Dave's Big Brake Upgrade

02 Graphite GTS

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Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

I finally had some free time to do my brake upgrade.
After doing some research and talking with many people, I decided to go with the SRT10 Brembo calipers front and rear. I bought the entire package from Dave's Big Brakes.
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Shown above are all the parts:
14" slotted and dimpled EBC rotors
SRT10 calipers custom powdercoated blue
Dave's big brake brackets
Stainless steel brake lines
14" emergency brake
EBC red pads
Brake fluid
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I was originally planning on doing the upgrade in my garage at home,
but decided to do it at my shop since I recently put in a 2 post lift.
The lift made the upgrade soooooo much easier and in the end saved me a whole lot of time.
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Once the car was up on the lift, I pulled the wheels off.
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This is the stock rear brake with integral E-brake.
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Stock front brake.
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Both the front and rear calipers are bolted on with just 2 bolts.
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Rather than trying to drain all the brake fluid out and removing all the old brake lines and caliper first, I decided to just unbolt all 4 calipers and hang them off the spring coils till I was ready to pull them off. This allowed me to pull off the stock rotors and do all the prep work with out having any residual brake fluid dripping all over the place from the open brake lines.
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Shown above is the rear hub with the ears for the original calipers.
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These ears need to be cut off and ground back in order for the rear brackets to be installed properly
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I made the first cut using a sawzall with a Bi-Metal blade. It worked fine, but decided to finish cutting the rest of the ears off using a Porta-Band bandsaw which was really easy to control and quicker.
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After cutting off the ears, I used a disc grinder to clean up the cut.
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Once this was done, I pulled the 2 bolts which hold the bearing housing and positioned the rear caliper bracket. There is a small flashing spot that needs to be ground off the back side of the hub in order for the new bracket to sit flush.
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Using the grade 8 bolts supplied, I torqued them down to secure the rear brackets.
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The front spindles do not require any cutting, other than grinding the small flashing on the backside of the hub in order for the bracket to sit flush against the backside. The front brackets use 4 grade 8 bolts in the existing holes to secure them to the hub.
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Once I had all 4 brackets mounted and torqued down, I installed the new rotors and slipped on the calipers. Since the SRT10 calipers do not have an integral E brake, a new E-brake had to be installed. It comes preassembled and was an easy bolt on item to add in.
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Once I was sure that everything was fitted correctly, I pulled off the caliper and secured the steel braided lines and fittings. Once the new caliper was bolted in, I was ready to disconnect the old brake caliper and line. As soon as the old brake line was disconnected, I was able to connect the new steel braided line and had minimal dripping of brake fluid.
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The fronts were done in the same fashion.
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Special care must be taken to route and secure the E-brake line, Steel braided line and the Anti-Lock brake wiring. I found that after I had installed the wheels that the lines were rubbing against the inner rim of the wheel, so I had to go back and secure the lines so that they would not rub.
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This is the backside of the front calipers.
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Again special care must be taken when routing and securing the lines.
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Everything was going smoothly till I discovered that one of the calipers had a stripped out hole.
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My only real option was to repair the threading, so I drilled out the hole.
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Tapped it to fit a special metric Heli-coil.
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I carefully installed the Heli-coil, and machined the fitting face to be perpendicular to the threads of the heli-coil. It was a time consuming, but relatively easy fix.
Once all the calipers were installed, I flushed out all the old brake fluid and bled the brakes 2 times. Then I checked every connection for leaks and tightened any that showed signs of fluid.
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I put on the wheels and checked to make sure I had enough clearance
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The fronts caliper retaining nuts were extremely close to the inside of the wheel, so I filed them back to ensure that they would not rub.
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The entire project took about 6 hours, (not counting the time to fix the stripped caliper).
It was a lot of fun to work on...and was very easy to do utilizing the car lift.
Finished pictures will be posted shortly.
 

KURT E

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Terrific write-up. Someone add this to the illustrated upgrade section.

Thank you.

Kurt
 

Dave's Big Brakes

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Hey Lance,

Great install with instructional pictures :2tu: way better than I did :shocked: You need to send this to Dan for our New mag. :usa: :cool:

check your email :laugh:

It's so nice having a lift :cool:

ck my site for your pictures :2tu:

Merry Xmas

Dave
 

JiPi

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

WOW!
Nice job and thanks for the detailed write-up! :2tu:
Definitely needs to be moved later in the illustrated upgrades section.
 

Jim Wilson

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Excellent writeup!!! :2tu:

Curious how you got the "Viper" logo on the calipers..... powder coated, sticker or paint?
 

vipertime3

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

I have to say, what an incredible job! But, it also seems to me that most folks (who could do a brake upgrade on most other cars I've worked on), would be challenged to get this right. Hardly a "bolt on" upgrade.

Getting a brand new caliper with a stripped bleeder screw hole is also completely unacceptable. You were able to recover nicely, but again, most folks would be hard pressed to fix that. . .hope you got all of the metal shavings out of the caliper!

What's the deal with designing a kit that requires all the cutting, grinding, etc.??
 

REDSLED

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

What's the deal with designing a kit that requires all the cutting, grinding, etc.??

There is no way around that (unless you purchase Gen 3 Spindles @ $400+ a piece)as cutting the "ears" of the back spindles allows for the caliper bracket to be mounted. Every kit I've used (Stop Tech, Wilwood, Brembo, Alcon) to upgrade the Viper rear brakes requires the cutting. Great write up and Dave has delivered a great product! :cool:
 
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02 Graphite GTS

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Excellent writeup!!! :2tu:

Curious how you got the "Viper" logo on the calipers..... powder coated, sticker or paint?

Thank you everyone for the compliments on the write up.

I'm not sure how the "viper " logo is put on. Racecars will know.
My guess is that it is a sticker of some sort.

