want to upgrade brakes but have 15inch wheel

[D347643]

I want some better braking in the front and also take some rotational mass off too. Im running a 15x 4.5 draglite in the front so I cant upgrade my rotor size, does anyone sell a kit lthat I could use for street. Its not my dd, more like my weekend rice killer. I like with 3 and 4 piston setups also, doesnt need to be a floating caliper single any suggestions?

thanks

Drew

 

[D347643]

anyone?> Some out there has aftermarket brakes with stock diameter rotors

 

[Matt90GT]

YOu can on the 87-93 v8 cars, upgrade to teh 73mm front calipers (and supporting MC upgrades).

Then in the rear upgrade to the M2300C type of kits.

Aerospace makes a multipiston caliper for the front that should work with the 15" wheels but may require a spacer.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

I seem to remember something about a BMW brake conversion on a Fox one time, because a lot of the older cars ran 15s, but i couldnt find the article ANYWHERE... I'd do a search for Baer Brakes and companies like that and see what they have to offer for the 15'' crowd. This is something i have yet to do myself.

 

[D347643]

hmmm, well if i wanted to upgrade my calipers but my car is an 86 then cant i just get the spindles off the 87+? and then do it?
nice info though, god a bmw conversion would be sick. anyone else have any info or suggestions? how about a light weight caliper and alum drums?

thanks

Drew

 

[Mavrick]

I really don't think the weight is going to affect you much. I've heard bad things about the aluminum drums, as they are prone to warp with heat.. and drums can get pretty hot (especially with burnouts ).

I've heard good things about the 73mm upgrade, tahts why i did it, but i can't speak for it first hand as of yet.

 

[D347643]

yep but nothing like losing rotational mass. kind of off topic but i went to a british autox race at nelson ledges a few months ago and all of them used alum drums. they said they work great. maybe the steel liners help prevent any warping?>

thanks

Drew

 

[Michael Yount]

You're wasting your time Drew - your front braking limitations are the skinny tires mounted on the little rims - not the brakes. Unless you've got more/stickier tire on the front - bigger brakes won't do anything at all except look good. The brakes stop the rotor/wheel. The tires stop the car.

 

[BlackFox5.0]

You're wasting your time Drew - your front braking limitations are the skinny tires mounted on the little rims - not the brakes. Unless you've got more/stickier tire on the front - bigger brakes won't do anything at all except look good. The brakes stop the rotor/wheel. The tires stop the car.

You beat me to it Michael is right. you can have the biggest brakes in the world, but they are useless if small tires with a very small footprint.

 

[D347643]

hmmm, it prob wouldnt be smart to divert mre braking to the rear and beef those up either. so what you're saying is give up on good braking since im running skinnies? lol

Drew

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Hey by the way, Strange has some sweet slotted rotors/brake upgrade for 15s. Do a search for their site and see. I don't think they're for everyday driving because they're super light weight, but you could probably use their calipers and some other drilled/slotted rotors.

 

[Michael Yount]

D347 - let me be more direct. You're endangering yourself, but more importantly others by running skinnies on the street. You should lose the skinnies on the street. No other option - unless you're interested in taking yourself, and perhaps innocent bystanders, out of the gene pool.

 

[Michael Yount]

And 85SS's theory won't help you unless you get bigger wheels/tires on the front. You can put all the brake on the front you want - with skinnies it don't matter. The TIRE stops the car - primarily the front tires; they provide 80-85% of the stopping force on a car like the Stang.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Hey Micheal, could i get your input on this thread please? http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=513738

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

And 85SS's theory won't help you unless you get bigger wheels/tires on the front. You can put all the brake on the front you want - with skinnies it don't matter. The TIRE stops the car - primarily the front tires; they provide 80-85% of the stopping force on a car like the Stang.

Yea i wasnt sticking up for the skinny issue, just stating that there are some high performance brakes out there for 15 inch rims.

 

[D347643]

yes i understand skinnies make braking dangerous but there are 2 things that i dont think you are taking into consideration. first off i drive my car like once a week on the weekends and only if its nice out, never in the rain, otherwise its a garage queen. I dont tailgate people and drive like an idiot, swerving and stuff. I havent even been close to rear ending someone cause i dont put my self in that position since I know my brakes are awful with the skinnies. I light em up when i go out but not when other cars are in front of me

 

[Daggar]

I skimmed through the posts here and out of curiosity: If you intend to keep the skinnies on the car, what are you expected to gain by upgrading the brakes? Is it for the look of a big set of Brembos or something similar?

On another note: When you talk about changing the bias on your proportioning valve more to the rear, you should keep in mind that you can create an even larger problem. Too much bias to the rear wheels for braking can start a spin that you will not recover from. It's not to infer that there's anything wrong with your driving at all. Just takes one jackass to pull out infront of you to cause you to hit the brakes and start spinning like a top. It would be allot like locking up the E-brake.

 

[Michael Yount]

D347 - Daggar alludes to the issue. You can be as careful as you want. What you can't control is what some other person is gonna do -- that's why they call them "ACCIDENTS". Even those would be much more avoidable if you had properly sized tires on the front. There's no way around it -- you're signficantly increasing risk for yourself, your car and others around you. I wouldn't do it and I'll consistently suggest that others not do it -- that's you in this case.