Brakes!!

[osama1234]

I’ll start by explaining the current situation I find myself in. I’m not impressed with my car’s brakes and am willing to upgrade components to improve them, but am not looking at the extreme as spending a thousand dollars on an all-in-one aftermarket setup as it seems a bit extreme for a daily driven car.

What I am interested in knowing is what component of the braking system makes the biggest improvement in braking for daily use cars? What is it exactly that is holding us back from getting similar performance as newer cars.

I have a feeling it is the calipers, and if it is the case, aren’t there calipers from newer cars that fit our car, or are there any that can be easily modified to fit our cars?

Also, how to tell if you have poor brakes. Are poor brakes just marked by the inability to stop the wheel from spinning, or can it also be when the wheels lock up too easily. Would lowering a car improve the brake? (it seems when braking without the front shocks having compressed, its very easy to lock the brakes, so i'm wondering as an overall rule it helps).

Finally a personal help question… what could be causing the brake to get dirty very quickly, I’ve flushed the entire system once, and it’s still back to black in less than 2 months. (I basically have no bite when braking, I have to be very casual in brake, otherwise the brakes lock. I can’t suddenly slow down worth crap (when even compared to other older cars like an 1989 Honda)).

Thanks

 

[bluedragon17]

do you have ABS???

 

[Enraged]

to improve over stock without spending alot, make sure your rotors are within spec, have them turned, get some good pads, and flush your brake fluid.

keep in mind that braking performance is also affected by tires, so if you have no-name hard compound tires, you won't be braking as well as a high quality performance tire....

as for the dirty fluid problem, are you using a good quality DOT fluid?

 

[supraguy@aol]

You have some very good questions there. As far as the brake fluid getting dirty so quickly, it may be a symptom of a leak in your system, or if not a leak, a contamination by some worn components, like rusting caliper pistons, or rusting lines(water contamination on the inside). Flushing the system once might not get all of the contaminants out, as some may still be sitting in the lines. Is there any pulling of the brakes to one side? As asked above, do you have ABS? If so, the ABS modulator may be faulty, explaining an early lockup of the brakes. I might check to make sure all four corners aere actually working. If say, the rears weren't engaging, that would cause the fronts to lock up early perhaps, or the calipers themselves might be sticking. As you can see, there's lots of possible suspects.
As for improving the brakes, I'd first recommend good quality pads. I've used Axxis metal masters, and I now have Axxis ultimates (metal/ceramic compound). I prefer the metal master's, as they seem to bite harder initially, and they make WAY less dust compared to ultimates.
Good luck.

PS- as mentioned above- good grippy tires will improve stopping, and reduce lockup as well.

 

[Ckanderson]

powerslots, metalmasters, and stainless lines.
/thread

pm me for quote

 

[ms07s]

I put new kumho exta ast tires on it, rebuilt all my calipers, Installed powerslot rotors, axis ultimate pads, SS brake lines, and flushed the system with new dot3 fluid. Stops on a dime now.
Thats probably $1000 right there, but stoping is more important than anything else.

 

[plaaya69]

Here is what I did on my brakes on my 87 Turbo Supra.

- f/r new brake pads
- new Valvoline synpower brake fluid
- Goodridge f/r SS brake lines
- f/r new brake calipers
- f/r drilled slotted rotors(even though OEM rotors will do the job)
- new OEM banjo bolts and washers

and the car stops GREAT!!!

As far as your problem with the dirty fluid, check the ring/ cap on the brake fluid reservoir because most likely it is not sealing like it should and you are getting moisture/ water in your fluid.

 

[osama1234]

thanks for the quick responses
1) no ABS
2) the front tire seems to lock a little earlier than left, but it doesn't pull the car to one side
3) the rear right caliper isn't working, IMO there's no dust on the rims/some rust on rotors
4) rebuild calipers vs new calipers?
5) please mention some decent brand calipers or rebuilding kits , i dont want to get ripped off on ebay. (thanks playa it seems kelsey-hayes is a good one?)
6) are Goodridge SS lines better than the techna fit or russell? i was just leaning towards techna as they're sold on 935 motosports and i have a certain level of trust of them, seeing as to they're known around here.
7) are brembo rotors any good? a friend gets discounts on those, so it might be worth getting those... yes?

 

[GotTurbos?]

I had brembo's on my old car, they worked very well.

I opted for the drilled only, as the slotted will really eat your pads and won't help that much unless you're constantly getting on the brakes (road course, auto x)

 

[bowsercake]

I'd go with blank rotors. Every race car I know is running blanks. Drilled is unnecessary and slotted is okay, but surface area is nice.

 

[Rennat]

I drove an M5, and it has some giant rotors, but they are drilled, and i couldnt get the hang of braking.... it stops so hard and fast its unbelieveable, as fast as the car would accelerate it would stop even faster. I will be buying drilled rotors in the near future.

A good set of pads and some rotors makes the WORLD of difference... but i also have a stripped 86.5 sport roof N/A... so im a couple hundred pounds lighter...

 

[jugodegolf]

performance ain't cheap.

27k on brembo's and needed new rotors & pads
120kon the ford explorer still stock brakes not even new pads yet.

 

[Ckanderson]

I drove an M5, and it has some giant rotors, but they are drilled, and i couldnt get the hang of braking.... it stops so hard and fast its unbelieveable, as fast as the car would accelerate it would stop even faster. I will be buying drilled rotors in the near future.
..

you know the braking performance of the m5 wasnt due to it's drilled rotors, right?

 

[suprabad]

you know the braking performance of the m5 wasnt due to it's drilled rotors, right?

Big rotors made of high quality metal (Kryo'ed?), multi-piston calipers, great management system as well as high quality everything.

I am not a huge BMW fan, but I gotta say... I've driven a few M5's and they do have great stoppers, especially for stock.

 

[IJ.]

Wouldn't own a set of cross drilled rotors on a road car no matter what brand/quality but that's just me.

 

[bountykilla0118]

Wouldn't own a set of cross drilled rotors on a road car no matter what brand/quality but that's just me.

What would you own?

 

[IJ.]

Slotted work well without the danger of x drilled cracking.

 

[bluepearl]

I run techna fit lines, RS4 porterfield pads and brembo blanks. I cannot comment on high performance use, but for a street car, which I drive modest, is all I need and does work well. This combo is smooth and quiet although The porterfields are dirty. Also use good brake fluid dot 3/4 and bleed till clean