brake setup help

wizzo · Jul 12, 2012

my current setup on chevy dana 60 and 14 bolt:

front: chevy 1 ton front calipers, pads?, braided line, wilwood 7:1 pedal and 1" MC, residual valve right off MC
rear: chevy 3/4 ton calipers, wagner gold? pads, braided line, wilwood 7:1 pedal and 7/8" MC, residual vavle right off MC

the front and rear axles are two seperate systems. the front definately won't lock up at all on or off road and the rear will off road but feels mediocre at best. in high range it will hold on flat ground but in low range it's not gonna happen. the pedal feel is ok, it's not too stiff and the travel feels right but something about the system is off.

basically, i'd like to know what is working for you? if you're running a similar setup that works well what is different about yours? i've thought about trying some different pads (black hawk, ebc, etc) but hate to spend the money if it's not gonna do the trick ultamately.

i've found a setup for the front that is proven and i'd like to go to eventually but it is $$$$$ with a custom hat/adapter, ww rotor, ww 4 or 6 piston calipers and ww pads.

let me know if you have any suggestions to help my shitty brakes.

Bigrocks4x4 · Jul 12, 2012

The smaller boresize on a MC will produce more pressure but less volume. I would say go with a either a 4 or 6 piston WW caliper and a 7/8 MC and be done with it. Or hydroboost with ur factory calipers shud fix ur problem too.

onetoncrawler · Jul 13, 2012

wizzo said:
i've found a setup for the front that is proven and i'd like to go to eventually but it is $$$$$ with a custom hat/adapter, ww rotor, ww 4 or 6 piston calipers and ww pads.

let me know if you have any suggestions to help my shitty brakes.

come off that cabage :flipoff1:

i would try putting a residual valve in line , close to the master cylinders - when I had chevy disc front and rear those made a big difference

you can also have your stock roters drilled and slotted then run the WW calipers and pads on those - thats what Coleworx does and has good luck with

wizzo · Jul 13, 2012

onetoncrawler said:
come off that cabage

yeah, i know, gotta pay to play!! but i'm try'n to see if i can change something minor to make them better until i can piece together the brake system i really want.

also, i'm running residual valves off the MC's, forgot that in the first post

KyTrash · Jul 13, 2012

Time to start over again, that the same setup that I was going to run. Peanut is using a 3/4 and 3/4, I think? Maybe he'll jump in here.

KyTrash · Jul 13, 2012

Onetoncrawler, What did you use?
I remember you getting $$$ from Jimmy

onetoncrawler · Jul 13, 2012

Spidertrax hats and rotors
Willwood Dynalite Calipers (WIL-1204993)
Willwood Dynalite pads (BP-10)
Willwood 3/4" MC front and rear

Sawzall · Jul 13, 2012

Wizzo, I will be running a similar setup as you except 3/4 ton calipers and Performance Friction Carbon Metallic pads on all 4 corners. Also 7/8 m/c front and rear. Those pads are great on the street if you closely follow their seating procedure so I will see how they do on a buggy.

wizzo · Jul 14, 2012

KyTrash said:
Time to start over again, that the same setup that I was going to run. Peanut is using a 3/4 and 3/4, I think? Maybe he'll jump in here.

i think this general setup can work well, but something about mine just isn't right. i hate to just throw money at it try'n different things that may not help. thats why i posted this to see if someone was running this same basic setup but doing something different than me and having good luck.

i may try moving the 7/8 mc to the front and getting a 3/4 mc for the rear to see if that helps. but i'm really hope'n somebody will chime in that has a dialed in brake setup using basically the same parts, if not i'm just gonna roll with what i have until i can afford the brake setup i have in mind.

KyTrash · Jul 16, 2012

I'll ask peanut about his.

civicmindedex79 · Jul 16, 2012

I was running 1" bore MC and wasn,t ever happy with brake performance. I also have Dana 60 one ton calipers and 3/4 ton caliper on 14 bolt. I recently traded a guy my 1" bore for his 3/4" bore. It has ALOT less peddle feel to it but does stop much better. Still doesn't actually lock up but much better in my opinion. I would say the 7/8" or 3/4" would be good but I did not like the 1" at all.

wizzo · Jul 16, 2012

KyTrash said:
I'll ask peanut about his.

thank you, please let me know what you find out.

civicmindedex79 said:
I was running 1" bore MC and wasn,t ever happy with brake performance. I also have Dana 60 one ton calipers and 3/4 ton caliper on 14 bolt. I recently traded a guy my 1" bore for his 3/4" bore. It has ALOT less peddle feel to it but does stop much better. Still doesn't actually lock up but much better in my opinion. I would say the 7/8" or 3/4" would be good but I did not like the 1" at all.

THANK YOU! this is exactly what i wanted, somebody with actual experience with this setup. i've got a 7/8 mc so i might try moving it to the front and then getting a 3/4 mc for the rear and see what that does. if i don't like that, then i'll try the 3/4 on the front. thanks for the input.

KyTrash · Jul 16, 2012

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1078832. Andrew is having the same problem. EZ- Rick says smaller MCs. I have 3/4 and 3/4, I think that I will try this setup first. Hope this helps Chris.

Jhouser · Aug 1, 2012

Any Update?? :dunno:

wizzo · Aug 1, 2012

not yet, i cut a brake line along with some other damage this past weekend so it'll be a good time to swap master cylinders. once i get them swapped i'll let ya know how it turns out.

civicmindedex79 · Aug 3, 2012

Just throwing my 2 cents in. I have basically same set up as OP. Dana 60ton calipers s/s lines but no residual. 14 Bolt 3/4 ton calipers s/s lines no residual complete separate systems. I had 1" MC and recently traded them for a 3/4" MC. Due to the fact that with 1" you could push as hard as you want on it and it never lock tires up. Now that I have the 3/4" MC the pedal has almost no "feel" to it but will lock the tires up somewhat. If I ever redo mine I believe I would go with 7/8" mostly because I haven't been extremely happy with either of the other.

wizzo · Aug 15, 2012

swapped the 7/8's to the front and got a 3/4 for the rear. so far, just moving the buggy around the shop, the brakes feel alot better. the pedal has pretty good feel and holds the buggy alot better so far. i'll be wheel'n this weekend so i'll get a better idea of the overall feel.

wizzo · Aug 19, 2012

this brake setup is a lot better. probably would be even better with some nice pads and rotors but i can hold the buggy back in low gear now. the pedal feel is great.

this is my setup now:
front: chevy 1 ton front calipers, el cheapo pads & rotors, -4 braided line, wilwood 7:1 pedal and 7/8" MC, 2psi residual valve right off MC
rear: chevy 3/4 ton calipers, parts store pads & rotors, -4 braided line, wilwood 7:1 pedal and 3/4" MC, 2psi residual vavle right off MC