better brakes

[irishjeeper]

does anyone know who mkaes a better brake system( rotors,shoes and calipers), baer doesnt, neither does ssbc.is there anything out there?

[Materdaddy]

Vanco... they have hydroboost upgrades and the "big brake" upgrade. The big brake one you replace your knuckle (with a stock, but modified) one that holds larger calipers... It's like $800-ish.

EDIT: http://www.vancopbs.com/product_p/dkj1000.htm

[Jerry Bransford]

Yes indeed, Mat knows what he's talking about when he recommends Vanco's Big Brake kit. See my writeup on it at http://www.jeepforum.com/reviews/sho...hp?product=152

Truly, that kit is the only one I know of that will really improve the TJ's braking in a significant manner.

[NAILER341]

Yes indeed, Mat knows what he's talking about when he recommends Vanco's Big Brake kit. See my writeup on it at http://www.jeepforum.com/reviews/sho...hp?product=152

Truly, that kit is the only thing that will improve the TJ's braking in a significant manner.

the only thing besides hydroboost, that is
vanco also has hydroboost. if you put the big brake kit and hydroboost on there, you'll really b in business

[Materdaddy]

the only thing besides hydroboost, that is
vanco also has hydroboost. if you put the big brake kit and hydroboost on there, you'll really b in business

I said that... WOOT... (these are planned upgrades for my heap, but I'm too broke and other things come first, i.e. bigger tires!)

[miguelitojeep97]

whats a cheaper way of getting descent brakes? I know i know...you shouldnt go cheap when it comes to safety but I cant spend that much on brakes.

I heard somewhere that the "slotted" brakes are not even that great for us jeepers, is that true? I mean do i just go and buy basic brakes or do special pads and rotors really help? thanks

[TJeeper]

The best you can do with stock brakes is a set of cast rotors and Performance Friction pads. It is a marginal upgrade, slightly better than stock. Slotted or cross drilled rotors don't help.

The problem with the stock brakes is the single piston caliper. The harder the pad presses against the rotor, the more it flexes, the less surface area is against the rotor. If you have ever changed pads, you will notice one side of the pads worn more than the other.

The Vanco Big Brakes uses dual piston calipers. No more caliper flexing. People report being able to lock up a 35" tire with no other modifications to the brakes.

[miguelitojeep97]

yea i forgot where i saw it but i saw a Tj on 35s going from like 50mph and locking up the tires it was pretty gnarly

[Materdaddy]

yea i forgot where i saw it but i saw a Tj on 35s going from like 50mph and locking up the tires it was pretty gnarly

Was it this one:

http://www.stu-offroad.com/suspensio...-braketest.wmv

???

(For the record, that is from the vanco hydroboost kit, not the vanco big brake kit... and he also has pre-braketest.wmv)

[Lawrence]

I was not even close to locking up the tires with the OEM brakes, now with the Big Brake kit, piece of cake, I can lock up my 35s.

[mrblaine]

yea i forgot where i saw it but i saw a Tj on 35s going from like 50mph and locking up the tires it was pretty gnarly

We've been doing some testing on various brake pads and we now have 3 different pads that will lock up 35's at freeway speeds. And without much effort doing it either.

One set in particular will do it about half pedal with the stock unmolested booster/master combo.

[miguelitojeep97]

so you wanna PM me the name brand of those nice pads?


also I have seen it time and time again of people I know getting ripped off BIG time for "new" brakes. Basically it shouldnt cost more than like $300 for just replacment brakes and do it my self right? New front rotors and pads and rear drums and shoes and springs? I think my rear brakes are fine though, my front rotors are warped and are the orignal with 70k miles on em. So new rotors and "fancy pads" should do the trick huh?

[TJeeper]

so you wanna PM me the name brand of those nice pads?


also I have seen it time and time again of people I know getting ripped off BIG time for "new" brakes. Basically it shouldnt cost more than like $300 for just replacment brakes and do it my self right? New front rotors and pads and rear drums and shoes and springs? I think my rear brakes are fine though, my front rotors are warped and are the orignal with 70k miles on em. So new rotors and "fancy pads" should do the trick huh?

I think you are missing some information here. mrblaine is the developer of the Vanco Big Brake kit. What he is referring to is a brand of pads that make the Big Brakes work even better. They won't work with stock TJ calipers, for reasons I posted above.

The Vanco kit is expensive, but have you priced it out? Here is the link. It includes new calipers, pads and rotors. It also includes knuckles that are machined to fit the new calipers. There are quite a few posts on JU and JF comparing the stock and new components, there is no comparison. There are quite a few posts of many happy customers, no one has seen less than a HUGE difference in braking performance.

If you can figure out how to fit a dual piston caliper on a stock D30 knuckle, for less than Van, go for it. The only other way to fit a dual piston caliper on a D30 is the WJ knuckle swap (which mrblaine pioneered also). You might be able to do it for less $$ than the Vanco kit (if you are good at fabbing and welding), but you can't do it in under 2 hours.

[miguelitojeep97]

gotcha I thought Mrblain was saying he found good brake pads that by themselves will lock up 35s. NO i completely understand that the Big brake kit is probably the best choice out there. But...I really dont have that much cash to spend, my calipers are fairly new and dont need new knuckles.

does anyone have any name brands of some stock replacment brakes that have treated them well? thanks