StopTech St60 calipers leaking

[GT350pwns]

Now, as many of you know, a big brake upgrade is not a cheap endeavor. About two months ago I decided to take the dive and order a StopTech st60 BBK. It was a few hundred dollars more than the OE brembo 4 pot kits and I figured the 2 extra pistons and added cost couldn't hurt anything.

Well, in retrospect, maybe I should've gone with the oe 4 pot brembos. My experience with stoptech has been nightmarish. 2 weeks after installing, bleeding, and vigorously cleaning the kit (will get to the prevalence of this in a second) I noticed that there was fluid leaking from the calipers. I cleaned it off and didn't think anything of it. Until the next time I cleaned the car.

The powder coat around the bleeder valves had started to bubble and peel off. NOT COOL.

Most of the nightmare has been perpetuated by the vendor. After contacting the vendor and telling him the the bleeder valves were correctly torqued and that the brake calipers have been cleaned multiple times,there seemed to be a bit of a broken record at the other end of the correspondence.

"well, brake fluid will eat paint and powder coat"
"you must not have cleaned them after install"

Etc. Etc. Etc.

I lost my patience. Got a little pushy with said vendor and he said that he would contact stoptech directly.

Well stoptech has perpetuated the run around bullshit. In summation of their email, I have to prove that the bleeder valves are faulty. If I can't, I'm stuck with a set of leaking brakes that will soon have no finish on them.

And, after a bit of Internet digging, this is apparently a decently widespread issue among stoptech customers. From Hondas to ferraris, there seems to be quite a few issues with this happening.

I have done everything but call stoptech directly (which I can't do right now because I am at work). That will be my next step and I will update this chronicle as it progresses.

Long story short, if you are looking for big brakes:

DO NOT BUY STOP TECH.

I'm at a loss and am posting this out of frustration. I'm out a decent chunk of money and the outlook doesn't look good for it to be rectified.

Mods, if this isn't tech enough to be in this section, I apologize and please feel free to relocate it.

 

[evil281]

Can the bleeder valves be replaced?

 

[GT350pwns]

They do sell replacements, but after some reading I'm not convinced it'll fix the problem.

Have found two cases where folks have continued to have the same issue after replacing the bleed screws.

 

[jymboslice]

I replaced the bleeder screws with speed bleeders on a roush (stop tech made) kit I installed on another car. The stock stop tech bleeders leaked and wouldn't bleed correctly. The speed bleeders do not leak and fixed the issue with the leaking stock bleeders included with the roush brakes.

I'd get speed bleeders. The bleeder screws included in stop tech kits are JUNK.

 

[F.D.Sako]

what about purchasing inserts and smaller bleeders?

 

[GT350pwns]

I may go with the speed bleeders or F.D.Sako's suggestion once (IF) I get my kit warrantied. Have been in talks with stoptech the last few days. They, however, are being fairly cryptic with what they are willing/going to do with my case. The finish on the calipers is f'd.

 

[GT350pwns]

Slight update: thought I was getting somewhere with stoptech themselves. Their customer service blows. Have been flat out ignoring me for 4 days.

 

[Imatk]

Just found this thread... have the same problem with my brakes.

It sucks because I had a set before that were perfect but I bought them in 2006... looks like they may have cheaped out on the newer versions.

 

[Zona14Stang]

I replaced the bleeder screws with speed bleeders on a roush (stop tech made) kit I installed on another car. The stock stop tech bleeders leaked and wouldn't bleed correctly. The speed bleeders do not leak and fixed the issue with the leaking stock bleeders included with the roush brakes.

I'd get speed bleeders. The bleeder screws included in stop tech kits are JUNK.

I was thinking of getting the ST60's Would you still recommend them? DO you know what size speed bleeder would be used for them?

 

[Imatk]

I was thinking of getting the ST60's Would you still recommend them? DO you know what size speed bleeder would be used for them?

Honestly I would call Brembo and just see how good their customer service is... StopTech customer service sucks big balls!

I contacted them about my brakes and was told they weren't "leaking" they were "seeping" and that it was an issue with the person who bled them.

Then I told the guy that the brakes had been on the car for about three months BEFORE I saw any issues... so if it was in the bleeding I would imagine I would have seen the leak before three months time.

He then said, "Oh... well you need to contact the vendor that you bought them from because we can't do anything anyway."

WHAT? You make the f&**&*( brakes!!

His attitude was that he was annoyed with my call and couldn't care less about my issue.

If Brembo CS is just as bad then I'd probably still go with Brembo since they don't seem to have problems with leaking. But that's me.

 

[RusWolf]

That sucks that you guys have issue with them.

I have ST40 kit, thankfully no issues at all. The only issue i have is that my brake vibrate like crazy after standing all winter but thats not StopTech's fault. I even called them and they offered different suggestions on how to clean the rotor up and what to do that may work.
I agree that the way they treat you guys might as well go with GT500's 6 pot brembo's.

 

[Imatk]

That sucks that you guys have issue with them.

I have ST40 kit, thankfully no issues at all. The only issue i have is that my brake vibrate like crazy after standing all winter but thats not StopTech's fault. I even called them and they offered different suggestions on how to clean the rotor up and what to do that may work.
I agree that the way they treat you guys might as well go with GT500's 6 pot brembo's.

