byw

Received the first sets of the TRD rear rotors from RDA recently!!!

A BIG thanks to retro for getting this project off the ground with RDA.

Yesterday I was sitting near my car and also notice the uneven gap appearing with the front bumper.

When I had a puncture and was getting the hole plugged up I was talking to the technician and he told me that the rubber plug they put into the tyre to fill the nail hole will soften and melt with the heat generated by the repaired tyre in contact with the road whilst driving. The softened rubber will cover the hole with the centrifical force of the spinning tyre and provide a better seal against leaks. Given the above, I'll recommend using the repaired tyre for a period of time to ensure the rubber plug is heated up to seal the hole properly before changing the tyres over with the good one and using the repaired tyre as a spare. :D

Thanks for posting up these tips. Has anybody done any tests to determine what the savings/wastages are in terms of the amount of petrol per trip to the petrol station if we followed all the rules vs. breaking all the rules? The amount of savings will determine whether its worth the hassle of getting petrol early in the morning and always fill up when the tank is half empty etc. Cheers.

Oh well, we can do it when we have the rears done. :P

Full size photos sent....

On the weekend, retro and myself arranged to have the front rotors & pads replaced. We had the front rotors delivered from RDA for over a month and just cannot arrange a day to get both cars done at the same time due to work and interstate trips etc. Attached are some of the photos of the new front rotors. Hopefully, we'll hear from RDA about the rears soon! :P

Called the Ebay Seller to enquire about the rear rotors and he confirmed with RDA that there are none in stock. :( He has taken the Ebay ad for the rears off for now. He said he'll give me a call once he finds out the availablilty of the rear rotors.

Davo, no probs... next week is okay with me as long as the weather holds up!

I should be able to make Tuesday unless something urgent comes up.

Congrats Davo.

Davo, thanks for organising - I'm keen to attend anything you guys come up with other than a show & shine as I have not washed my car for months and it's filthy. Been busy lately at home with lots of chores to do but will try to attend if I can. Cheers.

Looks very SEXY!! What pads are you planning to run with the new rotors?

Thanks retro - you're the MAN!! If RDA can come up with an aftermarket solution for the TRD front and rear rotors it should save us heaps - just hope RDA don't charge too much for them... Cheers.

Thanks retro - have emailed you as I had problems with my computer posting up a reply last night at home.

Wow... I have never achieved less than 7.7L/100Km on the dash display even after just filling up and driving like a Grannie on steroids! But I think my weight (120kg last time I checked) may have something to do with this.... Great work. I think the learning ECU would have been a tad confused with your "born again" driving style. :P

No worries retro, thanks for the update and keeping us in the loop.

retro, thanks for the update. It's encouraging that we can go aftermaket with BIGGER calipers and BIGGER rotors for less than the cost of the stock replacement parts!! Looking forward to hearing what the guys can come up with in terms of options and costs. Cheers.

Thanks Retro, hope you can update us with some good news. :D

This reminds me of a recent trip to China where our driver had a dummy tongue (male connector) which he would insert into the seat belt buckle to stop the seat belt warning chime from being activated. This allows him to get in and out of the car quickly without the need to put on and take off his seat belt everytime and preventing the passengers from being annoyed by the loud seat belt reminder chime. I must add that he does put on the seat belt if we are driving at any reasonable speed - he only uses the dummy tongue if he need to get in and out of the car quickly at short intervals with the car doing very low speeds between stops. Eg. picking up and/or dropping off passengers and luggage at different villas within the resort complex.

+1

These prices are for the TRD rotors - they emailed me the quote with the part numbers. You may have missed the fact that I quoted the prices for each rotor and you'll need to double it for each end. Will PM you my number. Cheers.

Got another quote from a different Toyota Dealer and his prices are a lot more reasonable: Front Rotors - $311.08 each (inclusive of GST) Rear Rotors - $385.00 each (inclusive of GST) Front Pads - $77.13 pair (inclusive of GST) Rear Pads - $90.17 pair (inclusive of GST)

Hi retro, Thanks for your kind offer, I think I should be okay for a few more k's, like you said, it's the rotors (or the cost of them, particularly the rear ones) that seem to be the problem. There are plenty of options for pads and given the trouble/cost of sourcing rotors, my next set of pad selection will be largely based on the least amount of rotor wear. Great idea on a TRD Aurion GB for rotors - only if someone can arrange for the front ones to be drilled/elongated and the hub locator ring machined.... I spoke to Greg of GSL RallySport yesterday and he said he was looking into them for us and will post up something soon. :D Cheers.