Been Looking into the Full Front and Rear Big Brake Kits and am wondering what you guys think is the best options out there and which you like the best?
Full Front and Rear Kits I have found:
SSBC
Wiwood
Baer
I wasn't aware that Wilwoods made rears?
I didn't know there was a company called "Wiwood" that made fronts or rears.
Wilwood dosn't make rears. But cheapest, and lightest if I remember correctly. Comes in black only and requires steel brakes lines purchased separately.
SSBC comes in colors (for extra) and dosn't have a "core" fee, comes with everything. If you're really rich you can ask for them to engrave your own logo instead of theirs. See: Phoenix Gold's '03 Sunfire.
Baer is a little bit cheaper than SSBC, but charges a core fee, also dosn't come in colors. Supply, I understand, is sporatic. Their website is kind of confusing as well.
Best in this case (and in most cases for aftermarket parts) isn't really a word that applys. Each brake system has their own positives and negatives. What matters is up to you. If I were building a "show" car I'd go with the SSBCs. If I were building a "go" car I'd use the Wilwoods.
yeah, I'm partial to Wilwoods. they're lighter than the other two.
Desert Tuners
“When you come across a big kettle of crazy, it’s best not to stir it.”
I would think the Wilwoods are better just based on the design. Correct me if I'm wrong but Wilwood fronts are 4 piston caliper and the Baer fronts are 2 from what i read. Is that right?
Baer's can be powdercoated. Mine were ordered that way.
I know it can be ordered that way, but it's not an advertised option.
^ yes it is. they dont advertise their options, only their "claw" kits, which is basically premade one-style kits. there are lots of options you can get.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
Wow, you just disagreed with my statement that "powdercoating is not an advertised option" then you said they "don't advertise their options." I guess you just said it better than I did?
sorry, the atmosphere i understood from your post was that they didn't have any options at all.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
Viper, no hard feelings.
Face wrote:I would think the Wilwoods are better just based on the design. Correct me if I'm wrong but Wilwood fronts are 4 piston caliper and the Baer fronts are 2 from what i read. Is that right?
Well, the number of pistons dosn't matter so much as the surface area between the pads and the rotors. Wilwood's piston area may be equal to Baer's or SSBC's. 1+1+1+1 equals 4 but so does 2+2 if you know what I mean.
^ that is unfortunately very incorrect.
Pad size is not what matters, its the piston area of the caliper. wilwood currently uses 4 38 mm pistons, where as the baer kit supposedly uses 2 38 or 40 mm pistons, and the ssbc i have no idea on.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
Yes, but your force is distributed by the pad since the pad has some stiffness. Similar concept to the way snow shoes work.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Wednesday, December 06, 2006 6:51 PM
actually, i take that back i wrote that wrong, for the wilwood caliper, you only count one side of the caliper, so its two pistons.
and cherubim, your braking force isn't determined by the size of the pad, its determined by the area of the pistons. there ARE other advantages to using larger pads, which is for heat and longevity purposes.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
Viper98912 wrote:and cherubim, your braking force isn't determined by the size of the pad, its determined by the area of the pistons. there ARE other advantages to using larger pads, which is for heat and longevity purposes.
I'm just going to throw this in to confuse even more people (although I know some people in this thread already know it)- the area of the MC also determines braking force.
There- I've done my mischief for the day.
lol of course but no one ever said anything about swapping mc's!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
Viper98912 wrote:actually, i take that back i wrote that wrong, for the wilwood caliper, you only count one side of the caliper, so its two pistons.
Yeah, you can't look at the specs and think "4 pistons must be better than 2". You have to consider the technical differences.
Wilwood uses a fixed caliper so both pads have to be pressured independantly, requiring pistons on both sides. Baer and SSBC use floating calipers, so pistons are only required on one side, resulting in a more compact assembly.
They're just different. As far as performance goes, I'd say both are way more than adequate for huge improvements.
Well building a show car since I already have the "go" car.....so I guess I am gonna go with the SSBCs since they make the front and the rears to match. Thought Wilwood made the rears and once I found out from u guys they dont they went off the list. Want all the calipers to match at least.
