Caliperfexion Brake Caliper Studs

[MarcSpaz]

I installed the Caliperfexion brake caliper studs on the GT350 today. I got the sleeve extensions too. If you track your car, these are a must for cost savings and easy of changing the pads.

The factory bolts are one-time use. I got 1 1/2 track days out a set of front pads. The pads at $250 plus are bad enough, but spending another $30 on bolts that literally strip a little bit of aluminum out of the knuckle every time you change them is way too much. And I don't want to spend $500 to replace the knuckle after a few track sessions... that is just way too much.

http://caliperfexion.com/

 

[Tob]

Good stuff!

 

[5 DOT 0]

I've got a set installed on my GT350. Quality product from a quality guy!

 

[MarcSpaz]

I've got a set installed on my GT350. Quality product from a quality guy!

Agreed! He volunteered (unsolicited) about 30 minutes on the phone with me, explaining the engineering process, info about the brakes, tips and tricks to ensure the job came out right.

I'm very happy.

 

[bFoxGt500]

Thanks for the post. I have only recently purchased the car so haven't considered brake pad changes yet but will be road tracking the car so will be referring to this. You mention 'necessary' upgrade. As somebody who has tracked his GT 500 many times with pad changes every time, do you mind giving an explanation on why ? Thanks!


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[MarcSpaz]

Thanks for the post. I have only recently purchased the car so haven't considered brake pad changes yet but will be road tracking the car so will be referring to this. You mention 'necessary' upgrade. As somebody who has tracked his GT 500 many times with pad changes every time, do you mind giving an explanation on why ? Thanks!


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Howdy! I will do what I can to explain... though, I need to clarify that I didn't say they were "necessary". I said that these are a must for cost savings and easy of changing the pads.

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Lets cover cost savings first.

I track my car. HPDE's and track days. No competition, just for fun. My expectation is that I will track this car 8 to 10 days a year.

I tracked the car for 2 days and the pads were worn to the point were they would not pass tech inspection. Based on my results, I will need to replace my front brakes at least 4 times a year.

You MUST remove the front calipers from the steering knuckle to replace the pads. There is a back-strap preventing them from being swapped with the caliper installed. There are several problems associated with this task.

One issue is that the bolts that hold the calipers on are 1 time use TTY bolts. You have to buy new bolts every time.

The bolts are held in with loctite and torqued to about 135 lb-ft. Every time you remove the bolts, you pull a lot of soft aluminum out of the steering knuckle, and then you highly stress the remaining aluminum threads when you torque the new bolts back in. After just a few brake changes, there is not enough aluminum left to properly torque the caliper bolts, and then the steering knuckle needs to be replaced.

After hearing about this, I bought the SS studs. After changing the pads just once, and seeing just how much aluminum came out, in my opinion, there is no way I would get 3 or 4 pad changes before I need to replace the knuckles.

I do my own work. Here is a quick breakdown of 1 year of use for me, if I used all stock parts.

Pads - $250 x 4 = $1,000
Bolts - $32 x 4 = $128
Knuckle = $500
Alignment = $140
Total year of use = $1768

Compared to using the studs with the guide sleeves...

1 Time Stud kit = $160
Pads = $1,000
Total year of use = $1,160 for the first year. $1,000 a year every year after that.

The literal bottom line is, you save about 75% annually compared to factory parts.

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As far as ease of changing the pads... man, they are priceless.

Normally, you pull the tire, spend time trying not to wreck your steering knuckle while you use a breaker bar or huge 1/2 drive ratchet to remove the bolts. You can't use an impact wrench or air ratchet, because the friction being overcome faster makes more heat, softening the aluminum. That leads to thread failure sooner. Then you have to find some way of hanging the caliper without breaking the brake line or caliper while you swap the pads, compress the pistons, clean the loctite out of the bolt holes on the steering knuckle while trying not to wreck the threads, toss some new loctite on the new bolts, and hope you don't blow the threads out when you torque them down. Massive pain in the rear.

When the studs are installed, you pull the tire, take the nuts off the studs, thread the sleeves on, slide the caliper up the sleeves, put the rotor off to the side while you do your pad swap. There is plenty of room, no worrying about bungee cords or wire tires, frees up hands and keeps the caliper stable while you easily compress the pistons and swap the pads. You put the rotor back, slide the caliper over the rotor, unscrew the sleeves, and torque down the nuts.

Hope this helps.

 

[Tob]

You'd make one heck of a salesman! You broke it down and laid the tech smack pretty darn well.

 

[MarcSpaz]

You'd make one heck of a salesman! You broke it down and laid the tech smack pretty darn well.

Thanks! LOL

I actually thought I made a good case in the original post... But he asked for an explanation. I figured it was time to get into the weeds. Haha.

