Wilwood Big Brake Kit - Want Opinions On What I Have Put Together

[Husky33]

depends on the rim design. Some 17's will take the k-sport 8 piston fronts with 356mm discs.

Best bet would be to take some measurements of your wheel and the kit

[PM-R33]

Well I suppose if we do the group buy I will list it as 18" minimum and then when I get the kit I will try to fit some 17" wheels over them and see how close it comes.

If it fits, at least people that would want to do another batch could possibly get some to clear 17" wheels.

Also regarding the final price, I will post it up in a short time once we finalise the freight costs. As I said, the price I initially gave of under $2000 was a rough figure just to see if there was interest.

[blags]

Definitely interested!

I'm also curious on Pad availability in different brands and Rotor availability. Also im running 17's up front, curious if they'll fit.

1 last question, this is Front and rear Kit right?

[KING33]

GUY's, I was about to buy a set of these Willwood brake kit's myself, so i actually contacted both Hopper's Stopper's in Melbourne and Race Brake's to ask were these brake's legal in Australia as it has to be up to certain industry standard and our's are ALOT more harsher than U.S, and this is what i got returned back.

Hi Sean,

In regards to the wilwood and strange brakes, im not a fan at all and from what i have heard, most australian engineers are not either. There are a few reasons. These calipers were never ADR Approved as they were not released on any australian cars. Both these type calipers dont have dust seals making them illegal and unroadworthy on any car in any australian state. They are only tested for 1100psi, our standards are 3000psi, which is not good as your brakes will operate around 1500 psi, nearly 30% more than what they are tested too.

Ignore the fact that alot of people have done the wrong thing and are driving around on cheap and unsafe brakes.

Best Regards,

Shanon Boult

BUSINESS MANAGER

HOPPERS STOPPERS

Just thought i would let you guy's know befor you outlay your hard earned, but if you dont beleive me please feel free to contact them yourselves.

regards

[PM-R33]

The main issue is the dust boots and the fact in Australia it makes them not legal (but really, who is going to know that?). Obviously they are not ADR approved, that is pretty much a given. Neither are most Jap brand brakes.

Calling the brand cheap and unsafe is utter bull. Plenty of people run "cheap" Taiwanese/Chinese built brakes and even those don't cause problems.

If people don't want to do the group buy that is fine, hence the purpose of this thread, to gauge if there was interest

[mattis96]

i understand most mods are illegal, but if you were to to get into an accident wouldnt the insurance company automatically check the brakes and not being approved you;d be a bit screwed wouldnt you? i haven't been in an accident and thats just a guess so im not really sure. please keep us updated with the engineering friend you have and what he thinks and how much to get them approved, also pm sent to

[Roy]

Can i ask where all this talk of "no dust seals = illegal" is coming from?

My understanding is an engineering certificate is necessary to ensure the adequacy of what is installed. The listed criteria is hydraulic fluid sufficiency, balanced braking on all wheels, brake pedal pressure limitations and braking performance. I dont think anyone really gives a hoot when you consider that not even all road cars come with brake calipers with dust seals.

Also Hoppers Stoppers, unless its PBR I dont think they are going to help you much. AP agents will tell you not to buy Brembo for various reasons. Brembo will tell you AP and Alcon are not as good. Alcon will only try to sell you Alcon. Why be surprised when a PBR guys tells you that Wilwood are no good.

[PM-R33]

Cheers for that Roy.

As I said, i'll speak to my engineer about this whole dust seal thing aswell and see what he says.

As for the insurance question, pretty sure for you to have a problem with it, the insurance company would have to prove that the accident you got into was a direct cause from your brakes not being legal/approved/engineered/having no dust boots or what ever the exact reason for this whole Wilwood legality thing is about. So the only way I can see that happening is if your brakes failed as a direct results of the Wilwoods and you couldn't stop the car and it smashed into another car. When have you ever heard of something like that happening?

Guys just remember, Wilwood have been making brakes for around 35 years in their California factory and also do a lot of brakes for the US Military. They are not cheap and unsafe brakes.

[Lonewolf1983]

Agreed that most retailers will promote their own products as better than the competition.

Hopper Stoppers likes to pull out the "ADR" card as they generally use OEM supplied calipers (PBR/Holden/Ford) to keep the costs of their kits down. Doesnt make them any good.

I have never heard with there being an issue with legality over dust boots, and hard to see an engineer disagreeing with me.

Its more so that they need to be checked and maintained more often than those with them.

I know some brake experts arent a fan of some of the wilwood gear due to them exhibiting caliper flex compared to the more expensive AP/Alcon gear, but it depends what your doing with the car.

