Best FGT brake upgrades for a 16” rim

Hello,

I’ve been building up my recently acquired 01 FGT, which I’m using to haul my Bigfoot 611 slide-in camper full-time. The camper weighs around 1,000 lbs.

I’ve just gone through the suspension to handle the added weight and mounted new tires. The next thing on my list is the brakes.

Right now, the truck stops, but that's about all I can say regarding brake performance. I’m looking to refresh the entire system but would like to keep the truck on its stock 16" wheels.

My current plan is to install a PowerStop Z36 kit with 13WL calipers, along with a PowerStop rear drum kit.

I also plan to add Wheelers steel-braided lines front and rear.

flush the old fluid

As for the LSPV, should I adjust it or delete it for a Wilwood manual proportioning valve? I’d like to hear opinions on which option would be the best move for me.

The truck will be used for full-time living and travel. I’m doing my best to keep the weight down, but I will be right at max payload or possibly a bit over essentially all the time.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Welcome!
Before you do anything else bleed the brakes on all four corners and the lspv, then make sure that the rears are properly adjusted and working. This is the source of 99% of peoples braking problems on these trucks.

I believe there is a sticky "proper rear brake adjustment and theory" I'm on mobile right now, but I'll link it when I get a minute.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/rear-brake-adjustment-theory-and-practice.99575/


Just out of curiosity:

What's your suspension setup look like?

Also, have you ever weighed the camper yourself? Hard to believe that's under 1k if it's got a traditional interior.

 

If you intend your load in the back to be relatively static, i.e. your truck is just going to be carrying that constant load and not variable loads, as say, someone doing construction or landscaping would have, I'd probably recommend two things:

1. Firestone airbag helper kit
2. FGT LSPV-delete kit

With the general logic that #1 is going to help firm up the rear with the camper in it, and #2 with static load, you can dial in the rear braking proportioning for best performance with the camper installed and never need to worry about conditional situations which will change how the rear braking performs.

Word of caution: Service the factory rear adjusters, don't replace. Too many people on here have had issues with aftermarket rear adjusters not fitting properly in the grooves, and loosing access to auto-adjustment of the rears, which lends to bad braking experience later.

 

Damn man, that's pretty nice! I didn't realize Bigfoot made such a short camper. It looks great in your truck. What did you do to the back suspension? Looks like you've got a small lift and oversize tires.

My setup.




My old setup. Still have the Bigfoot trailer but I'm considering downsizing to just the slide in.

 

Once you check up on everything else mentioned above, this is about the only option for bigger brakes on 16" wheels besides the 13WLs that I'm aware of. No experience with it though. There's a template to check fitment on your wheels. https://sosperformance.com/products...ake-kit-fits-toyota-slash-lexus-truck-and-suv

 

Appreciate that link, will be useful later. Going to go ahead and change the whole brake system as I’m setting the truck up for full time and I’m wanting to just future proof the truck.

Suspension is pretty simple, up front I’m running Bilstein 6112’s, freedom off-road UCA’s, and new OEM LBJ & hardware.
The rear is currently sitting on Bilstein 5100’s with an icon AAL with the overload spring retained

truck rides pretty great and handles the load fine, going to throw in some timbren HD off-road bump stops in the rear when I do the brakes to further help the rear leafs with the weight. Long term would like to get a custom leaf pack from Deaver after the stock leafs wear out but for now this setup works plenty fine for me.

Tires are 255/85/16 Falken Wildpeak MT01’s that are E rated.

The tall skinny is clutch, tires only weigh 50lbs a piece and you can definitely tell the difference as opposed to a 285/75/16 setup, no loss of stability either.

brakes work fine but just want to upgrade them while I can within reason. I know the truck will likely never brake like most of these trucks on here due to the nature of the build but as much help as it can get would be great.

mine personally weighed in at 959lbs as the PO removed the propane fridge but other owners have weighed theirs and found the rated weight accurate. They’re super rare and very desirable because of this, only made for 2 years in 1992 & 1993. Only believed to be a few hundred in existence and they typically demand a premium because of it.

 

Suspension is already handled but thanks for that link to the LSPV delete kit.

Deleting the LSPV was what I thought would be best as this trucks only job is going to be hauling this camper and all my stuff with it so having a permanently dialed proportion valve seems to be the way to go to keep the braking consistent and predictable.

will keep that mind about the rear adjusters, definitely good info to know.

thank you!

