40mm Rear Calipers

[Tom, F&L GoR]

I went to Lime Rock, CT last Thursday with the latest iteration of modified Brembo rear calipers on my '94. The OEM size piston is 36mm, so 40mm is 23% more piston area, but that's just the math. The real benefit is that it balances the front and rear braking really well. Pretty neat to steam down the straight, brake hard without locking the fronts, and hear the engine speed increase when I let off the brakes. (Proportioning valve is disabled, no other prop valve installed.) It might now be a touch too much rear, since the car dances a bit over the road undulations, but I'll play with that by switching from R4 rear pads to Brakeman #3; from what I've read, B#3s are slightly lower coefficient of friction.

Normally I would see a post like this and think of it as bragging, but when the Porsche 996 driver asked me if I had ABS.... well, just had to share.

[Ron]

Tom,

Clearly you've developed the lowest cost brake upgrade that actually works. I'll be following in your footsteps soon.

Makes you wonder why Dodge just didn't do it right in the first place since it's just a slightly different bit of machining...

[Nadine UK GTS]

Tom, great to read your post, can't wait to try your mod myself. My calipers are bored, pistons sleeved and the 40 mm seals came in from the US supplier Saturday. Thanks for all your help with this mod, including all the emails you kindly sent me re machining, sorting the seals etc. Way to go.