Sanity check on brake idea
#1
Rotary Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Sanity check on brake idea
Keep in mind this is a track only car while reading.
So I have 4 lug hubs for the front of my car now so that I can run normal hat style rotors.
i decided against going with bigger brakes at this time, I can always do a custom hat/rotor later but I wanted to stay on 13's for now as there is a good tire selection in the sizes I run and I have investment in wheels already. I'm also having no braking issues.....so far.
My plan is to use:
2nd gen 4 lug rotors. Their the same size as gslse parts.
I'm going to run the front rotors in the rear as well.
I am going to stay on stock calipers and am going to run front calipers In the rear.
My thought process is I'll need to carry less spares. Gslse rears aren't always readily available anymore either.
So I have 4 lug hubs for the front of my car now so that I can run normal hat style rotors.
i decided against going with bigger brakes at this time, I can always do a custom hat/rotor later but I wanted to stay on 13's for now as there is a good tire selection in the sizes I run and I have investment in wheels already. I'm also having no braking issues.....so far.
My plan is to use:
2nd gen 4 lug rotors. Their the same size as gslse parts.
I'm going to run the front rotors in the rear as well.
I am going to stay on stock calipers and am going to run front calipers In the rear.
My thought process is I'll need to carry less spares. Gslse rears aren't always readily available anymore either.
#2
ancient wizard...
You say you have 4 lug hubs on car now,but don't stipulate if SE or not. Se is 4 x 114.3 pcd and non Se is 4 x 110 pcd. What front calipers are you going to put on rear of car?
#5
You can put a proportioning valve as mentioned above, they make ones that go in the engine bay, on the master cyl, being a track car though, you might want to run a dual master setup with adjusting dial in the car. Wilwood makes a nice one, it puts the **** inside, so you dont have to stop and get in the engine bay to make a brake bias adjustment. Youd want brake bias gauges too if you go that route, so you can see how much brake youve got dialed where.
#6
Rotary Enthusiast
Thread Starter
I have the ability to adjust bias already. I can also run a less aggressive pad in the rear if needed though I think it'll be ok.
im not familiar with bias gauges though, I'll check into that.
Did you guys know the se rears are actually 7mm bigger than se fronts?
Thanks for the feedback fellas.
im not familiar with bias gauges though, I'll check into that.
Did you guys know the se rears are actually 7mm bigger than se fronts?
Thanks for the feedback fellas.
Last edited by mikey D; 02-06-19 at 05:17 PM.
#7
Depending on what kind of racing you do, you might like to have the adjustment in the car, the wilwood dual master setup lets you adjust front/rear bias while driving. Youd have to mount a 2nd master though, and i think it only works with the wilwood petal.
Trending Topics
#9
Rotary Freak
iTrader: (3)
I did this with on a fox Mustang autocross car. I used 1988 Corvette 2 piston sliding PBR calipers front and rear on 12"x.810" OE rotors. At the time the front calipers were dirt cheap while Corvette rear calipers were very spendy. So that is why I took this approach.
To make it work I had to a run a Willwood dual master cylinder setup with a manual bias adjuster. The front master had a .75" bore and the rear master had 1.0" bore. Even with the different bore sizes I still had to run the bias adjuster set to use more front brake. I also used higher torque pads on the front. It worked excellent but there was no way to make this work with a single master cylinder even with an adjustable proportioning valve.
If you want to try this, look for the Fred Puhn Brake Handbook. He lays out brake hydraulics in a way that is easy to understand.
The easy button would be use FC rear calipers/brakes . They will be more than up to the task and you won't have any funky brake bias issues to fight.
To make it work I had to a run a Willwood dual master cylinder setup with a manual bias adjuster. The front master had a .75" bore and the rear master had 1.0" bore. Even with the different bore sizes I still had to run the bias adjuster set to use more front brake. I also used higher torque pads on the front. It worked excellent but there was no way to make this work with a single master cylinder even with an adjustable proportioning valve.
If you want to try this, look for the Fred Puhn Brake Handbook. He lays out brake hydraulics in a way that is easy to understand.
The easy button would be use FC rear calipers/brakes . They will be more than up to the task and you won't have any funky brake bias issues to fight.
#11
Rotary Enthusiast
Thread Starter
The fc stuff uses solid disks.
For FC vented rears Im back to needing 15 inch wheels.
13vs15 has been my least favorite decision on this car. I hate to spend large sums of money on something that no gives no real gain.
I guess I could just buy a bunch of gslse rear rotors as spares when their available and just keep things the way they are. Having the 4lug FC brakes up front will still be an improvement.
good info though, ill check that book out.
For FC vented rears Im back to needing 15 inch wheels.
13vs15 has been my least favorite decision on this car. I hate to spend large sums of money on something that no gives no real gain.
I guess I could just buy a bunch of gslse rear rotors as spares when their available and just keep things the way they are. Having the 4lug FC brakes up front will still be an improvement.
good info though, ill check that book out.
Last edited by mikey D; 02-07-19 at 07:51 PM.
#12
Rotary Freak
iTrader: (3)
Not sure that vented vs non-vented is that big of a deal for what you are doing. When I raced in IT, the GSL rear disks got hot but never had an issue with them. Even with stiff springs and 50/50 weight the front brakes still did all of the work. Rear brake pads lasted two seasons while front brake pads were good for about 3/4 a season.
I would also look at other makes/models for rear rotors/calipers. For example rear disks from an 87-88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe. The rotors are 10" in diameter, they are vented and they are 4 lug so drilling a new pattern would not be hard. Rotors/Calipers are probably more readily available because they are for an USA car. I bought a set of new calipers from Rockauto for dirt cheap 7-8 yrs ago for a mustang project.
There are many other OE rear disk brake applications that could be adapted. The key would be to match up front and rear caliper bores to get the right brake bias.
I would also look at other makes/models for rear rotors/calipers. For example rear disks from an 87-88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe. The rotors are 10" in diameter, they are vented and they are 4 lug so drilling a new pattern would not be hard. Rotors/Calipers are probably more readily available because they are for an USA car. I bought a set of new calipers from Rockauto for dirt cheap 7-8 yrs ago for a mustang project.
There are many other OE rear disk brake applications that could be adapted. The key would be to match up front and rear caliper bores to get the right brake bias.
#13
Are your rear brakes overheating or having issues? Otherwise it sounds like you’re carrying extra weight for no reason.
Parts interchangeability is nice, but something like rear pads aren’t something I’ve ever worn out quick enough to counterbalance the cost and complexity of what you want to do.
Parts interchangeability is nice, but something like rear pads aren’t something I’ve ever worn out quick enough to counterbalance the cost and complexity of what you want to do.
#14
Rotary Enthusiast
Thread Starter
The gslse brakes are more than fine . If it weren't for the single piece hub/rotor design I wouldn't have messed with them at all.
Untill I need a new engine and more power I'm going to stick with what I'm running now. It works very good.
Untill I need a new engine and more power I'm going to stick with what I'm running now. It works very good.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
ducktape
1st Generation Specific (1979-1985)
9
02-13-10 01:37 PM