inc55
Go Kart Champion
Update - 10 Months later
Brakes are still awesome. Pedal travel has increased due to the wearing of the pads. Not that big of a deal. Still stops very strong. Saved my but not to long ago from an accident.
Update
Even though I over torqued the performance deisel brackets they are still holding strong perhaps due to the lock tight. I guess they are the cheaper route and would work well if you don't strip them like I did but I still wish I went with the apikol brackets because they are stronger and according to some people center the caliper so that no shaving of the pegs is needed.
Also, I did have a lot of loud brake squeal which went away completely once I stalled the vibration dampeners which can be bought from pelican parts.
So after a few months of wishing I can have good brakes like my 2 previous rides (R32, G37) I finally have them! I decided to piece my own NSQBBK (Not so quite big brake kit). The journey began with finding a good set of calipers for a great price. I found excellent condition calipers using www.car-parts.com which ran me around 230 bucks shipped for both calipers. One caliper was off a 2004 boxster and the other from a 2002. Both were from car under 25k which received an A rating on car-parts. Cleaning the calipers with a wire brush was pretty easy but time consuming. Before painting with G2 caliper paint I used lacquer thinner to get any possible brake fluid out. You do not need a caliper piston tool to push the pistons back in. It it pretty easy with two hands pressing down with the thumbs. Beware of G2 paint sold on ebay. My paint kept bubbling every 5 secs which required me to keep stirring before every dip. I put two coats on and had plenty to spare. Decals were bought from ebay and so far they are staying on. I'll have to go through a few car washes to see how they last. Next is the brackets which are required to fit these brakes into our cars. I bought my kit for 300 shipped from Performance Diesel and I DO NOT recommend anyone buy from them. The bracket they sell is made from aluminum or some kind of soft metal and do not allow you to torque your carrier bolts to 140lbs. Buy the brackets from Apikol. They sell actuall steel brackets and those torque to spec. I stripped both top holes of my performance diesel brackets and I hope they dont come out. I will probably get the apikol ones when I save up some more money for peace of mind. The kit from apikol is only 44 bucks more which includes brackets, ss lines, and 4 bolts. If you buy your calipers off a car which drove 30k or less I don't think a piston rebuild is required. My boots seemed very good. I spend around 8-10 hours over the course of 3 days installing these brakes. NOTE: You will most likely need to use a dremel to shave down the pegs which hold the pads cause they will touch the rotor on one side only. I don't know how centered it will be with the Apikol brackets. So I finally installed everything and bled the brakes with a power bleeder and the pedal was very mushy. Coming from hawk pads and tyrol sport bushings this was not the feeling I was hoping for. I drove around and did the required pad bedding which consisted of (20) 60-10mph runs. 10 run without letting the brakes cool, then you drive around a bit to allow the brakes to cool then you do another 10 runs. So today I bled the fronts again and did the rears too (for the first time) and had many more bubbles come out. After I was done bleeding...
All I can say is WOW! These brakes are a powerhouse. No more mushy pedal. With brake assist on 2 I get an almost instant bite like I did on my R32. But unlike the R32 brakes these actually stop the car without locking and screeching. It's such a confidence inspiring feeling. It feels like one of those fast elevators you ride in expensive buildings when they stop. Stops with this smooth force. I highly recommend this setup for added security and confidence. I am running stoptech pads with disc quiet and I get no squeals of any sort.
Guys, save yourself the time and buy from Derek (mkv forums) and have these installed buy a professional unless you dont mind labor intensive activities and you know what you are doing. I did a LOT of research and still had questions about certain things. I also got new brembo rotors from ECS. Hope this post is helpful for anyone looking to upgrade their brakes. Yes, bushings and hawk pads and ss lines make your brakes better but when it comes to stopping from a higher speed I don't feel save with stock calipers.
Brakes are still awesome. Pedal travel has increased due to the wearing of the pads. Not that big of a deal. Still stops very strong. Saved my but not to long ago from an accident.
Update
Even though I over torqued the performance deisel brackets they are still holding strong perhaps due to the lock tight. I guess they are the cheaper route and would work well if you don't strip them like I did but I still wish I went with the apikol brackets because they are stronger and according to some people center the caliper so that no shaving of the pegs is needed.
Also, I did have a lot of loud brake squeal which went away completely once I stalled the vibration dampeners which can be bought from pelican parts.
So after a few months of wishing I can have good brakes like my 2 previous rides (R32, G37) I finally have them! I decided to piece my own NSQBBK (Not so quite big brake kit). The journey began with finding a good set of calipers for a great price. I found excellent condition calipers using www.car-parts.com which ran me around 230 bucks shipped for both calipers. One caliper was off a 2004 boxster and the other from a 2002. Both were from car under 25k which received an A rating on car-parts. Cleaning the calipers with a wire brush was pretty easy but time consuming. Before painting with G2 caliper paint I used lacquer thinner to get any possible brake fluid out. You do not need a caliper piston tool to push the pistons back in. It it pretty easy with two hands pressing down with the thumbs. Beware of G2 paint sold on ebay. My paint kept bubbling every 5 secs which required me to keep stirring before every dip. I put two coats on and had plenty to spare. Decals were bought from ebay and so far they are staying on. I'll have to go through a few car washes to see how they last. Next is the brackets which are required to fit these brakes into our cars. I bought my kit for 300 shipped from Performance Diesel and I DO NOT recommend anyone buy from them. The bracket they sell is made from aluminum or some kind of soft metal and do not allow you to torque your carrier bolts to 140lbs. Buy the brackets from Apikol. They sell actuall steel brackets and those torque to spec. I stripped both top holes of my performance diesel brackets and I hope they dont come out. I will probably get the apikol ones when I save up some more money for peace of mind. The kit from apikol is only 44 bucks more which includes brackets, ss lines, and 4 bolts. If you buy your calipers off a car which drove 30k or less I don't think a piston rebuild is required. My boots seemed very good. I spend around 8-10 hours over the course of 3 days installing these brakes. NOTE: You will most likely need to use a dremel to shave down the pegs which hold the pads cause they will touch the rotor on one side only. I don't know how centered it will be with the Apikol brackets. So I finally installed everything and bled the brakes with a power bleeder and the pedal was very mushy. Coming from hawk pads and tyrol sport bushings this was not the feeling I was hoping for. I drove around and did the required pad bedding which consisted of (20) 60-10mph runs. 10 run without letting the brakes cool, then you drive around a bit to allow the brakes to cool then you do another 10 runs. So today I bled the fronts again and did the rears too (for the first time) and had many more bubbles come out. After I was done bleeding...
All I can say is WOW! These brakes are a powerhouse. No more mushy pedal. With brake assist on 2 I get an almost instant bite like I did on my R32. But unlike the R32 brakes these actually stop the car without locking and screeching. It's such a confidence inspiring feeling. It feels like one of those fast elevators you ride in expensive buildings when they stop. Stops with this smooth force. I highly recommend this setup for added security and confidence. I am running stoptech pads with disc quiet and I get no squeals of any sort.
Guys, save yourself the time and buy from Derek (mkv forums) and have these installed buy a professional unless you dont mind labor intensive activities and you know what you are doing. I did a LOT of research and still had questions about certain things. I also got new brembo rotors from ECS. Hope this post is helpful for anyone looking to upgrade their brakes. Yes, bushings and hawk pads and ss lines make your brakes better but when it comes to stopping from a higher speed I don't feel save with stock calipers.
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