Precision Brakes Experiences
06-24-06, 12:42 AM
#1
Precision Brakes Experiences
I know a lot of you have purchased GB brake kits from precision, and I know someone locallly that has.
You may have had good experiences with Precision Brakes. My experience has been less than satisfactory. If you're shopping for a big brake kit, keep reading.
I ordered a kit (not a GB) and set about installing it. The kit consists of rotor hats, 325 mm rotors, 6 Piston Wilwood Superlite calipers, Porterfield pad, hoses and misc hardware. This kit fits in the stock 16" wheels, hence the 325 mm (12.79 inch) rotors.
It didn't take long to run into the first problem. The rotor hats didn't fit over the hub. There is a flange at the base of the hub, and the Inside Diameter (ID) was too small to allow the hats to fit flush against the hub.
I sent an email to PB with pics showing the problem. The pics were accompanied by this bit of text:
"the hub opening in the stock rotor is about 2 13/16 inch,
while the opening in the PB rotor hat is 2 5/8 inch."
As you can see in the pics, a tape measure was used to show the difference in ID size. They told me I could ship the hats back, and they would increase the ID to the correct spec.
(Yes, I know the tape is at 1 inch. It was intentional, it's easier to read)
Two weeks later, I got the hats back. They still didn't fit.
They've had two opportunities to do it right, so I took the new hats and a stock rotor to a local machinist. He opened up the ID on both hats to the correct ID for $40.
I then sent an email off to PB, explaining that the ID of the hats had still been wrong, and paid a local machinist to open them up the correct diameter.
As it turns out, the dimensions they had worked off off were from my tape measure. They said they had also checked an 'OE reference guide' that stated that the ID should be 2.845.
IIAC, when I retrieved the hats from the machinist, he said that both had been 0.010 too small.
Now the hats fit. Onward and upward.
The next gotcha was the spacers. These are used to mount the caliper bracket. Since the new caliper is wider than stock, aluminum spacers are used to mount the caliper bracket to the spindle lugs so that there will be enough clearance for the wider rotors. One of the brackets can be seen wrapped in blue tape in the first photo of the BP hat/rotor. The blue tape was to protect the paint. I was dry fitting the components to make sure it would all fit. This way they were not actually 'installed', the paint would be unscratched, and I would have a basis to return them if they just wouldn't work.
Sorry, no pics of the spacers. Didn't think of it until they were installed.
The ID of the spacers was, you guessed it, too small.
By now I figured I was on my own. I used a couple of drill bits to drill some test holes in a block of plastic and found that a 15/32 hole made a pretty good fit, with very little play.
So I clampled the spacers in the drill press, and drilled them out. PB comment on learning of this problem was along the lines of "Glad you figured it out."
I was now able to mount the calipers and verify the clearance. BTW, I'm running 16" Kosei T1-S wheels, and there is plenty of clearance. About 5 mm to the rim, and about 1" to the spokes. The stock wheels clear as well, but the calipers come pretty close to the spokes. I didn't measure it, but 5mm or so I think.
The next thing I ran into was the HW for the brake hoses. Following is a pic of the fitting on a Goodridge SS hose. It's hard to see in the picture, but 2 of the lands on the nut are rounded off to fit in the chassis lug, just like the stock hose, as most of you are probably aware.
Luckily, this was easily rectified with a Dremel tool. In addtion, all the other sides of the fitting had to be shaved as well, as it was a tad too big. Sorry, I forgot to take a pic of this before installation.
The following pic shows the hose routing. The instructions are rather vague on this, so you best route them to stay away from the wheel, and put a wheel on and check it.
Oh, did I mention the instructions? I had to ask a few times to get those too. While the installation wouldn't be too hard to figure out on your own, recommened torque specs are nice to have.
Here's some pics showing the relative size of the stock rotors and calipers vs. the Wilwood calipers. As you can see the new rotors are really big heat sinks. The stock calipers would probably be more than adequate if they could accomodate a larger rotor, such as with the Mandeville brake mod.
There may yet be other issues, I don't yet know.
