Brake caliper upgrade help

Bdubbs

u even lift bro?
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
16,043
Location
MN
Hey guys,

I need some feedback on brakes. The stock brakes are NOT cutting it anymore.

I've been looking at Wilwood, Baer, Stop Tech, Brembo and the ATS cadillac setup.

I'm really not sure what route to go. And are you guys leaving the rears stock?

I don't track the car, but do spirited driving.

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk
 

03yllwguy

Daily driven since 2003
Established Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2003
Messages
3,551
Location
SD, Ca
If you are looking to leave the balance unmolested, then the smoothest route is to upgrade the fronts with a cobra specific kit.

If you can find them, the Cobra R Brembo kit is probably the best bang for the buck.

I scored a complete StopTech ST40 kit on a 50% off sale so went that route. I absolutely love them; however, cant say I would pay $2400 for them though.

IF you do think you will want the rears changed as well, Wilwood seems to be the only ones offering a kit.


Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com
 

2004cobra615

sssvtsnake
Established Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Messages
968
Location
Chicago
I'm in the same boat. At 700 plus rwhp For the street I don't think having too much breaker power is possible. I have r888r front and rear and should hold the braking force. I hope.

Im look at a bear set up the 14 inch extreme plus with possibly having rear caliper brackets fabbed. Bear said they could make me a set of rear calipers. No parking brake though....

Seems like the biggest upgrade we can do is the brembo gt I'm looking at the gts set up in 14 inch it's pricey but I would leave rear set up just do the 13 inch conversion.

My wheels I had made will fit both. The brembos are quite a bit bigger I was told

Wilwood is the cheaper option. Pad size is same from 13 to 14 so not much of an advantage other than larger rotor. Frbr has good selection of rotors to go with it.

Not much data on the baer or brembos to make good decisions. Keep me posted as I'll likely get a set by next summer.

2004 Cobra 2.9 Whipple
 

Bdubbs

u even lift bro?
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
16,043
Location
MN
If you are looking to leave the balance unmolested, then the smoothest route is to upgrade the fronts with a cobra specific kit.

If you can find them, the Cobra R Brembo kit is probably the best bang for the buck.

I scored a complete StopTech ST40 kit on a 50% off sale so went that route. I absolutely love them; however, cant say I would pay $2400 for them though.

IF you do think you will want the rears changed as well, Wilwood seems to be the only ones offering a kit.


Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com
I'm in the same boat. At 700 plus rwhp For the street I don't think having too much breaker power is possible. I have r888r front and rear and should hold the braking force. I hope.

Im look at a bear set up the 14 inch extreme plus with possibly having rear caliper brackets fabbed. Bear said they could make me a set of rear calipers. No parking brake though....

Seems like the biggest upgrade we can do is the brembo gt I'm looking at the gts set up in 14 inch it's pricey but I would leave rear set up just do the 13 inch conversion.

My wheels I had made will fit both. The brembos are quite a bit bigger I was told

Wilwood is the cheaper option. Pad size is same from 13 to 14 so not much of an advantage other than larger rotor. Frbr has good selection of rotors to go with it.

Not much data on the baer or brembos to make good decisions. Keep me posted as I'll likely get a set by next summer.

2004 Cobra 2.9 Whipple
Thanks for some insight guys. I like the fact of having a bolt on set. I'm leaning towards the 14" 6 piston Wilwood kit which runs around 1,650.

I can hold off for a bit if some deals may pop up around Christmas.

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk
 

01yellercobra

AKA slo984now
Established Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2005
Messages
21,128
Location
Cali
How you drive the car comes into play as well. Someone that does the occasional run up to triple digits then cruises doesn't need the same brake set up as someone slowing down from triple digits on a back straight for a half hour at a time.

I'm running the Baer 6P calipers with stock sized rotors. Still have the stock rear calipers and braided lines all around. I'm the guy that does the occasional WOT blast and some back canyon runs. I haven't felt like I've needed more braking power. Maybe I'd have a different opinion if I switched to 14" rotors, but it's not on my radar.

