Regen only works when the battery has available capacity. When this is no longer available the only engine braking is through the automatic transmission gear selection, which may not be enough for a long, steep descent. You could upgrade to a higher T boiling point brake fluid, and definitely change the fluid on a regular basis if steep mountain driving is something commonly done.
Brakes overheating on Pikes Peak
- Thread starter benawin
- Start date
I believe it uses whatever is required to slow the vehicle based on conditions to the set speed. I know in traffic, if there's a sudden slow-down, the brakes are applied (the brake lights come on).
I forgot to mention having good luck with cruise control - do try it. Anyway, in retrospect, I pretty much rode the brakes to overheat them.
My recent experiences essentially support everything said here with one exception- engine braking. It's my opinion that you can engine brake the LC significantly. The pain comes in when things level out as you have to unlock/change ranges/etc. You also have to listen to the engine scream some and will need your brakes sometimes to effectively downshift to keep within acceptable RPM limits
WookieBait
Active member
That's certainly an opinion.
Brake upgrades?
A popular choice for track/performance cars, but it seems for the 4x4 SUV crowd it is not that common. Some drivers here spent many months trying to get Toyota to fix their squeaky brakes instead of spending $50-75 on different brake pads.
Brake fluid upgrade to start, motul rbf700 is now available i see. And carry a fire extinguisher to put out the flaming pads before the whole car is engulfed.
Track pads would be great upgrade, after fluid, for the hill, but tough to live with otherwise.
There's always a brembo 6 or 8 piston bbk if money is no object. Or maybe alternate driving forward and reverse down the hill??
Having recently gone too far and gotten things too hot, a fluid change is in order and in budget. I'm also waiting on parts for the brake squeal TSB but... a few hundred dollars worth of high temp pads and rotors designed to dissipate more thermal energy sounds smarter right now (assuming they exist? Please do share suggestions).
I can't quite mentally justify ... $3-4K on 6 (or 8!!? Didn't even know they made 'em) cylinder calipers as I just demonstrated to my own satisfaction that
1) you can come down plenty steep grades without overheating the factory brakes in most cases but you need to be brake aware and not be in a hurry
2) you can overheat the brakes easily enough descending steeper grades if you ignore them
I can't quite mentally justify ... $3-4K on 6 (or 8!!? Didn't even know they made 'em) cylinder calipers as I just demonstrated to my own satisfaction that
1) you can come down plenty steep grades without overheating the factory brakes in most cases but you need to be brake aware and not be in a hurry
2) you can overheat the brakes easily enough descending steeper grades if you ignore them
I’m going to need to look into my options when I go in for service in a couple of months. Engine braking is average at best and I’ve learned to listen to the rpm’s scream. Appears I need to get better fluid and potentially consider different pads. I. Always on mountain passes and getting the free fall to stop is always concerning. Not increasing speed between hairpin turns is likely the best advice here that I’ve not tried yet. But this is a major concern of mine.
I ran into something similar coming out of Yankee Boy Basin a couple of weeks back. Up was fine, coming down in the rain, M1 was too fast and the engine was damn near redlined. I'm not impressed
It occurs to me that I may be using the wrong term. When I used "engine braking" I meant extending the amount of time that brakes aren't needed, mostly by avoiding accumulation of downhill momentum. I don't find 4H to be very effective so use 4L and have also taken to locking the center diff to do this. All of which needs be done before you get very appreciable results and the shift to 4L implies I used the brakes to stop and shift.
I did NOT mean to say you could slow the vehicle down from a higher speed by exclusive use of the engine and drivetrain, especially while descending.
Did you get your brakes hot enough to fade on you?
It was pouring rain so I think they stayed cool enough. That said, it was also a shortish (3 or 4 miles) of steep where I really needed the engine braking. It was still enraging to realize that it doesn't engine brake worth a damn. Had I done one of the longer trails, the downhill likely would have gotten me to bake fade.
GX550 front brake setup could be an option, 354mm vs LC 340mm. Downside is that 17 inch wheels will unlikely be able to fit.
For me insufficient engine braking performance is probably my biggest complaint on the truck, but as other have pointed out it's a problem all heavy car with smaller engine have to deal with. Performance brake pads and DOT4 fluid would be a good start for those who need to lean on the brakes more.
I’ve done the Pikes descent in an old XJ (2000) Jeep Cherokee, using low gear selection to descend without fade. And that hunk of junk had rear drum brakes!
That car had a 4.0L six. I’m still not understanding what about that car gave it plenty of engine braking where the Land Cruiser does not.
That car had a 4.0L six. I’m still not understanding what about that car gave it plenty of engine braking where the Land Cruiser does not.
A 2001 4WD 4-Door XJ Cherokee has a listed curb weight of 3355lb.
A 2025 LC250 has a curb weight of 5720lb.
With gasoline engines, the engine brake occurs by vacuum, more volume in cylinders is more surface area on pistons, more resistance to movement. Diesels compress air in cylinders which requires significantly more force. More to it but that's the jist of it.
Edit: good article on this
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That's worth investigating, thanks @k_mango !
I am definitely changing to higher temp fluid very soon at least. Need to school up on pads and rotors. I'm thinking pads minimally and larger diameter rotors sounds like a great way to improve heat dissipation
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