someone correct if i'm wrong but only the GTUs came with the 4 pot front brakes other than t2's and gxl 's right? a normal GTU only came with single pot up front right? Thanks for the input.

-Chris

 

The 88 gtu (the O.G. gtu ) came with 4 pot brakes. At least that is what is on mine.

 

The following came with the 4 piston front brakes:

The 86-87 Sport
The 86-90 GXL
The 87-91 Turbo
The 88 GTU
The 88-92 Convertible
The 89-90 GTUs
The 91 coupe with option package "A"

In fact more FCs came with the 4 piston front brakes than didn't.

The following did not come with 4 piston front brakes:
The 86-87.5 Base
The 86-87.5 Luxury Coupe
The 87.5-88 SE
The 89-90 GTU
and the 91 coupe without option package "A"

 

Mark, i believe i read your site and it said the 91s with the package had them up front, but i have 4piston calipers/vented rotors at all 4; is this normal?

 

In 91 only the Turbo, the Convertible and the Coupe (with option package A) had the 4 piston brakes in the front. The 91 coupe without the option package did not get them.

No FC has 4 piston rear brakes from the factory.

From my website:

 

thats what i remembered reading. is it easy to install 4pots on the rear? i'ma feel like an idiot if i go out and see my rears are 2pots, but i'm quite sure they're 4 all around.

 

I've never heard of anyone with the stock 4 piston front brakes in the rear. As for actually doing it, why would you want the 4 piston brakes in the back? You don't need it.

 

the only way to get 4pistons on all corners is to do a custom install in the rear. there are none that i am aware of, and besides the stock system (4piston up front) is quite exceptional as is.

 

haha, i was misinformed by myself. guess they're 2 pistons in the rear. fixed or sliding caliper?

4 piston may be exceptional, but they're fixed calipers. the braking system itself is not so exceptional. anyone here who hasn't experienced brake fade? then again, my car was built years before i could legally drive, so no wonder its not up to par.

 

its sliding single pot calipers in the rear. identical on all models.
you realy dont think the brake system is that good. ive never experinced fade after some realy hard driving, i have aftermarket pads tho.

 

high speed i had bad fade once. could be the shitty pads. i blamed the rotors, figured they just couldnt handle the heat.
i'm not saying the brakes are bad, just enough to be on the list of things to upgrade. i really don't know the weak points of the system. eventually i'll get good pads and rotors and see how satisfied i am. brake upgrades get real expensive, so i'll do what minimal things i can and work with that.

 

If you're experienceing fade at all on the street you're:

A: Driving like a complete moron and I hope you don't kill somone else when you go.

B: Needing to change your brake fluid and check your system out.

The stock braking system is more than good enough for street driving. In fact most racers I've read about retain the stock brakes until they get REALLY fast.

cory

 

yes, thanks for summing it all up in A/B fashion. in most cases, i would agree. i don't know what its like in Douglasville, but every once in awhile, one of our 4 lane highways in texas is rather safe to speed on. and to put it blatantly, no **** the stock brakes can handle simple everyday street driving. they wouldn't have been approved if they couldn't. have you never sped before? pick a safe spot and try it.
i'll change my fluid and let ya know. and what on the system should i check out in particular?

 

perfect for me since the 88 gtu comes with 4 pot brakes upfront....cool thanks for clearing that up everyone

 

got more than you asked. enjoy! and drive safely and use good judgement. especially when your best judgement sucks. always go with good judgement.

 

If your getting brake fade on the 4pot brakes then you either have crappy pads, fluid or both.

I've only ever got brake fade ONCE, that was after 4laps around a race track then braking hard as possible from 180km/hr after the straight....
I wouldn't describe it as bad brake fade either.. was only a momentry thing, they were fine for the rest of the day after that.

Good pads make a whole lot of difference from what i've seen. The bendix ultimates I have in there now are reasonably good, but I'm thinking about trying a different pad next time my car gets on the road.

 

yea, no doubt my system isn't race-ready or anything. hell, my car isn't either. for me, right now, its just what i drive. nothing special except for the fact that it still runs. i don't get brake fade often, frequently, or at all. but one time, when i did 120mph, i pushed the brakes and just felt the lack of grip. it was rare and on a big road; i don't even think i passed anybody.
still, though, why is everyone mentioning fluid, pads, and 4pots? i would think the volume of the rotor would come into play somewhere in there. unless the pad is always first to fail..

 

4 pots in the front, 2 pots in the rear. vented rotors on all four corners. thats more than enough for most people.

if you are looking for better braking abilities, upgrade your pads first, then your brake lines, then your fluid to DOT 5.1. The fluid upgrade would be a waste for most people. On a stock car, the rotors and pads are the first to fail during repeated hard braking cuz thats where the heat radiates from and is what is affected first. the friction causes the heat as motion is turned into thermal energy. if your rotors cant dissapate that heat fast enough, they will over heat. bigger rotors or rotors with better/more internal cooling vanes can improve the heat transfer and allow you to run harder. the pads are also succeptible to failure if you have a street pad that is compromised in function. you trade off good intial bite, no need for heat up or bedding process for a pad that quickly degrades if it gets too hot. pads that are able to get hot and not degrade may have to be bedded in properly before usage and may require some heat before they are at peak efficiency.

so, if you have a rotor that is made of high quality cast iron and pads that can endure high temperatures, you now have to worry about that heat getting up into your calipers and heating up your fluid. you only have to worry about your fluid boiling if your rotors dont over heat and your pads dont catch on fire... if you have those bases covered and still have brake fade... then you can think about the fluid upgrade.

hth

 

Why not use Ford Spec DOT 3 instead of DOT 5.1? 550F dry boiling point and it costs exactly the same as any other DOT3 fluid.

 

I have a 1990 GTUs and it only has the 2 pots

 

Then you don't have a GTUs, you have a GTU

 

ah yes, i totally forgot about that little trick. that would work just as well, especially for those of us on a budget. good call mister, uhhhh... snrub. yea, thats it, mister snrub

 

Heya, what about valvoline synthetic? Anyone know the boiling Point for that? I've been using that stuff forever and never had any troubl from it, and it dosent eat paint like the other stuff.

 

I personally don't like the hydroscopic properties of the Valvoline Synth brake fluid.

Castrol LMA (low Moisture absorbing) seems to be better.

I suppose if you changed the brake fluid every year or you lived in a very dry (non humid) climate, other brands might stay dry enough.

 

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by ska3260
I have a 1990 GTUs and it only has the 2 pots
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


wait, there are not any 2 piston brakes, their are 4's in the front and singles in the rear. Are you just looking at the side on the caliper, because you will only see two of the pistons, the other two are on the inside face of the caliper.