The center caps are engraved.
I bought the blank center caps from CCW (A big 'thank you" to CCW as well) and I engraved the sneaky pete using my CNC router/engraver. Once they were engraved I sent them out to California Chrome along with my wheels to be chromed.
Lance
 

Dave's Big Brakes

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Excellent writeup!!! :2tu:

Curious how you got the "Viper" logo on the calipers..... powder coated, sticker or paint?

Hey Jim,
They're decals and work very well :2tu: Mine have been one since I started this project, & look just great. :usa:

Dave
 
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02 Graphite GTS

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

I have to say, what an incredible job! But, it also seems to me that most folks (who could do a brake upgrade on most other cars I've worked on), would be challenged to get this right. Hardly a "bolt on" upgrade.

Thanks... It really was not that difficult at all as it is a very straightforward install. Aside from the cutting of the tabs...it is most definitely a Bolt On upgrade.

Getting a brand new caliper with a stripped bleeder screw hole is also completely unacceptable. You were able to recover nicely, but again, most folks would be hard pressed to fix that. . .hope you got all of the metal shavings out of the caliper!
If they were brand new calipers...I would have been upset. But I saved some money by buying some used calipers and having them powdercoated. How or why they were stripped out, I'll never know...but at least it was a fairly simple fix. Just not something someone who does not have access to the proper tools would want to do.

[/QUOTE]

What's the deal with designing a kit that requires all the cutting, grinding, etc.??
I suppose you could eliminate the 'grinding' part...but I wanted to post pictures on the site and didn't want anyone bashing me for not making it pretty :bonker:

All in all, it was a relatively easy install.
 
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02 Graphite GTS

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

What size wheels are you using?

I went with CCW 505A's 18x10 fronts with Pirelli P0 275/35/18
19x13 rears with Pirelli P0 355/25/19

Once I get the car cleaned up and on the ground I'll post more pictures.
 

DrDJ

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Very nice installation! What was the total cost of the modification? It looks like about $1000 for brackets and braided lines, not including the SRT calipers and rotors. What is the improvement in stopping distance from 60 mph versus stock? What kind of improvement can be expected on a non ABS car?

DrDJ
 
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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Very nice installation! What was the total cost of the modification? It looks like about $1000 for brackets and braided lines, not including the SRT calipers and rotors. What is the improvement in stopping distance from 60 mph versus stock? What kind of improvement can be expected on a non ABS car?

DrDJ

Dom.....are we going to do the practice run on your car....then we'll do mine??? :)
 

RedEnuf93

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Very nice installation! What was the total cost of the modification?

I talked to Dave, it sounds like $2700 or so, depending what you want.
After last January's incident, I can use all the stopping power Dave has to offer... :D
 

Dave's Big Brakes

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Big Brake Dave @ coming off turn 4 @ Willow Springs :D
It's also my 20th year running the "Fastest Track In The West"
:cool:
251.jpg


If nothing else :shocked: lots of "Bling" with my Big Brake Upgrade :cool: :usa:
 

twinturbo3150

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Great right up looks good. But 1 question are the rotors on backwards? The EBC rotors are stamped left and right, Just curious
 

twinturbo3150

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Great right up looks good. But 1 question are the rotors on backwards? The EBC rotors are stamped left and right, Just curious

Front rotors look backwards......trust me on this. :)


I think the backs are reversed as well, I have the EBC slotted and dimpled rotors for my coupe, I put the fronts on not knowing any better. But as I was putting my rear's on I noticed the Left and right stamped on each rotor. I had to redo the front which was no big deal and the rear went on just as easy.
 
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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

My $$$ is just the fronts are criss-crossed...... :)

NOT hard to do.....and when I (personally) look at everything else done....big fat hairy deal. :)

Probably had them staged properly and then got distracted. Simple fix. :)

Looks awesome!
 
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02 Graphite GTS

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Great right up looks good. But 1 question are the rotors on backwards? The EBC rotors are stamped left and right, Just curious


Yikes!!! You guys are right. I just went out and checked it out and the two of the rotors are going the wrong direction :bonker: (Driver front and passenger rear)
Thanks for pointing it out.
 
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02 Graphite GTS

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

Very nice installation! What was the total cost of the modification? It looks like about $1000 for brackets and braided lines, not including the SRT calipers and rotors. What is the improvement in stopping distance from 60 mph versus stock? What kind of improvement can be expected on a non ABS car?

DrDJ

I'm sure Dave or Tom could answer your question much better than I can.

I'll say this... at lower speeds, braking didn't seem to change much. The pedal had a better 'feel' which I would attribute to the steel braided brake lines. But other than that no real huge difference.

What did make a difference was hitting the brakes at higher speeds (60 mph +). The nose of the car did not dip/lunge forward like it did with the stock brakes. It felt more like the entire car squatted down. The weight transfer to the front wheels is definitely less.

I really wish I would have taken the time to do some stock braking distance numbers and compare to the upgraded brake numbers. To be perfectly honest, I never had problems getting my car to stop....I'm sure that I have cut down on the braking distance, but more importantly, its being done with less heat and better balance overall.
 
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02 Graphite GTS

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Re: Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade

In terms of cost:
Brackets with mounting hardware $795.00
Stainless steel brake lines $245.00
E-Brake $495.00

total $1535.00

All prices are listed on Dave's site www.davesbigbrakes.com (yeah I know another free plug and no I don't get any commission from him)

Brand new pads, rotors and SRT10 Calipers will run about $2100 - $2400 from the dealer

Total cost was about $3600.00 for parts only.

One thing to keep in mind is that you will probably have to get new wheels and tires since the stock wheels do not have enough offset in the rears to clear the SRT10 calipers.
 

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