Beefing up stock brakes, could use some advice

Mustanglvr2006 · Sep 9, 2010

I would love to do a "Big Brake" setup but, I have the stock 17's on the car now and I just don't have the cash to put out on new wheels/tires at this time, so I believe my best options are to get some good brake hoses, better brake fluid, some Hawk HP pads and maybe a pair of drilled or slotted rotors. I have read where some people have bought drilled or slotted rotors and have said they didnt make much of a difference over the stock rotors, I'm not sure if this is true or not.

What brake hoses would you guys recommend (braided stainless hoses I assume) but are there any specific hoses you would suggest? And what about brake fluid, what should I use? Do you think a good pair of drilled or slotted rotors are worth investing in?

I appreciate any help and advice you can give me

ct07gt · Sep 9, 2010

Goodridge stainless lines seem to be the most common, never heard any complaints about them. The best fluid for the money is probably ATE Super Blue. I have Hawk HPS pads and I like them, some people like EBC, and there are others out there. Do not try to get race pads for the street, they are great if you need them, but not what you want for the street. In my opinion, I don't think that slotted or especially drilled rotors are worth it. I don't dislike mine, but they were not worth the money.

Kurt_OH · Sep 9, 2010

Cross drilled rotors resist fade longer: they provide an avenue for pad gasses and enhance cooling.

If you're not experiencing fade, drilled rotors will make no difference.

Rickmaan1 · Sep 9, 2010

Kurt_OH said:
Cross drilled rotors resist fade longer: they provide an avenue for pad gasses and enhance cooling.

If you're not experiencing fade, drilled rotors will make no difference.

+1

Braking force is the sum of the amount of friction between the pad and rotor, and the amount of leverage that friction has to act against rotation with (i.e. rotor diameter). Leverage is easy enough to understand, the larger the rotor diameter is the more leverage the brakes have to try to stop the car. Factors that influence friction are the pad compound, pad size (friction surface area), caliper clamping force, and the rotors ability to disipate the heat generated by braking. The only time slotted or drilled rotors have any affect on this is if you're currently using the brakes hard enough that the rotors can't cool down before you hit the brakes again. There are a lot of racing brake systems that do not have drilled rotors. In fact, many racers prefer not to drill their rotors claiming it weakens them and causes cracks.

There are race oriented brake kits with 13" rotors that will fit inside a 17" rim, but that would cost as much or more than replacing your rims. Baer makes a reasonably priced kit called Eradispeed. It replaces the stock 12.5" rotors with 14" rotors but keeps the stock calipers, just using a new bracket to relocate them for the 14" rotors. The issue with that kit is they require 18" rims.

To be honest, the stock GT brake system looks very decent on paper. It should be more than adequate for most street driving. I think if you replace your hoses with braided steel, you'll get a noticable improvement in pedal feel which might be enough for you. You can also upgrade the pads with a set that will work much better than stock. Between the two, I think you'd see enough of a difference that you'll think you have a whole new brake system.

Mustanglvr2006 · Sep 10, 2010

Thank you very much for the responses I will look into the Goodridge hoses.

Rickmaan, thank you for that extremely detailed post, I should have mentioned in my OP exactly what kind of driving I do and my environment as well.........

I live up in the mountains and my drive to work I go from 2300 ft to 4000 ft, brakes are not really an issue driving to work but, driving home is another story, I'm going back down the mountain and the roads are VERY windy and obviously going from 4000ft to 2300ft there are some areas that are pretty steep and its easy to build up some speed, its pretty hard not to have a little fun on my way home, the problems I'm experiencing are......for example: there's this one spot where I make a really sharp turn and hit a kinda straight shot down, its about a 1/4 mile and if I were to just coast I can easily hit 80 mph (and thats with OD off in my auto GT) and at the end of that straight there's a pretty decent turn that I need to be going about 35-40 to make, so I have to start braking I guess about 300 ft before the turn and after about 5 seconds with moderate braking I can feel in the peddle a pulsating and can also hear the front brakes a little (not sure how to explain what I hear) I do have fade if I dont let off the brakes, and being that I'm going downhill and there are so many switchbacks and very sharp turns, I have to use my brakes alot, I don't think they have time to cool off....I can say this tho, I have learned how much I can use them and I have only smelled my brakes one time, and that was one of the first times I drove the car down the mountain. I have checked the brakes and they have meat left on them, I just do not feel they are adequate enough for this type of driving.

