What's best way to make brakes stop better?

[drdelorean]

I just had ED's power brake kit installed (vented disks, bigger callipers) I also upgrades the brake lines to the SS TUV hoses. I went with the yellowstuff pads both for the front and rear.
Since I was already doing work in the area I decided to go for ED's SS front lower arm support box kit.

All of this combined made a magnificent difference to the response and feel when braking. And no problems with overheating yet, as that was a problem before going on spaghetti-road road trips.

I highly recommend delores.eu power brake kit. It really made a positive difference in my case.

[jwrayth]

I just had ED's power brake kit installed (vented disks, bigger callipers)

Just for clarity sake; Ed's kit does _not_ have bigger calipers. The calipers have a spacer to provide room to fit the vented disc, but otherwise are the same (so same pad/disc surface area).

I had rebuilt my brakes 2 years ago and fitted them with Yellow-stuff pads which made a noticeable difference, and then I upgraded to Ed's vented discs + spacers last year. I did not notice a difference in braking with the vented discs until after my one very long drive I managed to fit in last year.

[drdelorean]

Thanks for clearing that up.

Thats interesting, I noticed an immediate difference, maybe due to to yellow stuff pads and the SS hoses. I guess the only difference with the vented disks is the fact that they dont overheat as easily.

[David T]

Thanks for clearing that up.

Thats interesting, I noticed an immediate difference, maybe due to to yellow stuff pads and the SS hoses. I guess the only difference with the vented disks is the fact that they dont overheat as easily.

The ventilated rotors have a bit more mass so they can absorb more thermal energy, Also because of the ventilated ribs and larger surface area and forced cooling they are able to dissipate the thermal energy more rapidly. All of this delays brake fade due to heat. It does increase the unsprung mass, that and the spacer in the caliper. Different friction materiel in the pads can create more friction and function better with more heat but they wear rapidly, create a lot of dust, usually don't work well till they get hot, work lousy when wet, and score up the rotors. Each compound has it's different benefits and compromises. If you are "upgrading" your brakes be sure to change your brake fluid EVERY YEAR. If it absorbs enough moisture you can boil it. Turns the braking system from a hydraulic system into a pneumatic system but it wasn't designed to be pneumatic so it won't work AT ALL. If you are having problems with brake fade from street driving (and don't live in San Francisco) you are using your brakes way too much or going way too fast.

[sdg3205]

If your brake system has been over hauled and the master replaced other adjustments may need to be performed. If you feel as though your pedal travel is sub par the brake booster take up adjustment will need changed. This is the contact point behind the master cylinder piston to the booster rod. Keep in mind if over extended the brake system will be applied all the time. It is a very fine tuned adjustment where very little nets a lot but definitely required in a lot of cases when the master is swapped out.

This.

We battled what felt like long pedal travel in one car for a long time. We installed a new MC, stainless lines, and went through a few gallons of DOT 4. In the end, we had to drive around with a 17mm socket and breaker bar and a couple sets of pliers to make tiny, 1/8th turn increments in the booster rod to find the sweet spot between crap and too much. Hint - you can smell and feel "too much" very easily.


Also to the OP:

I have also found that despite what you'd expect, the rear callipers quite notorious for hoarding air. I often have to gently pry the pistons back in to coax the air out. Given the nature of the fronts (sharing a bleed/fill crossover) you really have to push the pistons back in a few times to coax the air out.

Don't rely on pressure bleeders - they're a good start but you can't beat the buddy system.