Big brake kits are very popular and a great “security upgrade” for any car.
Our days it is a very usual and useful tool, especially for those drivers that want to push the “acceleration pedal to the floor”.
Huge wheel sets accommodate huge floating or fixed brake rotors and colored brake calipers with 4, or 6 or more pistons. Wilwood, Brembo, Akebono, Alcon, ApRacing, and other companies produce a great number of calipers for all tastes.
1. What is a big brake kit?
2. Why do we need one?
3. Who is it for?
I will try to give the correct answer (and justify it) to all these questions.
It is a group of items like brake caliper preferably with 4 or 6 pistons, a pair of brake discs, a pair of caliper brackets, a set of brake pads, brake hoses and all fitting hardware needed to fit the kit.
Good brakes on the other hand mean safety and better car control. A big brake kit offers advance braking power and thus improved stopping power and minor stopping distance.
Who wants to have fun with his car is a potential buyer of a big brake kit. Have fun means push the car and explore its limits. Drive fast and corner fast is parallel with stopping in time to avoid unwanted events. So a good braking system is a must for any driver that wants to have fun with his car.
Wilwood Brembo Big Brake Kits
Big brake kits offer a lot better stopping power compared to stock or OEM brakes. Their larger size and pad’s area, coupled with grippier brake pads, will shorten stopping distances, too. When you combine these larger discs and rotors with Teflon SS braided brake hoses, the results can be immensely satisfying.
The knowledge of certain parameters is essential to choose the right kit for our car.
1. Caliper. Each caliper company offers the characteristics of the calipers they use for each kit. The disc dimensions (diameter and thickness), the piston counts and respective size, caliper type (lug or radial mount) are the most important. Apart from that, they also provide the fitting drawing that is essential for the brake kit designer. The bigger the pistons are, the stronger the caliper is.
2 Brake disc. It is the second part of the kit. It has to be bigger than the OEM one in most cases (not in case that the space available from the wheel is not enough). It can be monoblock (one piece casting) or 2 piece floating or fixed one.
3.Adapter. It is the element that connects the caliper to the caliper fitting holes on the wheel hub. It is made of aluminum or steel. The construction is essential for the stability of the kit and is “guilty” mainly for the brake “squeal”.
4.Brake pads. The friction coefficient and the temperature range of use are the main parameters that characterize the brake pads. Pad area and thickness are connected among other parameters with the brake kit performance. Friction coefficient from 0,45 to ,60 seems to be good for a sport pad compound.
The temperature could arrive up to 700°C. The lower the use temperature could be the friendlier is the brake pad for every day use.
REUSE BIG BRAKE KITS
If you own a big brake kit and want to use it for another application, we can fit it if possible in your car. We can inspect it and implement all necessary modifications it needs to fit it in your current vehicle. It must of course comply with the dimensions and potentiality of the new application.
Contact us or send the kit and we will measure and check it for any malfunctions. We will apply the new drawings for caliper brackets and the kit is ready for fitment.