Best Aftermarket Disc Brakes?

[Carlwalski]

With the NZ dollar high at the moment it's time I source some of the major parts for the car.
Question: Which is the better or preferred brand of aftermarket disc brake companies?

So far I've only really heard of Wilwood and Baer. Any others to consider? What would you recommend? I am leaning towards Baer at present. They seem to be the new "big boy" on the block. Foose, Boyde, Overhauling, and many other big names and cars use their braking systems so they have to be pretty good.

I'm looking at Baers "Serious Street/Serious Street-Plus" 11" brake kit. It is made for classic cars with 15" rims. All their other kits are for 16"+ and I am running 15" cop rims so they are no good. The Street version feature 2-piston aluminum calipers and 1-piece, 11" cross-drilled, slotted and zinc-washed rotors. "They jazz up the looks of these older street machines while delivering the much needed braking performance of today's technology".

Is there anything else I need to consider when buying a disc brake kit?
I will be buying discs for all 4 wheels and the rear end will be a Dana-60.


Thanks for your input. 

[HP2]

Wilwood is very nice and a great system, but lacks the dust seals to make them a great street brake. Don't know much about Baer or SSBC. 15" wheels will limit some of what is available out there.  I'd go with the stock mopar 11.75 rotor with an AR Engineering adapter to use Viper calipers. The rotor is bigger than most aftermarket units and the Viper caliper is lightweight, good looking, and has four pistons to equalize clamping force. There also are a broad choice of pads to fit the Viper caliper from street to all out race.

I've got a set of these caliper adapters listed in the parts for sale area. Only catch to them is they use drum brake spindles instead of disc spindles.

[Carlwalski]

Thanks HP2, you are quite the man at tech.


I maybe looking at a 16" rim. Stockton have cop rims in sizes up to 17.5". The reason I want to upgrade to 16" is because I wouldn't mind running 295/50s and it will allow a bigger disc. I would get 295's on my 15x10 but I am not a fan of that low squashed "fat" look. The OD of a 295/50/15 is 26.7" where as my Challenger's 275/60's are 28" which is 1.3" higher there fore giving the car a leaner look, stock but more lift out back and a slight rake. These cars (IMO) look shocking when the rear ends are sagging low, looks fat & heavy, not my scene. Another draw back is you can't raise it then you get a wheel lip to tire gap & that doesn't look too nice IMO, OK in the 80's not now.

Anyhow, BFGoodrich make a 295/50/16 with a 27.6" OD which is 0.4" lower than my current 28" OD tires, still very close to how my Challenger/Cuda sit. So I will get Stockton to make the rear 16x10" cop rim wheels, order the 295/50/16 BFGs. Before I do I'm going to call Dr-Diff (soon) and ask what backspace I will need to get it about 1" from the springs and lip using his Dana-60 from a B-Body, he'll know which year to get a perfect fit.

[Chryco Psycho]

HP2 has the right idea , cheaper & bigger brakes

[Carlwalski]

Thanks Neil.


After talking to Cass at Dr-Diff and the resto shop I've decided to stick with 275/60/15x10" rears.
They fit perfectly, have a higher/great stance and it's a no fuss standard E-Body Dana 60, no guess work.

As far as the brakes, Cass said he makes his own kits but it kind of sounds "mad bill". I'm sure it's not but it just sounds bits of this, bits of that. He uses Ford Cobra rotors or something and "something" from this.  Do you guys know anything about his brakes? I know his diffs are suppose to be some of the best but I have never heard anything about his brakes. Only thing that is making me want to buy off him is the fact that he knows my tire set up and he'll make sure that the diff, tires and brakes all work nicely together where-as if I purchased a diff off him and an Baer/Wilwood kit it may become a lucky dip as far as rotor fit inside the wheel hub.

[Chryco Psycho]

I have not been impressed at all with the Wilwoods I have seen , everything is too light & sometimes smaller diameter then the stock brakes
 you could look into a Scarebird conversion as well , but for the $$ the 11.75 Cordoba disc is the best bet

[Carlwalski]

Sweet as Neil, I'll talk to Cass and double check, I may have heard "cobra" where as he may have said "Cordoba". But I'm pretty positive he said they were Cobra because he gets them in from Aussie, Ford Performance. I think he uses the best of everything and combines it, like his diffs. After 30 years he's gotten what he thinks are the ultimate setup.


Thanks!

[TrakHor]

I've spoke to Cass about the Cobra brakes. He told me that he makes a hub that accepts a '94-'04 Mustang Cobra rotor and 2 piston PBR caliper. It will also accept the 4 piston Brembo caliper used on the 2000 Cobra R since Ford used the same spindle on all cars. I think he quoted me 775 for the setup. All things considered that's not to bad. I have the 13" Rotor/2 Piston setup on my current track day car, a 93 Mustang. With the right pads, stopping becomes every bit as much fun as acceleration.

He's also working on a 14" Rotor Viper Caliper kit too.


This being said i'm planning on a custom setup. I'm going to used the 11.75 Cordoba rotor but a "GM" caliper. This caliper is widely used for latemodel stock cars and has a very good selection for pad compounds. After considering the surface area of the "Cobra" pas vs the pads for the "GM" caliper VS the rotor diameter of each and finally the cost of each it's too tempting not to try.

Jason

[BIGSHCLUNK]

I just ordered SSBC on Monday!. I had a buddy use them and he said the install was really EZ! And have heard good things on this site about them too. 4 piston cals and slotted rotors... they should be here next week. 

BTW you use your stock spindles!

[Carlwalski]

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated.

I'm thinking at this stage I will get a Dr-Diff Dana 60. But, I will look at ether SSBC or Baer for a complete front & rear disc brake kit. I'll measure the 15" Police rims and see what we can stuff in there, 11" but not sure yet what 11".

Cass said he is still in the middle of making his front end kits. If he gets this complete reasonably soon I may look into his front and rear kit. At present he only has rears and I want to upgrade all 4 at once with a matching kit.

[nivvy]

I have a SSBC Front disc brake kit and it works great! will be upgrading to rears after I get caught up on other things!

[HP2]

Vipers on 11.75

http://www.arengineering.com/instructsheet/index8.html

Vipers on 13"

http://www.arengineering.com/caliper/viper2/viper_ab13.html

They also are working on a Brembo set up that isn't shown on their site.