Upgraded Brakes

[Paul UK]

Hi,

Does anyone have make/part numbers for improved brake discs pads that are easily available? I'm in the UK and from the recent reactions of my local Isuzu dealer, I'll be as well off taking it to someone with no Isuzu experience! That said, if I can specify parts to improve my curent brakes (that are way too scary) I will save a lot of trouble/confusion.

Thanks for any help
Paul

[BritVX]

Paul,

I'm here in the UK and mine's a JDM and whilst my brakes are a bit lack luster they're not frightening maybe you might want to check your brake fluid. The other thing is what are you comparing it to? If you had any kind of performance car or even a new saloon type you'll find the VX brakes a bit dodgy but compared to other 4X4s they should be fine.

Col

[Paul UK]

Thanks Col,

I'm probably being over demanding - I've come from a lowered and uprated Mazda 323f so yes I suppose I should expect a diference. I will check the fluid level though - thnaks for the reply.

Paul

P.S. I spoke to someone here yesterday who was interested in buying and I passed on your advert.

[Tone]

Stainless brake lines and good pads are all you really need. The PowerSlot rotors are nice but I saw the biggest improvement from just changing the lines with the stock pads and rotors. Email me if you'd like me to get a complete set together (lines, pads, and/or rotors) and send it to you as a single shipment to save some costs. Be glad to help you out if you can't source them there.

[ameetw]

Hi, if you get a chance, take apart your caliper assy. Beware of jammed pins. It happened to me but before that I figured that the Vx was really bad when it comes to braking. My pin jammed and broke in the caliper, so I drilled a hole on the opposite direction and hammered that sucker out. The I lubed everything.... and now its better than before. FYI: The Vx uses the same caliper assy. as the trooper V6 not the bighorn diesel.

Hope this helps..

Ameet

[MachineVX]

I'll second that ss lines make a huge difference in brake feel!

[BritVX]

Paul,

Thanks for passing on the details. Tone helped me get the lift kit for mine and also a new reversing camera, he was a great help.

Col

[CrzyFool]

Stainless Steel Lines and Ceramic Pads are all you really need . . .


Drilled and Slotted Rotors look nice too :-)

[Francesco Rizzo]

what's the cost/install time on ss lines? also fificulty of install? I've left my rancho control system in my closet for like a year bause I'm affraid of the install.

[kpaske]

The two in the front are fairly easy - all you need is a couple of wrenches and some extra brake fluid to bleed them afterwards. You can probably knock them both out in less than an hour. The rear one on the other hand was a big pain in the butt, just because it's kind of hard to get to, but overall I think I did the whole thing in less than 2 hours. You'll probably notice a difference even if you only do the front ones, because that's where most of your stopping power is.

[morgan-tec]

I am planning on doing a custom four wheel four piston Wilwood caliper set up on the stock size rotors that will fit in stock wheels. That is next after the supercharger kit.

[Hotsauce]

My experience with Wilwoods is that because they don't have dist seals, the calipers need rebuilding every season. Their calipers are also very flex prone, and wear the pads tapered.

A better choice might be the Stoptech caliper, or for a budget, the PBR. With the PBR, the pads become a common item, and any brake place can service it with in stock pads.

John C.

[mbeach]

I concur with Hotsauce -Wilwoods are not appropriate for any kind of daily driving.

I spent a good amount of time inspecting a Wilwood/Perrin kit for use on the old WRX, and I'm glad that I saved the money by not buying.

I realize that your Ax is far from an offroader, but you had better like rebuilding your calipers 2x a year before you consider the Wilwoods.

I've used StopTech's brakes on two other vehicles, and Nissan/Sumitomo on another two. For fixed-caliper brakes, it's tough to beat the StopTech units.

If you want bling brakes, without switching from the floating caliper design, consider the Baer calipers. They look massive, and come in a number of GM friendly (not too far from our discs in size) fitments. Look up the Eradispeed kits for BBK options.
Floating calipers also have fewer problems with spoke clearance for them fancy wheels you got.

[Maugan_VX]

I don't understand.

The VX stops better than every single other SUV out there with bone stock stuff. The brake lines make a big difference with pedal feel....

[mbeach]

I don't understand.
...

We are aware of this, thank you.