To me that's the measure of a company-- when things go wrong.

Things go wrong all the time, it's how it's handled.

They didn't handle mine well and didn't handle the OP's issue well either... I'd look elsewhere.

Brembo might be just as bad with CS, I have no idea, but there are many more companies out there... BAER, Wilwood, AP Racing

 

[RusWolf]

To me that's the measure of a company-- when things go wrong.

Things go wrong all the time, it's how it's handled.

They didn't handle mine well and didn't handle the OP's issue well either... I'd look elsewhere.

Brembo might be just as bad with CS, I have no idea, but there are many more companies out there... BAER, Wilwood, AP Racing

So if i were you, just try to sell them and go with something else.
If you go with Wilwoods just keep in mind that all wilwood calipers are race calipers meaning they have no dust boots depends on where you live that may not be the best type of caliper.

When i was looking for brakes that was the reason why Wilwoods were taken off my list. Although i liked the idea of them making sets for the front and back. I am still considering getting their rear kit with like a single piston caliper but i don't want to spend $1100 on a brake kit with 1 piston calipers lol
and 4 piston calipers i'm afraid will provide too much rear bias which is not good for brake balance.
I looked at AP racing their stuff is nice, however their kits for mustangs are put together by stillen as they do not directly make kits in the US for the mustang.
I considered 15" Brembo's but everyone has them so i wanted something different and when i found absolutely killer deal on stoptechs i jumped on them based on a lot of good feedback from the BMW crowd. As well as supposedly StopTech developes their kits for mustang to work with stock rear brakes and stock (some kind of brake module) in order to keep the brakes balanced and not mess up the bias.

I hope you guys work the issues out if not ditch them and go with something else before it's too late.

 

[Zona14Stang]

Honestly I would call Brembo and just see how good their customer service is... StopTech customer service sucks big balls!

I contacted them about my brakes and was told they weren't "leaking" they were "seeping" and that it was an issue with the person who bled them.

Then I told the guy that the brakes had been on the car for about three months BEFORE I saw any issues... so if it was in the bleeding I would imagine I would have seen the leak before three months time.

He then said, "Oh... well you need to contact the vendor that you bought them from because we can't do anything anyway."

WHAT? You make the f&**&*( brakes!!

His attitude was that he was annoyed with my call and couldn't care less about my issue.

If Brembo CS is just as bad then I'd probably still go with Brembo since they don't seem to have problems with leaking. But that's me.

I will have to think about it. I believe the Brembos are alittle wider then the STOPTECH. Then I would need rims. I am not changing my rims. So then I might just stick with the stock ones. Did you try the speed bleeders the other person recommended?

 

[evil281]

I will have to think about it. I believe the Brembos are alittle wider then the STOPTECH. Then I would need rims. I am not changing my rims. So then I might just stick with the stock ones. Did you try the speed bleeders the other person recommended?

What wheels are you running? What do you need to run the 6p Brembos?

 

[Zona14Stang]

What wheels are you running? What do you need to run the 6p Brembos?

I wanted more stopping power
I have montegi mr120 wheels

 

[evil281]

I wanted more stopping power
I have montegi mr120 wheels

I was asking what wheels you would need (size) to run 6p Brembo's. Not why you need brembos

 

[Zona14Stang]

I was asking what wheels you would need (size) to run 6p Brembo's. Not why you need brembos

Sorry about that. Usually any 20" rims are fine. I have 19" so you really need a template. I downloaded both the st40 and st60 templates and they both are the same width the st60 is just taller because of the bigger rotor. I wonder if the st40 would be good enough. They are a lot cheaper. I think when I was looking for wheels somewhere I saw something for the brembo's.

 

[RusWolf]

Sorry about that. Usually any 20" rims are fine. I have 19" so you really need a template. I downloaded both the st40 and st60 templates and they both are the same width the st60 is just taller because of the bigger rotor. I wonder if the st40 would be good enough. They are a lot cheaper. I think when I was looking for wheels somewhere I saw something for the brembo's.

The difference between 4 piston and 6 piston caliper will not be felt on the streets.. you MAY feel the difference on a road racing track IF your skill level is high enough to make 4 piston brakes be insufficient only at that time you may benefit from a bigger rotor. Anyway get what you are able to afford and remember that if you only do street driving it will mainly be for looks.

For the price of 4 piston ST40 kit you can get 6 piston brembos. Maybe i should have done that purely for 15" rotor but i decided to get StopTech because i just wanted something different due to majority of mustangs and other makes using brembos as OEM.

 

[evil281]

Sorry about that. Usually any 20" rims are fine. I have 19" so you really need a template. I downloaded both the st40 and st60 templates and they both are the same width the st60 is just taller because of the bigger rotor. I wonder if the st40 would be good enough. They are a lot cheaper. I think when I was looking for wheels somewhere I saw something for the brembo's.

How about going with the 4p Brembos? I have been watching the thread where the guy built out the kit pretty cheap using autozone which uses the factory ford brembo's.

I currently have the 4p brembos and they seem pretty good. I imagine if I put a nice pad on they would be great for the street/strip. Although I am not supercharged yet. Still about 1 1/2 months out before I can start with that project.