3?

Nice idea with the calipers.... sure you didn't get it from somewhere?
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=48517

I was going to do the LS430 caliper upgrade a few years ago until i realised that the brake pads they use are actually quite small, and good performance pads for them are quite difficult to find.
I ended up going with ST205 calipers instead. Pads are comparatively easy to find since they are the same as JZA8x Supra calipers.

Its possible that planted the seed years ago ☺.

I just thought I'd share what ive learned just messing around with different ideas.

While not as good as the st205 or supra brakes I would think they would atleast somewhat better than the stock brakes that are on the car now. For non track cars like mine they fit the bill for some spirited driving every once in a while.

MWP hit my main question, what is pad selection like for those calipers? The main benefit I see from things like the base or S Boxster calipers is then you've got access to a pretty wide selection of pads.

I purchased a used kit that utilized these calipers. The brackets were designed for a 2004 STI rotor which places the caliper back slightly so might negate the need for spacers. 2004 STI is also 5x100 so no hub changes.

Just a quick search shows that Akebono, Brembo, and EBC all make pads for the ls430 caliper.

Also, looking over brake pad dimensional data shows that the LS430, Boxter, and ST205/Supra pads aren't as dissimilar in size as it seems.

Porsche
https://centric.vsdam.com/data/16/Repos ... 0e229f.jpg

ST205/Supra
https://www.apcautotech.com/CMSPages/Pa ... si%20Quiet

LS430
https://www.apcautotech.com/CMSPages/Pa ... si%20Quiet

My choice of the LS430 caliper comes down to cost vs performance ratio. When you can get within 85% of the perfomance for 25% of the cost it's hard to argue for something better when the car is only for daily driving or street only use with some spirited driving on occasion.

Let me give another example of my thought process. In 2012 I built myself a computer. i5 3570k, Radeon 7850, 8gb ram and a SSD. In 2016 I picked up a used GTX960 for $100 that kept me within 85% of newer stuff and was fine for gaming at 1080p. Just this month I dropped in another 8gb of ddr3 for $20 and bought an e3-1270v2 Xeon for $80 thats basically a locked i7 3770 that again keeps me within 85% of other newer mid range gaming cpus. I'm not gaming at 4k and dont need an i9 9900k and an RTX 2080ti with 32gb of ddr4.

Would I like to have all of these things? Absolutely, but the reality is I'll end up picking up a used GTX 980 or 1070ti in a year for $100-$150 and keep on gaming for 2 or 3 years on a computer I built in 2012 for $400 in upgrades over a 10 year period. I would love to have the latest and greatest, but what I have is good enough day to day gaming.

Nothing is stopping people from using the caliper of their choice for whatever is in their budget. I'm simply trying to show there is a cost effective alternative that gets you within 85%(Possibly closer than that after looking at pad data)of the performance for 25% of the cost.

Wilwood, Porsche Brembo, Acura RL, or ST205 calipers are all valid options that will work with the rotor data I collected.

The other important thing here is you aren't dealing with redrilling rotors, machining hubs, mismatched hubcentrics, or using shims to clearance the rotor from the ball joint.

I'm probably going to buy a used knuckle to mess with when making a bracket so I dont have a non working car while figure it out. I can sacrifice a cheap wheel bearing to get the info I need. I want something I can just slap on the car in an afternoon.

MWP":1somb8ck said:

Nice idea with the calipers.... sure you didn't get it from somewhere?
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=48517

I was going to do the LS430 caliper upgrade a few years ago until i realised that the brake pads they use are actually quite small, and good performance pads for them are quite difficult to find.
I ended up going with ST205 calipers instead. Pads are comparatively easy to find since they are the same as JZA8x Supra calipers.

Click to expand...

Thank you for linking that thread. I went back and reread all 12 pages. I started down this path so long ago I completely forgot about it.

Now I remember why I went with a different solution. I wanted something that would fit under 16" wheels. Everyone in that thread kept getting bigger and bigger it seemed, and 17" wheels seemed to be the norm. I know I needed something between 300mm and 320mm, and I wanted a more bolt on solution.

Anyways, thanks for the reality slap, I needed it. I just got a little too excited when I finally had all of the parts. I've owned the car for almost 15 years and wanted to give back to the community.