JimS

I'm shopping for new brakes and looking for recommendations.

Is there a lot of difference between the 3 piston, 4 piston and 6 piston models?

Would you recommend one brand over another?

1Bear

iTrader: (1)

I don’t know your budget, but there are a wide variety of kits out there from mild to pretty extreme. On the low end of things, something I actually believe to work quite well all things considered and possibly better than some of the lower end aftermarket set-up’s is swapping to: larger front calipers and rotors from an ’05 + truck with rear drum brakes, dual piston rear calipers and thicker rotors from an SUV (also came on the Denali & SS trucks), and ultimately combining these with an Hydroboost conversion. The Baer AlumaSport system with PBR calipers would be a nice upgrade over stock, but I really believe the aforementioned stock pieces could most likely best it or at least be competitive. Next would probably be the SSBC Tri-Power 3 piston kits available with stock rotor sizes or the Tri-Power 3 piston kits with plus sized 14” rotors. After that would likely be SSBC Extreme 4 piston kits with 14” rotors, with V6 6 piston kits with 15” rotors being the best SSBC has to offer. Next in no particular order would be the Baer Extreme S6 systems with 15” rotors, the Wilwood W6A 6 piston systems with 14” rotors and ultimately the larger TC6R 6 piston calipers with 15” rotors available. Of course there are Alcon calipers available and so on as well.

I wholly recommend a complete engineered kit, unless you were to go the factory part route, to get the most from your brake installation with minimal hassles. I installed the C6 Z06 6 piston calipers and while they work quite a bit better than the factory parts, it took quite a bit of effort compiling parts and then making everything fit properly. The main reason I went this route is I could piece things together as money was available to do so, making a few purchases at a time until I had everything needed to make the swap. However there is no doubt in my mind, that had I had the funds available to go with the larger Wilwood brake system, I would have chosen that route hands down to gain a sure enough engineered system.

fastnblu

iTrader: (2)

JimS, I think the advice given by 1Bear is sound. Funny he forgot the Wilwood 16" brakes.

He covered it pretty well. Jarrod, for as many times as we've talked, funny as I read your reply, cause I've thought bout this before & that is combining a Hydroboost w/. a Baer or Wilwood, or whatever brand setup. I figure it'd stop on a dime & give you .11 change.

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

I looked into a brake upgrade a while ago and had myself sold on the SSBC 14" front and rear kit, with the 4 piston calipers I believe, until I recently (within the past few months) saw some pics of the SSBC 14" rotors cracked in multiple places. IIRC, the members that posted the pics reported that SSBC would not give them any sort of warranty or even a discount for new rotors. Not that I can afford it right now, but I was pretty bummed to hear this as I was very impressed with the looks of the front and rear systems and had them on my wish list for a few years

fastnblu

iTrader: (2)

I've heard of cracks between the holes (as in cross-drilled), but u mean severe rotor damage, don't you? I know some co.'s spot-mill instead to prevent / minimize cracks. I've also been told if rotors are cross-drilled, forget having them turned, cause it wrecks the machine. Slow turn rate could probably counter that, but oh well, I digress. I never had any problem w/. Baer's service.

At 1 time,i thought SSBC did some cool products, but that was a while ago. Hearing this, I wouldn't use their products at all. No warranty is bad enuff, & maybe I could understand that (probably not, but I'd have to know all the circumstances). No discount either?!? That's downright crappy!!!

It irks me to the point I'd wanna call them & tell them why I wouldn't use their products.

I guess customer service is a thing of the past w/. some co.'s, & therefore no positive word of mouth referrals. Or repeat biz from said peeps running their systems.

JimS

Thank you(!) for your well thought out recommendation.

I think, given my lack of knowledge and expertise, that I'd better stick with the professionally engineered kit. I've been looking at SSBC 4 piston (I have 18" wheels) and the Wilwood 6 piston and since I have been saving up for this for quite a while I have the $$$$$ for the Wilwood and am leaning in that direction.

Anyone have any comments about the Wilwood's???

Thanks in advance. Regards, Jim

fastnblu

iTrader: (2)

The Wilwood 16"s are gonna need some 20's, maybe 22". IIRC tho, 20's fit. Not sure if u wanted that big of Wilwoods. Baer makes nice stuff to fit a variety of budgets a particular needs, APRacing, & Brembo (Brembo seems overpriced IMO tho), & there may be a few others I'm forgetting, but those are the heavy hitters of brakes. Baer will most likely get my biz. I wanna do no less than a 14" rotor, but may go to a 15" if I can get past the idea of running 20's & slowing me down & not having a it handle as it does now. If I do go 20" wheels, well at that point the Wilwood 16" rotors will get considered. I want it to stop like my Camaro w/. beefy brakes does or a Z06.

I really in my heart want some Baer 6S brakes, 15" cause I might not be able to get in 14" how I want em configured, as I talked to Baer on this already.

I even wanna get calipers powdercoated. Red would offset my truck, but that blue they offer would blend & not stand out.

JimS

This is the Wilwood page I was looking at and I'm considering the set up in the first position.. the one with 14.25" rotors. Model 26A.

I looked at either Brembo or Baer.. can't remember which so I need to visit/revisit those brands. Thanks for the reminder. Seems like I found one of the websites confusing and difficult to navigate to get to the choices for my truck.

Comments are more than welcome... solicitied in fact. I REALLY appreciate the help from you more experienced folks. http://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/Bra...20Rear%20Brake

1Bear

iTrader: (1)

I would contact Supersub “Ray”, as he has always been more than helpful and has been through several sets of brakes, he even designed and built the caliper brackets I’m using to mount the C6 Z06 calipers I’m running now. He currently has the Baer 6S six piston set-up on all four corners I believe, unless things have changed again, but never-the-less he has had quite a bit of experience in what works and what doesn’t and best fitment and where to get them.

wkdivr

iTrader: (8)

I have the SSBC Tri Power caliper and 14" rotors on my truck, and think it's a great kit for the money. They fit 18" wheels, too. I have 18" Centerlines, and 20" SilveradoSS wheels, and they look good behind both kits. The Wilwood, and Brembo's are definately top of the line kits, but PRICEY!!! The Baer Alumasports aren't much of an increase in performance over the factory brakes, other than looks. Once you get to 15" rotors, and 2 piece rotors, the price gets crazy, unless you have a show truck, or some crazy horsepower to try to stop! I haven't had any troubles with the SSBC slotted but NOT drilled rotors, so I don't have any warranty issues to date. When I finally decided on these (after a TON of research!!), I got my front set for a SMOKIN deal, but they were the wrong color. SSBC said they could do a color change for $100, to pay for the labor of breaking down, and reassembly of the calipers. Then, in talking to the customer service rep, he suggested I just send in the kit I had, and he would exchange the clear coated calipers for the red coated ones I wanted for free, providing the ones I sent to him were unused, and unopened. All it cost me was the shipping. All in all, for me.....a good experience.