So with what I have explained, do you think I could use drilled rotors or if I were to just replace my hoses and get the Hawk HP pads and switch out the brake fluid with ATE Super Blue like the first replier suggested I would be OK?

Just to be clear, I really do not hit speeds over 60mph for the most part coming down the mountain (except that one spot I described above) its just that I want a little more assurance that I can play a little but still have the braking power to make the turns without having those "holy crap" moments.

Thank you in advance for any input you guys have

FreeRider · Sep 10, 2010

I say a good rotor and pad change is good for the type of driving your doing. I steer clear of drilled rotors... just been at tracks long enough to see drilled rotors fail; however, with what your doing, drilled rotors are not bad(no worries on failure or anything like that. Your driving isn't extreme enough to worry about drilled rotors). So, at this point it is up to you. I stick to my guns and say spend the 400 bucks doing a good rotor and pad change. Pads are up to you, I prefer Hawk pads, been good to me. Just make sure you SET THE ROTORS AND PADS IN PROPERLY! This is critical or you will have a serious brake failure.

I would hold off on a big brake kit for a while. If you were hitting that road every day, as hard as you could, and hitting those corners hard, I would tell you to invest, but it is over kill for your DD purposes.

This is just my opinion though. What you decide to do is completely up to you!

Good Luck! I can help out with any other brake questions, I am really good with brake systems and such.

sonnier · Sep 10, 2010

I'd stear clear of the fancy rotors and probably not even bother with the braided hoses. Your best bet is a pad change and maybe a fluid change. I've run both Hawk HPS and Porterfield R-4Ss with good success. Both are great pads for fast street driving but for the track I switch to something more agressive. Can't say I care for ATE Super Blue. I hate how it dyes everything blue and it still isn't as good as Motul RBF600. Unless you blead the brakes regularly, I would stay away from the Motul for a street driven car. I wouldn't bother to upgrade to ATE over the oem Motorcraft stuff either. There's a lot of misinformation about brakes out there and people spending money on things they don't even really need. I've gone through different setups on the track so I talk with some experience in that realm so take it as you may. I used to think drilled and/or slotted rotors were important but all they really do is look cool, take away mass(which hurts heat capacity), tend to crack faster, and wear pads quicker. I instead spent my money on brake cooling ducts but it isn't necessary for a street car. I have braided lines, too, but if it were up to me again, I would just keep my stock lines until they needed replacement. I didn't even notice a difference in pedal feel. If anything, I would highly recommend doing one change at a time and see how the improvements are for you and if you are still running on stock tires, you can make good improvements by switching to something grippier as well. You can have the best brakes in the world but crappy tires will negate any improvements in braking by not gripping.

FreeRider · Sep 10, 2010

sonnier said:
I'd stear clear of the fancy rotors and probably not even bother with the braided hoses. Your best bet is a pad change and maybe a fluid change. I've run both Hawk HPS and Porterfield R-4Ss with good success. Both are great pads for fast street driving but for the track I switch to something more agressive. Can't say I care for ATE Super Blue. I hate how it dyes everything blue and it still isn't as good as Motul RBF600. Unless you blead the brakes regularly, I would stay away from the Motul for a street driven car. I wouldn't bother to upgrade to ATE over the oem Motorcraft stuff either. There's a lot of misinformation about brakes out there and people spending money on things they don't even really need. I've gone through different setups on the track so I talk with some experience in that realm so take it as you may. I used to think drilled and/or slotted rotors were important but all they really do is look cool, take away mass(which hurts heat capacity), tend to crack faster, and wear pads quicker. I instead spent my money on brake cooling ducts but it isn't necessary for a street car. I have braided lines, too, but if it were up to me again, I would just keep my stock lines until they needed replacement. I didn't even notice a difference in pedal feel. If anything, I would highly recommend doing one change at a time and see how the improvements are for you and if you are still running on stock tires, you can make good improvements by switching to something grippier as well. You can have the best brakes in the world but crappy tires will negate any improvements in braking by not gripping.

+1

Really.

I just vote a good rotor replacement if he REALLY wants to upgrade.

racerraj · Sep 11, 2010

Brembo Solid Rotors and the Hawk HPS pads make for an affordable reliable upgrade with no problems. Keep It Simple.

Ltngdrvr · Sep 11, 2010

Something you might consider, although I'm not sure if they would fit inside 17" wheels, would be the brakes off a 2011 GT, the rotors on them are 13.2" and would be a big improvement over the brakes on your car now and should be a bolt-on deal.

Beefing up stock brakes, could use some advice

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