If running a race car, or planning heavy heavy track use, then you should be spending more money on brakes such as these.

[PM-R33]

Yep that's fair enough

The purpose of this kit was something that would bolt straight on, not cause brake bias issues and be a good quality affordable upgrade for most of the cars on this forum that are used for street or track work. Obviously it aint the best brake kit money can buy for a race car; the top of the range Wilwood kits go for triple the price of what we are aiming for here.

[PM-R33]

Righteo so I spoke to my engineer and he doesn't see a problem with mod plating the brakes as long as everything is properly installed and passes the testing he needs to do (pretty much exactly what Roy said).

So basically if people that are keen on the brakes want to make sure everything is legit, speak to an engineer about getting them mod plated (or a certificate or whatever non QLD states do). Pretty sure this is a requirement for any brake caliper upgrade so it isn't anything specific to these brakes.

I'll chuck up the group buy this weekend with the final price and see how we go. If there is good interest straight away i'll sort out a rear brake package aswell.

[Joobie]

Defo keen philly, depending on price.

Off topic, but how long have you been running nos?

[UWISSH!]

so just want to make sure, will these fit an r33 GTR?

if they do and these come in at $1850 or less ill be down for a set

[PM-R33]

Defo keen philly, depending on price.

Off topic, but how long have you been running nos?

No worries.

Been hooked up on the car for about 6 months now (I think, may have been a bit longer) but it has barely been used. Been so flat out the last 6 months with finishing off uni, moving house etc that I haven't had much time to finish the car off tuning wise (I've been doing it myself now). But within the next couple of months I want to finish the high boost tuning with the nitrous and put it on a dyno again to see what it makes power wise.

so just want to make sure, will these fit an r33 GTR?

if they do and these come in at $1850 or less ill be down for a set

Yep sure will.

I will list up all the known models that they should fit in the group buy thread. Basically Nissan use the same caliper mounting on most of their models so there is a variety of cars that they fit (Stagea, S14, S15, 300ZX etc).

I think out of the R32/R33/R34 Skyline models, it is only the R34 GTR that runs a different caliper bolt hole size on the hub.

[islade]

Hate to ask a dumb question, but exactly what effect will these brakes have over standard GTS-T brakes with decent pad's and rotors? I find that the few times i can't stop quick enough, it's because the wheels have locked up, not because of brake fade, so it's more of a traction issue than a brake issue. I also haven't been to the track yet so have never felt brake fade. I'm guessing these are only useful on a track car, right?

[PM-R33]

In theory on a street car, the tyres are the limiting factor in the distance you will pull up in.

Having said that, I have been in many street cars that have done brake upgrades and they ALL pulled up a hell of a lot harder (including my dads old Monaro that upgraded to huge AP Racing brakes).

So yes, large brake upgrades usually mean that you can brake hard a lot more often and not get brake fade (such as on a track car).

I have a good set of pads and rotors on my car, but I still am going towards this brake ugrade.

I am assuming you don't have ABS if you are locking the wheels up yeah?

[Lonewolf1983]

FYI, fastbrakes.com has just released AP racing caliper kits for Sub $2k.

Could be worth an email to see if they do a kit for the USDM 240sx (which should bolt up to most skylines)

[darrinspencer]

I will throw my 2 cents in, may help, may not

I have spoken with Ron (owner) of TBS, tweed brake service in Brisbane. Mainly do reconditioning of every brake and clutch parts for last 20-30 years. Knows his stuff. He told me calipers need two seals, one for the fluid and the other is dust, which is a ADR rule.

Might be worth chatting to him, forget emailing him, and see what he could offer.

It might be cheaper get 2 peice rotors and dogbones, braided lines (adr approved) from him to save on freight cost from USA.

He can supply 2 piece 355x32mm disc for approx $330-360 each, depends if you want std, dimpled or slotted etc. Can machine then down smaller if need

dog bones are approx $110.

Also add a link to the caliper you are suggesting, as you can down load a templete of the caliper so people can see if they fit their wheels before buying.

Any idea on the cost of the calipers on thier own?

Also TBS does a 8 and 6 pot South african made and design caliper sim to AP's front kit is $2600 drive in drive out custom made fit to suit your car and wheels etc.

Can even do rears by fitting the factory drum (handbrake) centre to bigger rotors, by making them into a 2 piece combo to retain the handbrake.

[PM-R33]

Thanks for all the comments guys they were much apprecaited

I realise the kit aint for every one and some people may want something else but I have gone ahead and opened up the group buy. If you have any furthur questions feel free to ask.

Group buy:

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/350163-wilwood-big-front-brake-kit-group-buy/

[DVS JEZ]

Wish these were here already