4X4 Garage: Terrain Tamer's impressive range of brake products

FOR PART two of 4X4 Australia’s six-Garage series we’ve taken a gander at Terrain Tamer’s impressive range of OE replacement and heavy-duty brake products.

The Victorian-based 4WD parts specialist has been in the business of enhancing a 4x4’s capabilities since 1969, when Don Kyatt and Frank Hutchinson originally serviced Bedford 4WDs.

Terrain Tamer now exports its range of more than 40,000 4WD parts all over the world, including to Iceland, Africa and South America. Research and development takes part at Terrain Tamer’s Melbourne HQ, while parts are tested at the company’s own private 4WD track.

4WD guru and parts specialist Allan Gray dropped in to 4X4 Australia’s Garage to chew the fat about Terrain Tamer’s latest range of brake products.

The company dishes up brake lines, pads, rotors, calipers and handbrake replacement kits – anything from direct replacement brake products to high performance kits for heavy duty towing.

“We’ve got the standard discs that we sell for the ordinary, everyday person, and we’ve also got a heavy duty range now,” Allan said.

The heavy duty package comprises of heavy duty rotors, and Allan recommends these are what to look for when you’re planning on pulling a heavy load. The heavy duty rotors are paired with high-strength ceramic pads, and the package is designed to be fade-resistant.

“The [heavy duty disc] has got drilled and cross-slotted rotors to get rid of noise and water. And we’ve got heavy duty ceramic pads to go with it for people who are towing horse floats or heavy caravans, or those in the mining department,” Allan added.

For those not pulling a heavy load, Terrain Tamer offers a standard pad that accompanies the ordinary OE disc.

Also in the parts catalogue is a fix for Toyota’s crook 70 Series handbrake. The handbrake is renowned for its sub-par performance, so Terrain Tamer set to work creating a simple kit to remedy the OE handbrake’s complications.

“We’ve got a complete handbrake kit for it [the 70 Series], which has hundreds of bits in it,” Allan said. “We’ve got this improved strut which takes up the slack from the standard one, so the handbrake works much closer to the ground. Instead of the handbrake coming right up and hitting you in the elbow, it’s just two or three notches and it works quite well. Great idea, everyone should have one.”

It’s definitely something Toyota 70 Series owners should consider investing in. Allan added: “A brilliant idea and it fits easily.”

To get a closer look at how the heavy duty brake package comes together, we ducked down to Terrain Tamer’s factory in Tottenham in Melbourne’s west to watch Allan and the lads fit some discs and pads to a Toyota LC79, as well as the handbrake kit.

We took the freshly updated Cruiser for a gallop on Terrain Tamer’s private 4WD track. The heavy duty brake kit provided the steed with a more confident feel and a firmer bite. And, when lugging a heavy load, the difference between the stockers was highly noticeable.

Don’t have a Toyota? Don’t stress, as Terrain Tamer’s range caters for most modern 4WDs.

“[Our range covers] just about everything now. As vehicles come out, we increase the range. For all modern 4WDs it’s the way to go,” Allan said.

To see the full interview, and to take a tour of Terrain Tamer’s facilities, head to 4X4 Australia's 4x4 Garage and check out the video.