 

[AustinSN]

I contacted him about making a set for the RS. He was already ahead of me but there was an issue with the design.

That's too bad you can't pull the pads with the calipers on.

 

[bFoxGt500]

Thank you very much.


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[bFoxGt500]

I have only had my 350 for two weeks and haven't had much experience with any mechanicals yet. I will do a few HPDE days so the information provided (and further detailed) was very useful. I changed out my pads on the 500 for every event so I was expecting similar experience with the 350. Again - appreciate the added info.


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[jtfx6552]

Several things, You must drive much harder than me, I had two days at WGI and barely have any noticeable wear of the brakes.

I haven't been here much lately, don't you have a tech pack? Is there a thread about how it did or did not overheat? Even more impressed that you could wear the brakes out of a tech pack.

I have the CF studs and the extenders, haven't opened the box yet. How do you make sure the nuts come off without the stud backing out? Is that covered in some instructions I'll find in the box?

 

[Tob]

You apply some of the included thread locker to the threads that go into the knuckles after you clean the holes thoroughly. Once cured, the studs stay in place for as long as you need them to be.

 

[MarcSpaz]

Several things, You must drive much harder than me, I had two days at WGI and barely have any noticeable wear of the brakes.

I haven't been here much lately, don't you have a tech pack? Is there a thread about how it did or did not overheat? Even more impressed that you could wear the brakes out of a tech pack.

I have the CF studs and the extenders, haven't opened the box yet. How do you make sure the nuts come off without the stud backing out? Is that covered in some instructions I'll find in the box?

Sorry.... Totally missed this question. Not sure how that happened.

Anyway, I didn't post a thread about the car's performance at the track, but it overheats every time. Never fails..

I think I'm chewing up brake fast because of the track I usually run. I noticed that many tracks around me have about 1w to 14 turns in about 2 miles. The track I spend most of my time in has 22 turns, so I'm in the gas and brake a lot more often per session.

 

[GT Premi]

... You must drive much harder than me, I had two days at WGI and barely have any noticeable wear of the brakes.

...

It seems like he brakes too early and too long. The way I was taught (by some professional racers) is to wait until as late as possible then stand on the brakes, not ride them up to the turns. For easy turns, it should be all throttle modulation and no brakes at all. I can't see burning out a set of performance pads in one track session. Even the pros can get a whole [non-endurance] race out of one set of pads, and they're putting way more stress on the brakes.

 

[MarcSpaz]

It seems like he brakes too early and too long. The way I was taught (by some professional racers) is to wait until as late as possible then stand on the brakes, not ride them up to the turns. For easy turns, it should be all throttle modulation and no brakes at all. I can't see burning out a set of performance pads in one track session. Even the pros can get a whole [non-endurance] race out of one set of pads, and they're putting way more stress on the brakes.

While I think you're correct about my technique contributing (first year in the road course) I do want to point out that At the time I made this post, I was referencing 8 sessions over 2 days. Not just one session.

I go through a tank of gas every 2 sessions, too. Damn that car is thirsty.

 

[tomshep]

How long were the sessions?

Tom

 

[MarcSpaz]

How long were the sessions?

Tom

We ran for 30 minutes per session. 2.2 miles, 18 turns on the setup we ran. I have been running between 1:37 to 1:43 per lap. Figure 34-36 miles per session. Fuzz math... somewhere around 280 miles.

 

[oldbmwfan]

WGI is easy on brakes. Lots of high speed areas, but the turns are big, sweeping, high speed turns so no places were you're scrubbing 140+ down to 60 for a corner. That's easier on the brakes. The heavy braking zones are also pretty spread out, so you get a lot of cooling time between big applications.

At Mid-Ohio, I was getting ~3.5-4 hours out of a set of front pads. Rears are lasting about twice as long. I'm probably over-braking at a few points on that track, getting used to the speed the R can carry. Faster drivers consume brakes slower, not faster, because they compress the braking zones (less dragging, less heat), and they don't scrub more speed than necessary.

For what it's worth, my friend at FP suggested ~3.5 hours a set for front brakes at a track like Grattan is "right on schedule." The pads are thin because the rotors are massively thick, and that takes up most of the space in the calipers. Fast pad wear is the price of having brakes that never overheat and fade on track. Even with stock pads, I could trigger the ABS at will at 135+ mph at the end of a 40-minute session. I don't see a need to pay twice as much for Hawks or Pagids or other pads when the stock pads can do that.

 

[GT Premi]

... I don't see a need to pay twice as much for Hawks or Pagids or other pads when the stock pads can do that.

Neither do I. The R comes stock with track rated pads, doesn't it? Or do all GT350s have the same pads but still track rated?