FWIW, buddy of mine has a stock 01 Cobra and they have the same stock brakes we do. I let him take mine for a spin and at the first stop he asked what I did to the brakes. He noticed the difference just driving normally.
 

blownfox

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2007
Messages
1,498
Location
Kansas
Unless you want the look or track your car at a road course, the 14" set up is over kill for the street. My set up is like 01yellercobra and very happy with them. Yes, the 14" will look better but I did not feel the extra 1K was there for my driving habits. Now 2-piece rotors from FTBR will happen one day.

50315420173_1650150a38_c.jpg
 

Blkkbgt

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2011
Messages
3,080
Location
The land of commies and socialists!
I've been researching big brake setups for a while now and have taken a hard look at a few you've mentioned. None of them are perfect in my eyes.

Wilwood seems like a good option until you realize that their kits run their rotors. They also seem to have somewhat limited pad options last I checked.

If you go this route I'd run the FTBR 14in kit. This would give you at a minimum better rotor options as the kit uses 07-12 gt500 rotors. The downside here is the weight gain of the larger rotor and you now need to run 18s. You also need to address the rear to keep the bias in check. I priced this all out running 4 piston wilwoods and came out to about $1100. Now add in the cost of addressing the rear bias. You could do it cheap with the 43mm taurus calipers but I don't know where that actually puts the bias and if its acceptable or not.

Baer brakes either 13 or 14 in are out for me. The biggest issue for me with them is that you cannot change pads without unbolting the caliper. I plan on tracking my car and swapping pads is far easier than with Brembos. If you buy the front calipers and run stock 13 inch Cobra rotors you're looking at $1200 I believe and $2000 with their rotors. If you're willing to spend 2k I'd rather run stop tech.

Stop tech is a great option but if you're running the stock 17s up front they won't clear. The other thing I dont like is you have to buy their rotor rings. The entry level setup with 4 piston calipers runs about $2100.

The Brembo Cobra R setup is a great option and there is no bias issue created. Have fun finding the kit right now though. From what I understand there are no plans to bring it back and nobody I could find has one in stock. Last time I looked the kit was $1300 but again it may be gone forever.

For me the best bang for the buck seems to be the ATS setup. The bias issue that is created can be fixed with either 13 inch rear rotors or the older taurus rear 43mm calipers that Mustang5L5 came up with. I can run 17s if I want and easily swap pads. The stock 13 inch rotors will be around forever and are easily found at any parts store. I also have tons of pad options all the way around.

The one thing that nobody is 100% sure of is if the master cylinder needs to be changed out. Baer makes the only 1-1/8 inch bore master cylinder for our cars and its just over $400 shipped. Just to be clear the larger master cylinder looks like it is needed to reduce the pedal travel. The brakes may be a little soft without it. Nobody has run one yet.

Totalling everything up I get about $1300 for everything. This is with inserts, new pads, rotors, calipers all the way around, fluid, master cylinder and two new lines running from the master cylinder to the proportioning valve. You can deduct about 450 ish without a new master cylinder. Add extra if you need SS lines.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Last edited:

shurur

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2011
Messages
3,760
Location
Lutz, FL
How you drive the car comes into play as well. Someone that does the occasional run up to triple digits then cruises doesn't need the same brake set up as someone slowing down from triple digits on a back straight for a half hour at a time.

I'm running the Baer 6P calipers with stock sized rotors. Still have the stock rear calipers and braided lines all around. I'm the guy that does the occasional WOT blast and some back canyon runs. I haven't felt like I've needed more braking power. Maybe I'd have a different opinion if I switched to 14" rotors, but it's not on my radar.

FWIW, buddy of mine has a stock 01 Cobra and they have the same stock brakes we do. I let him take mine for a spin and at the first stop he asked what I did to the brakes. He noticed the difference just driving normally.

I've pretty much settled on getting the Baers at some point....as a want..not a need ;-)

That or the Cobra R kit...but reading says that is no longer an option.