 

since oversized tires and lift kits are a prerequisite for toyotas with campers, i’d highly recommend gearing the ring and pinions somewhere down to around a 4.88. The truck must be a complete TRD with the stock gearing as it stands. Lower gears will bring back some of the power as well as let your transmission survive a bit longer. Those tall 255/85/16 tires must rub something fierce on both the frame and wheelwells? The 13WL caliper swap is a worthwhile upgrade for not too much $$$. Save some money by not buying steel braided brake line placebos though. Yes on an adjustable prop valve. It doesn’t look like your tail end is sagging, so i guess no need for rear airbags…unless the camper in the picture is completely empty of all furnishings and liquids.

The camper and truck combo do look good together.

 

The Gearing is fine for now, plenty of power and as necessary I just turn off OD or drop into 2nd going over passes. Goes slower but truck isn’t struggling too hard, temps are monitored closely with a scangauge ii, yet to have an issue.

Thinking about going to 4.56 maybe this summer when the weather sucks less, I’d like to add a rear locker during that time.

0 rub anywhere even if I try, with normal driving at least. Heavy Off-road is yet to be determined, been on some basic service roads and it’s not been an issue yet.

good to know I’m barking up the right tree with the calipers and LSPV delete. Like I said the truck stops but any improvement would be nice since I’m gonna replace it all preventively so might as well upgrade while I’m in there.

SS lines aren’t exactly a placebo. Though marginal they have been proven to improve braking and pedal feel. regardless, the stock rubber ones have spent the last 24 years exposed to the dry Oregon desert, there’s bound to be some degradation at this point plus it’s cheap insurance.

rear end is not sagging, definitely loaded but the suspension on it is fine for now but I will be adding some timbrens just to further help it, airbags cause too many issues for my usage. Camper is fully furnished and has all my stuff in it with the exception of some various climbing gear.

also have the camper jacks took off in the back seat at the moment until I can find a place to store them, but they weigh easily 200lbs so that’s some more weight that will be gone as well as I’m planning on doing a rear seat delete for whatever weight savings that’s worth.

thanks for the brake question confirmation! Seems like I’m gonna be pulling the trigger on that setup unless someone chimes in with something better.

 

I've been very surprised that my brakes have no issue with my slide-in. I don't think the previous owner did a brake upgrade. It's one of the reasons I assumed my camper weighed way less than it actually does. Aside from going up passes, and hitting bumps, and high winds (and yes, those are all things that happen fairly often), I hardly notice it's there. I was shocked when I weighed it and found it weighs a bit over 800 pounds.

So you use overdrive on flat ground? I was using overdrive when I thought it was hundreds of pounds lighter, but once I learned its weight, I decided I'd better turn O/D off, even on flat ground. These early 1st gens have a pretty wimpy overdrive gear that's been known to explode on people towing.

But as I'm sure you know, driving down the interstate for hours with O/D on vs. off is a very different experience. Gas mileage, vibration, engine noise.

And yeah, Bigfoot products demand a premium regardless. Rare ones even more so. It's always handy to have a camper trailer. But now that I have the slide in and I generally don't like to accumulate too much crap, I'm considering selling the Bigfoot. The fact that I'll be able to get quite a bit of money out of it definitely plays into the decision...

 

interesting I had not heard of the weaker OD’s the in earlier trucks but after researching it a bit more I should probably play it more safe then before currently am.

I’ve just been shutting it off up any incline but leaving it on in the flats and downhill and I would towing with any vehicle. I’ll likely start leaving it off more knowing this unless it’s a very obvious place that’s fine to have it on.

I’m planning in doing a trans fluid drain and fill with every oil change to keep things fresh and now I’m likely going to start looking into upgraded coolers or fan setups.


Thanks for the relevant info!

 

You actually might get better gas mileage driving with OD off. Our 4.7s would rather rev out than be lugged. Also a lot less load on all of the drivetrain components.

I frequently do 6+ hour road trips in my truck, and one time an ignition coil went out. I did the last half of the 6 hour drive with OD off, so there would be less load on the engine and it would misfire less. I only got 0.5-1mpg worse than with OD on.

Also- I think you’ll be happy with the brake upgrades you’re planning on doing. I did a complete brake rebuild with nearly all new parts last summer, and the performance difference was staggering. That said, it’s good that you realize it’ll never stop on a dime. Some people join the forum expecting to have sports car brake performance, which just isn’t gonna happen.

Truck/camper setup looks awesome.

 

I've never heard a definitive "do not haul with O/D on ever" statement anywhere. Well...the owners manual basically says it, but I'd love a better rundown of the stress on the transmission hauling weight in the truck vs pulling it behind the truck.

I was hoping hauling is different than towing. It seems to me that 1,000 pounds in the truck bed is rougher on the suspension, axles bearings etc. but is easier on the transmission components. But that pulling 1,000 pounds behind the truck puts more stress on transmission, u-joints etc.

