Brakes

[01STrunner]

Has anyone ever thought about upgrading to bigger discs up front? Like maybe 14 in? What problems would you run into? ABS system, etc? Its just a quick though but the extra stopping power couldn't hurt.

 

[LONO100]

if you get bigger discs, you might need to make sure that your mastercylinder/brakebooster and all that good stuff can deliver the right amount of oomph to make the bigger discs work optimally. i know that this is something you have to look out for when going from drums to discs, but ive never upgraded from discs to bigger discs so i would look into it.

 

[01STrunner]

I might just go for drilled replacement discs to cut down on the amount of changing things but I'll still look into it.

 

[LONO100]

the vented discs (the ones with little holes in them) will be more effective in stopping power, but brake pads will wear down quicker. look into slotted discs, i hear that they wont wear the pads down as quick.

 

[sport97]

Drilled rotors have issues with cracking ive heard. Check R1 rotors for slotted rotors. That is what most of the 2nd gen guys run. They have an ebay store and a site.

 

[01STrunner]

I was looking at a couple rotors that were drilled and slotted. Also I was looking a brake pad upgrades. Still researching... Thanks for the responses.

BTW Sport97, know any good threads of explorers that did any brake upgrades? Ive done a couple searches but didn't really uncover much.

 

[Oldranger98]

Hi Guys,
I am looking at Mustang GT rotors, calipers and pads that are $150 at Newtakeoff.
The rotors are 12." where the Ranger rotors are 12". Is this a possiable upgrade? What mods would have to be done to make this work?
Thanks
Oldranger98

 

[RenoGrimace]

Stay with blank rotors they work the best. Drilled and/or slotted rotors won't help you at all just reduce pad life and maybe crack.

 

[techieman33]

Drilled or slotted rotors will NOT reduce pad life, they will also not improve stopping power. They will actually slightly reduce it. The slots and/or holes reduce the surface area of the rotor so there is less for the pad to grab on to. Where they could help you is over long periods of hard braking by helping the rotor cool more efficiently.

All that 99% of people really need are a quality set of blank rotors, and a quality performance pad, hawk, ebc, etc. Don't get me wrong I love my 4 piston Alcon calipers and 13" rotors up front but 99.9999999999% of the time they are overkill by a huge margin. There is really no reason for a brake setup like that unless you are spending a lot of time on a race track. Another thing you would have to consider is tires, a serious brake upgrade is going to be wasted money without some kind of a performance tire to provide grip on the road for the brakes to work. Even with my fat summer tires I can still lock up the front wheels pretty easily if I'm not careful.

OldRanger, the mustang brakes will not work without lots of modifications, you would need to fabricate new mounting brackets, and depending on your wheels would probably need to have custom rotors made. In other words it's not worth it for what would be a small improvement, That $150 would be much better spent on some performance pads and some quality brake fluid.