By putting some lug nuts on the rotor, I can spin it and see that the rotors are not quite round. I'm not sure yet if it will be enough to cause any bad vibrations. I'm waiting for speed bleeders to show up so that I can bleed the brakes. I don't want to do it the 'normal' way. There are 2 bleed screws per caliper.
Besides, the car isn't ready to drive yet anyway. There's a couple of other things to do before it goes on the road or track.
If you're considering buying a brake kit from Precision Brakes, you now know what questions to ask.
You may have had good experiences with Precision Brakes. My experience has been less than satisfactory. If you're shopping for a big brake kit, keep reading.
I ordered a kit (not a GB) and set about installing it. The kit consists of rotor hats, 325 mm rotors, 6 Piston Wilwood Superlite calipers, Porterfield pad, hoses and misc hardware. This kit fits in the stock 16" wheels, hence the 325 mm (12.79 inch) rotors.
It didn't take long to run into the first problem. The rotor hats didn't fit over the hub. There is a flange at the base of the hub, and the Inside Diameter (ID) was too small to allow the hats to fit flush against the hub.
I sent an email to PB with pics showing the problem. The pics were accompanied by this bit of text:
"the hub opening in the stock rotor is about 2 13/16 inch,
while the opening in the PB rotor hat is 2 5/8 inch."
As you can see in the pics, a tape measure was used to show the difference in ID size. They told me I could ship the hats back, and they would increase the ID to the correct spec.
(Yes, I know the tape is at 1 inch. It was intentional, it's easier to read)
Two weeks later, I got the hats back. They still didn't fit.
They've had two opportunities to do it right, so I took the new hats and a stock rotor to a local machinist. He opened up the ID on both hats to the correct ID for $40.
I then sent an email off to PB, explaining that the ID of the hats had still been wrong, and paid a local machinist to open them up the correct diameter.
As it turns out, the dimensions they had worked off off were from my tape measure. They said they had also checked an 'OE reference guide' that stated that the ID should be 2.845.
IIAC, when I retrieved the hats from the machinist, he said that both had been 0.010 too small.
Now the hats fit. Onward and upward.
The next gotcha was the spacers. These are used to mount the caliper bracket. Since the new caliper is wider than stock, aluminum spacers are used to mount the caliper bracket to the spindle lugs so that there will be enough clearance for the wider rotors. One of the brackets can be seen wrapped in blue tape in the first photo of the BP hat/rotor. The blue tape was to protect the paint. I was dry fitting the components to make sure it would all fit. This way they were not actually 'installed', the paint would be unscratched, and I would have a basis to return them if they just wouldn't work.
Sorry, no pics of the spacers. Didn't think of it until they were installed.
The ID of the spacers was, you guessed it, too small.
By now I figured I was on my own. I used a couple of drill bits to drill some test holes in a block of plastic and found that a 15/32 hole made a pretty good fit, with very little play.
So I clampled the spacers in the drill press, and drilled them out. PB comment on learning of this problem was along the lines of "Glad you figured it out."
I was now able to mount the calipers and verify the clearance. BTW, I'm running 16" Kosei T1-S wheels, and there is plenty of clearance. About 5 mm to the rim, and about 1" to the spokes. The stock wheels clear as well, but the calipers come pretty close to the spokes. I didn't measure it, but 5mm or so I think.
The next thing I ran into was the HW for the brake hoses. Following is a pic of the fitting on a Goodridge SS hose. It's hard to see in the picture, but 2 of the lands on the nut are rounded off to fit in the chassis lug, just like the stock hose, as most of you are probably aware.
Luckily, this was easily rectified with a Dremel tool. In addtion, all the other sides of the fitting had to be shaved as well, as it was a tad too big. Sorry, I forgot to take a pic of this before installation.
The following pic shows the hose routing. The instructions are rather vague on this, so you best route them to stay away from the wheel, and put a wheel on and check it.
Oh, did I mention the instructions? I had to ask a few times to get those too. While the installation wouldn't be too hard to figure out on your own, recommened torque specs are nice to have.
Here's some pics showing the relative size of the stock rotors and calipers vs. the Wilwood calipers. As you can see the new rotors are really big heat sinks. The stock calipers would probably be more than adequate if they could accomodate a larger rotor, such as with the Mandeville brake mod.