I like the idea of using stock rotors, especially on a street DD (daily driver).

Plus, I run 17" now and would avoid the expense of getting new 18"+ wheels.

8888888
The ATS calipers idea is a great idea so long as the caliper is around long after the parts for the original car is no longer supported...otherwise they disappear like the cobra R stuff did.
 
Last edited:

Bdubbs

u even lift bro?
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
16,043
Location
MN
Some good info. I run True Forged 18" wheels cut for big brakes.

I didn't really plan on changing the rear brakes. I do have slotted zinc rotors.

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk
 

Blkkbgt

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2011
Messages
3,080
Location
The land of commies and socialists!
The ATS calipers idea is a great idea so long as the caliper is around long after the parts for the original car is no longer supported...otherwise they disappear like the cobra R stuff did.

The ATS calipers will be around for a very long time. The same caliper was used on the camaro and corvette. Rebuild kits are cheap and easy to find as well.

Comparing them to the 00R kit is apples to oranges in regards to availability. The 00R kit was only made available thanks to Ford racing and this kit was never really mass produced with only 300 00Rs ever being made.
 

Bdubbs

u even lift bro?
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
16,043
Location
MN
Thanks for the help guys. Ended up ordering these.
8907d7291d6db2d37a34bd8068df654d.jpg


Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk
 

2004cobra615

sssvtsnake
Established Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Messages
968
Location
Chicago
Please post feedback before the snow flies. Lol
as I will be doing brakes this winter and would like to hear how much better they are.

Were did you get them and did you get them on sale?

2004 Cobra 2.9 Whipple
 

Bdubbs

u even lift bro?
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Messages
16,043
Location
MN
Please post feedback before the snow flies. Lol
as I will be doing brakes this winter and would like to hear how much better they are.

Were did you get them and did you get them on sale?

2004 Cobra 2.9 Whipple
I can do that. Currently on backorder. I'm ordering from a member on here TRBO VNM. I've ordered many things from him.

Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk
 

dazwelding

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2013
Messages
145
Location
SC
Fully Torqued Racing and Vintage Venom have kits (or had, VV is out of business) to install the 07-09 GT500 brembo brakes on the new edge/sn95. The difference in these kits and the FTBR kit, is the mounting. The FTBR kit is radial mount- requires no spacer, the FTR and VV kits are not radial mounted and therefore require a spacer to be mounted behind the rotor. I have this kit, and I got my brembos off ebay for a couple hundred bucks. I also run a spacer in the rear now to be able to run a set of 07-09 GT500 wheels (the VV kit had a front rotor spacer and a rear wheel spacer). Although, if you go this route, still verify your backspacing. I had originally hoped by running the spacer in the front and rear, I could run any S197 wheels, and that is not exactly the case.
I also installed ARP wheel studs at the same time. I cannot say for sure if the stock studs are long enough or not, although I would imagine they are not.
I went with Maximum Motorsports stainless braided lines. The lines are still the 99-04 lines for this set up. I bought the 99-04 rears and 07-09 fronts at first, and turns out I needed the 99-04 front and rear lines.
I saved a ton of cash with this set up vs other 14" brake set ups.
It does make buying brake pads fun, but I buy my pads from one place (Discovery Parts), so they have my parts saved in my profile.

SN95 GT500 Brembo Brake Kit - New Edge (1999-2004) - Mustang
 

94slowbra1

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2007
Messages
2,779
Location
new orleans
The 2pc rotor makes a big difference.
I'm very happy with my 14" brembo GT kit (same kit ftbr sells except it has brembo rotors instead of girodiscs). I found it for a price I couldn't pass up. Night and day over my 13" baer 6p kit with 2pc rotors
High speed braking is very controlled and zero fade after multiple big stops. Very solid set up, plus they look the part behind my ccw sp500s :)
Pads and fluid also make a big difference so don't skimp there.
You should be happy with your new set up once broken in properly
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top