It's just a hunch I have when I visualize the stress on components, between towing behind the truck and hauling weight in the truck. But it could be a faulty hunch.

Decent chance we could both get away with using O/D on flat, open highway. Mostly I'm not willing to chance the transmission grenading. But there are some stretches of road I know that are wide open, slightly downhill, and go for 50+ miles, and I think I'd be fine risking O/D on something like that.

 

Thanks! I’ll post more pictures of the truck as I take some. Planning on maybe doing a pretty serious write up on hauling a truck camper with one of these after I become more experienced at it and have everything dialed in.

Couldn’t find too much exact detailed info on it when I was looking so might be able to help the next guy.

that’s what I’m hoping! I’m not expecting anything too crazy just replacing the old stuff for safety purposes and upgrading where I can. I drive the truck very conservatively and use a lot of gears to slow myself down and keep a large following distance even if it’s overkill I’d rather play it safe with my house.

 

Logic seems there in my opinion. I’ve always just shifted at what feels right with the OD but I’ll likely still play it on the safer side knowing what I know now with the potentially weaker OD on this gen.

I think just being consistently mindful will be more than enough to make these things last, not gonna lose sleep over it personally.

 

Yea, i’ve seen several posts on the fb group that the planet gears bushings either starve themselves or overheat & get sloppy. Once they get sloppy enough to skip a tooth they start to wedge & come apart. Also several posts of people who caught it while it was just making glitter.

 

The larger diameter and thickness of the 14WA rotors = 4x better braking performance

When I went to 34's I was surprised at how bad my braking was. I could only imagine what it would be like with 1000lbs in the rear and trying not let me truck go down a hill. Let alone if an emergency situation happened.

That would make my asshole pucker.

performance > looks

14WA + 17" wheels > 16" wheels and "brake upgrade"

 

Do it! I like writing tutorials too. I'm just not all that expert in all that many things...But any (good) writeup by someone with some experience is better than nothing. I was considering putting together a 1st gen towing/hauling thread over in the towing/hauling section of the forum but the more I thought about the more I realized I really don't know anything. I lived out of my Bigfoot for 7 or 8 summers and hauled it around a lot. I definitely learned some things and got some experience, but I don't really know anything.

 

Yea, not about looks. If I were running 17’s there would be way better options then what you’re running.

But as of now I am not and we are discussing options for a stock 16” rim.

 

I’d say you have way more knowledge than the majority of folk who reply to this stuff basing their opinions off of “I can’t imagine doing that”.

Having actually done it extensively is invaluable imo and as someone who was very recently trying to reach out to everyone I could find running this type of setup, any publicly posted info helps a ton!

time will tell how this plays out for me. The payload of these trucks will be a forever struggle but I’m dedicated enough to the Toyota brand to make it work.

Looking at a running a larger

$59 Hayden 679 Universal 11” Rapid-Cool Add-On Transmission Cooler to Enhance Cooling (not for direct replacement of the factory unit)

Hayden 679 transmission cooler with a derale T fluid thermostat kit before summer comes to give this transmission a fighting chance. Thinking between keeping the heat down, driving intentionally and keeping fluid fresh it should last a while.

 

Did you say you've got a scanner to monitor transmission temps? If so, keep us updated on the readings you get. I don't know if I'll get around getting one anytime soon, but I'd be real curious to hear what someone with a very similar setup on the same transmission was getting for temps on mountain passes.

Seeing as I tow a ~3,000lb trailer without much concern, I'm not too worried about my tranny temps with an 800lb slide in, but still...might help me decide exactly how risky O/D is.

I should really just go ahead and get the full scanner.

 

A Scangauge 2 is one of the best purchases I've ever made. I mounted it permanently with a 3D printed mount that replaces the ashtray. Tuck the wires under the dash, set the backlight to green, and it looks almost factory. It tells me temps, super accurate MPG readings, and can read CEL codes. It's awesome.

Photos and links here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/2000-limited-trd-refresh-repair-story.116395/page-10#post-3377959

The coolant temperature gauges in our trucks stay in the same spot if it's anywhere from 160 to 210 degrees, but the scangauge tells it to me down to the degree. I didn't know my fan clutch had failed, and I probably would've overheated my transmission if I hadn't had the scangauge to tell me the temps.

 

I do I’m running a scangauge ii currently. I’ve not hit any passes since installing it but I will be logging the data as I get it. Currently where I’m at is in the teens so I don’t know how helpful it’s gonna be during this time of the year but come summer I’ll be able to get some more solid numbers. Around town I’m seeing like 120-140’s depending on traffic conditions, I can tell you OD does nothing but produce heat so I’ve been running with it off almost all of the time now around time.

I’ll get you some numbers as I get them.