Brake upgrade on stock wheels?

[SHOstuff]

I'm one of those guys that like me sho to be a sleeper or ghost. Inother words, I like my sho stock and I'd like to keep it that way by all means if I can. So with that said, I was thinking of upgrading my brakes and I just browsing the shosource and the net, I know it's not likely that I could put brembo brakes on a stock spindle with slicers. I saw that shosource offers 13" and 12" brakes. Which one of them will fit on a stock sho without modifying anything. Also...what bias plugs and how do they work and install them? Shosource doesn't describe them enough on the purpose of them and how do they help with braking. Thanks!

 

[St Louis SHO]

The 12" kit clears slicers. Also, from the cars I have driven, I'd stay away from bias plugs.

 

[kevinspann]

Cobra calipers on 11.6" rotors would be a less expensive route, you would still have plenty of pad choices, and can buy rotors anywhere vs. the 12" kit which, IIRC uses turned down 13" rotors (someone correct me if I'm wrong there).

 

[St Louis SHO]

You're correct on the rotor. But, I dont think rotor replacement will be very often unless the car is raced. The 1.1" rotor is very durable. The 11.6" rotor is around an inch, which with new pads still extends the caliper more, giving a lower pedal feel, even with good pads. BTDT!

 

[SHOstuff]

So you're saying, st. louis, that the 11.6" is a waste? Would I be better off with the 12" brakes? And where can I get the 11.6" cobra brakes from or at least look at them?

 

[SHOstuff]

The 12" kit clears slicers. Also, from the cars I have driven, I'd stay away from bias plugs.

What did you hear about the bias plugs to make you say that?

 

[St Louis SHO]

I didnt hear, I drove. The car has a tendency to swing the ass end around with them in.

 

[jayro]

It really kinda depends on what you want to spend and how you will use the car. The stage 1 ('96 upgrde) with good pads works well for most that see mainly street duty. Its also an inexpensive upgrade. The 12" kit is a much more aggressive set up. What he is saying about the rotors is that since one is thicker the piston on the caliper doesnt have to travel as far to reach the rotor. Therefore there isnt s much brake pedal travel before it grabs.

Bias plugs basically give full force braking to your rear brakes regardless of the situation. Some people like them, but you have to be carefull cause it makes it alot easier to lock up the back brakes and have the car switch ends on you. If your abs is functional it should kick in to avoid this. If you want to adjust the bias you can always tie up your bias valve so it doesnt cut the flow of fluid off to the rears. It wont give you 100% to the rear, but it will increase it. This is what I did to help get the back end around in tight corners.

 

[SHOstuff]

So do you feel with them in that it's a safety hazard possibly? What does shosource say about them?

 

[SHOstuff]

It really kinda depends on what you want to spend and how you will use the car. The stage 1 ('96 upgrde) with good pads works well for most that see mainly street duty. Its also an inexpensive upgrade. The 12" kit is a much more aggressive set up. What he is saying about the rotors is that since one is thicker the piston on the caliper doesnt have to travel as far to reach the rotor. Therefore there isnt s much brake pedal travel before it grabs.

Bias plugs basically give full force braking to your rear brakes regardless of the situation. Some people like them, but you have to be carefull cause it makes it alot easier to lock up the back brakes and have the car switch ends on you. If your abs is functional it should kick in to avoid this.

Oh I see! And btw...I don't have abs so I don't know if it'll help with my braking or not.

 

[jayro]

Oh I see! And btw...I don't have abs so I don't know if it'll help with my braking or not.

My personal opinion is with no abs, I wouldnt use them. The backs lock pretty easy under hard braking, especially if you upgrade the fronts. Try tieing up the valve and see if you like it.

 

[SHOstuff]

I have the 94'-95' spindle on there already, just wanted to add a little pizzaz to my sho without over doing it. But how do you tie up the valve and where would that be?

 

[LOUDSHO92]

Cobra calipers on 11.6" rotors would be a less expensive route, you would still have plenty of pad choices, and can buy rotors anywhere vs. the 12" kit which, IIRC uses turned down 13" rotors (someone correct me if I'm wrong there).

The rotors may cost less but you have to have the calipers machined and it is a permanent machining. The 12" kit can be upgraded to 13" at any time. Also you will need to find a machine ship to do the 11.6 machining unless you can do it.

So you're saying, st. louis, that the 11.6" is a waste? Would I be better off with the 12" brakes? And where can I get the 11.6" cobra brakes from or at least look at them?

You have to piece the 11.6 upgrade yourself and do the machining.

What did you hear about the bias plugs to make you say that?

I do run the bias plugs with Cobras up front and have been fine even with track time. To me so long that you have ABS you are fine.

 

[rubydist]

What he is saying about the rotors is that since one is thicker the piston on the caliper doesnt have to travel as far to reach the rotor. Therefore there isnt s much brake pedal travel before it grabs.

That's an interesting theory, but it has no basis in fact.

The fact is that the brake rotors push the pads away when you release the brake pedal, and how thick the rotor is has nothing to do with this fact. The only reason a thicker rotor would make any difference here is if the thinner rotor was warped due to overheating.

What is actually going on here is that it takes more clamping force on the setup with a shorter lever arm, therefore it takes more pedal movement to get the higher brake line pressure to accomplish the same amount of braking.

 

[St Louis SHO]

Wanna bet?

 

[SHO Continental]

So do you feel with [bias plugs & no ABS] that it's a safety hazard possibly? What does shosource say about them?

It is a definite safety hazard. Do NOT under any circumstances put bias plugs on a SHO that doesn't have functioning ABS.


I'd say go with cobras over 11.6" rotors. You just have to get the caliper brackets machined. If at a later date you want to upgrade to 13" rotors just sell the machined brackets and buy a stock set.

 

[fast Ed]

You can also use 03-up Crown Vic 12" rotors with the Cobra calipers, in place of cut down 13" rotors, by shimming the caliper anchor over slightly.


cheers
Ed N.

 

[jedhead]

You can 12.5" Baer Racing kit under slicers. The kit is expensive, because the knuckles are machined and you need to grind the lower control arms slightly. I have a set on my SHO with custom 2 piece rotors from TCE which weigh one pound more than the stock 10.2" rotor. I lost 6 lbs of unsprung weight on each wheel. I also use bias plugs mainly because the TCE control arms have no way to hook the arm that that regulates the bias on the custom control arms. I haven't notice any tendency for the car wanting to swap ends.

Baer Racing installed with slicers:


Machined Knuckle on the right:


Custom Rotors:


The Baer Racing setup are offered for sale on the forum sometimes. If you are interested, I would keep an eye out for them.

Bob

 

[jayro]

Interesting. Maybe I misunderstood his post about the thicker rotor. Guess you learn something every day.

That's an interesting theory, but it has no basis in fact.

The fact is that the brake rotors push the pads away when you release the brake pedal, and how thick the rotor is has nothing to do with this fact. The only reason a thicker rotor would make any difference here is if the thinner rotor was warped due to overheating.

What is actually going on here is that it takes more clamping force on the setup with a shorter lever arm, therefore it takes more pedal movement to get the higher brake line pressure to accomplish the same amount of braking.

 

[biker889]

Ok, how about a list least expensive to most expensive. Feel free to adjust if im wrong with anything.
11.6 rotors, fn-74 caliper brackets.
10.9 rotors, mustang gt twin piston pbr calipers
11.6 rotors, cobra calipers, machine brackets.
12" machined rotors, cobra calipers,
12.5 custom rotors, modified early knuckles...
Keep in mind. for the first 4, you must have 94-95 knuckles