There may yet be other issues, I don't yet know.
By putting some lug nuts on the rotor, I can spin it and see that the rotors are not quite round. I'm not sure yet if it will be enough to cause any bad vibrations. I'm waiting for speed bleeders to show up so that I can bleed the brakes. I don't want to do it the 'normal' way. There are 2 bleed screws per caliper.
Besides, the car isn't ready to drive yet anyway. There's a couple of other things to do before it goes on the road or track.
If you're considering buying a brake kit from Precision Brakes, you now know what questions to ask.
Last edited by jkstill; 06-24-06 at 12:56 AM. Reason: Pictures did not appear
06-24-06, 12:59 AM
#2
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
Kinda funny that they call themselves 'precision brakes' yet your experience certainly contradicts that.
I have a question for you---once mounted, does the face of the caliper move further outward, toward the backside of the wheel spokes? I have fikse fm5s, and there is zero room for any big brake kit caliper without using spacers or getting different rims. Next question, how much was the kit?
I have a question for you---once mounted, does the face of the caliper move further outward, toward the backside of the wheel spokes? I have fikse fm5s, and there is zero room for any big brake kit caliper without using spacers or getting different rims. Next question, how much was the kit?
06-24-06, 01:08 AM
#3
I have a question for you---once mounted, does the face of the caliper move further outward, toward the backside of the wheel spokes? I have fikse fm5s, and there is zero room for any big brake kit caliper without using spacers or getting different rims.
Next question, how much was the kit?
last thing, you can't link pics that way. You need to upload them to the site (which can be done on the 'post' screen), I believe the max size is 150kb.
06-24-06, 07:43 AM
#4
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
Ouch! $2350! That makes my Mandeville kit that I picked up for $825 look like a steal. I actually had some 1/8th inch spacers custom machined, which *should* allow the kit to work. I'm just concerned with fender clearance with the spacers, my fikses are already pretty damn close.
Why did you choose this kit over the stoptech 4 piston? I've seen it sold for around $1750 or so and looks to be a good quality kit.
Why did you choose this kit over the stoptech 4 piston? I've seen it sold for around $1750 or so and looks to be a good quality kit.
06-24-06, 08:58 AM
#5
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
I have the precision brakes from the last GB and they fit fine. However, I will agree with you that the company is less then "precise". I ordered a spare set of rotors and instead of slots like the original group buy they put in curved slots.
Also, jimlab specified that his rotors would get a certain amount of slots to match his front brakes. They came with less.
I'm alittle surpised by the fit being off though. Thanks for the heads up.
Also, jimlab specified that his rotors would get a certain amount of slots to match his front brakes. They came with less.
I'm alittle surpised by the fit being off though. Thanks for the heads up.
06-24-06, 11:47 AM
#7
Originally Posted by GoodfellaFD3S
Why did you choose this kit over the stoptech 4 piston? I've seen it sold for around $1750 or so and looks to be a good quality kit.
The only rx-7 kit I could find of theirs had 13" rotors.
I have too many sets of 16" wheels to change to a larger rim size.
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06-24-06, 03:35 PM
#8
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
Originally Posted by jkstill
I wasn't aware that Stoptech had a kit that would fit with stock wheels.
The only rx-7 kit I could find of theirs had 13" rotors.
I have too many sets of 16" wheels to change to a larger rim size.
The only rx-7 kit I could find of theirs had 13" rotors.
I have too many sets of 16" wheels to change to a larger rim size.
06-25-06, 10:39 PM
#9
Full Member
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: KY
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A couple of years ago I purchased a big brake kit for different car and the only issue was they forgot to drill my rotors for the proper bolt circle. They sent me another set and a return shipping label to send the wrong rotors back. The customer service back then and was pleased.
If I'm not mistaken, Precision Brakes also made M2's kit when they were in business. I was told this by one of Precision Brakes engineers. Jkstill, you basically have the same M2 kit that was sold a couple years ago by M2.
If I'm not mistaken, Precision Brakes also made M2's kit when they were in business. I was told this by one of Precision Brakes engineers. Jkstill, you basically have the same M2 kit that was sold a couple years ago by M2.
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