Big Brakes - 14 Inch Rotors Wilwood Calipers

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Well I would buy one now if you're planning on keeping your 80 and won't remove any archaic brake systems. It would be very optimistic to think that it won't be discontinued soon and even an off brand raybestos rebuilt unit is $660. These trucks are pretty amazing but ABS was in its infancy when they were designed and a 25+ year service life is pushing it for some of these systems. In my black truck I will be removing the old ABS and LSPV and cleaning up the brake line routing as its a lot of extra line.
 
OK I pulled a few things together to try and attempt to price this thing out. The issue I see is I don't see very many people jumping on this bandwagon. First it requires new wheels and tires so that is min. $1000 right there, used. But ASSUMING I get 100% of all the pieces together and do 100% of all the machining and make this kit absolutely bolt-on, how many of you would actually fork out $2500-3000 for a complete front brake kit? At that price there isn't much of a markup especially not having the actual machining costs. If its one or two people then yeah its really not worth the headache of getting it all done. 5-6 people then yeah it makes it compelling. 10 systems then yeah the headache would be worth it for sure. The economics of scale start to work in my favor instead of against :P

Thoughts? I am going out tomorrow to one of my machine shops anyway so I'll bring this project up for giggles.

@jtwopark what are your thoughts? This seems to be your area as well :flipoff2:
 
I've seen BBK's for other brands around that price point and up and I always thought they are way too expensive to bother to have it changed.
So, there's your answer.

I understand for a small batch the manufacturing costs would be high vs mass production. You also have to make a living and considering the potential buyers, it would not be worth the effort on your part. I can't commit to that price point.
Heck, I'll drive slow for that matter.
I haven't even super/turbo charged my 80 yet.

Maybe a hybrid 105 would be a better choice in my mind if I have to consider all the costs into building the 80 into a better SUV.
 
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Zero, I was going to say something earlier but the market for a BBK is likely zero. The cost is 50-100% of what most of us spent on our 80's they don't look cool or get chicks like a snorkel. The hassle and expensive of replacing rotors when they wear is high. I am not sure what rotors you're looking at but the 380x34mm rotors I bought are almost $500ea while the superlite caliper is ok I have heard guys flexing the body on much lighter cars so stepping up to a bigger more robust likely more expensive caliper is ideal. Really the only way I see this working is if you find a caliper that you can make work that can be sourced from a junkyard i.e. a corvette caliper, etc. build a spacer and then have hats machined to fit a popular rotor. But finding a caliper that matches the 80 piston size might be a challenge. I have the stock caliper drawings in my build thread if you need detailed dimensions. I am looking at an all in cost of about:

TC6 calipers - $1100
Pads - $175
Aluminum - $400
Machining - $500
Rotors - $900

BBK kit - $3075
 
Yeah I bought mine on sale. Usually $1200 a pair, I paid $900... But that's 380mm a 355mm would be cheaper and more common. Look for a 32mm width it's much more common than the 34mm's I am using.

355's you could maybe fit under a 17" rim depending on the design a 380 is a very minimum 18" rim.

The tough part is that a two piece rotor is traditionally a very high performance part so you wont really find any low cost alternatives. I am not familiar with the brand the OP used in his build but one thing to remember is you want something popular that is going to be around so you can buy replacements down the road once you engineer a solution around it.
 
NLXTACY said:
But this isn't a result of this upgrade correct? The reluctor ring is on the birf and the sensor is in the knuckle so no reason so get rid of either if not needed right?
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correct, not part of the upgrade but rather failed parts that i did not replace/repair but eliminated. this is not for everyone but does improve braking performance.
 
Here are my parts all from Summit Racing:

Caliper Wilwood 120-13228, 120-13227
Caliper Mounting Bracket Wilwood 250-6309 Caliper Pad Set WIL-150-9416K, Wilwood BP-20 7420 High-Friction Metallic, Sintered Metallic
Brake Adapter Earls 989538ERL, this adapts from the Toy hardline 10mm x 1.0 to 3-AN and fits into the Toy bracket on the axle perfectly, Toy specific
AN to NPT Fitting EAR-962203ERL, this is 90* ell used at the caliper 1/8" NPT to 3-AN to connect the softline
AN Softline EAR-63010112ERL, perfect length between the caliper and axle fitting, 12-inch long
Rotor/Hat ARP bolts/nuts ARP-661-1003 and ARP-300-8312 these are 8mm x 1.25 x 30.0mm for PFB rotors
ARP bolts for my bracket to Wilwood bracket ARP-753-1750 and ARP-300-8375, these are 7/16"-20 x 1.75"

Here are costs:
Calipers $230x2=$460
Caliper bracket $64x2=$128
Pads $80
Brake line adapters $51
Bolts $155
Rotors $250x2=$500 estimate (I purchased new old stock for $200/set)
No tax no shipping =$1,374, add tax and shipping it is close to $1600.
This does not including hat and knuckle bracket material or machining, profit or mark-up.
 
Are the disks bolted solidly to the brake hat? I ask because traditionally there should be some float laterally between the two. With the caliper mounted solidly, and the rotor mounted solid, you will run into an issue with pad knock back. It also helps to make up for any possible uneven wear of the pads. It doesn't need much, off the top of my head I think 20-30 thou.

With a street car, you may not run into an issue. I've had a knock back issue on our race cars, it's mainly been because the rotor float was out of spec.
 
Ideally you would source an OEM rotor from another vehicle that fits the 80. Unfortunately that is made somewhat difficult by the way the hub is assembled on our trucks.

There is really no need for a 2-piece rotor for an 80-series BBK, I don't think anyone is all that concerned about unsprung weight.
 
Douglas S said:
There is really no need for a 2-piece rotor for an 80-series BBK, I don't think anyone is all that concerned about unsprung weight.
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hmm... yes and no. One of the benefits of a two piece setup is the compliance between the very hot rotor and the not so hot hat/hub. It may not be needed but is definitely a benefit. I have had the oem rotors warp causing severe braking vibration well before end of life. This condition is much less likely on a two piece hat rotor design.
 
NLXTACY said:
OK I pulled a few things together to try and attempt to price this thing out. The issue I see is I don't see very many people jumping on this bandwagon. First it requires new wheels and tires so that is min. $1000 right there, used. But ASSUMING I get 100% of all the pieces together and do 100% of all the machining and make this kit absolutely bolt-on, how many of you would actually fork out $2500-3000 for a complete front brake kit? At that price there isn't much of a markup especially not having the actual machining costs. If its one or two people then yeah its really not worth the headache of getting it all done. 5-6 people then yeah it makes it compelling. 10 systems then yeah the headache would be worth it for sure. The economics of scale start to work in my favor instead of against :p

Thoughts? I am going out tomorrow to one of my machine shops anyway so I'll bring this project up for giggles.

@jtwopark what are your thoughts? This seems to be your area as well :flipoff2:
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Joey,
can you check with your machine shops on the cost to machine the oem rotors into a hat similar to my design vs. machining a complete hat from round aluminum bar stock. 60xx aluminum is expensive and a complete hat from raw aluminum bar stock requires a lot of machining. And you would probably want to anodize also. Using the stock rotors as a core, the machining is fairly simple, turn the OD and face and drill/ream holes for rotor. This might be a cost saving??? The knuckle bracket would be quick work on a programmed cnc.
 
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