CELEBRATING 20 YEARS!

Hey guys did anybody try the power stop kits. See there ads all over the power nation programs. And they say there way better then stock and what not.
Also wondering how they compare to the US brakes oversized calipers?

I have a some experience with calipers because I have done some research on them, but I am not too familiar with the Power Stop calipers. So, I went and looked on their website to see if I can get a look at what they are selling. The calipers are remanufactured (rebuilt) units. I do believe they are doing all the caliper rebuilding in house because I don't believe the caliper can have the piston or seal in the caliper when it is getting the powder coat baked on in the oven. Seams like a fair price considering the Centric brand drilled and slotted rotor goes for about $46 each and new AFCO calipers go for $50 each and they are not even power coated. Good aftermarket pads start around $40, so your right around their Power Stop's asking price of $215.

When I was dealing with AFCO remanufactured 2.5" diameter piston calipers, AFCO seemed to be sourcing them from the rebuilders and repackaging them as AFCO units. I saw a few Centric brand tags on some of their calipers and I believe they just rebox the calipers from different rebuilders.

That being said AFCO does have a brand new stock replacement 2.5" diameter piston caliper that I recommend. Part number 663-5003 and 663-5004. It not painted up, but its a nice new casting. I talked to one of the sales rep about these. They went with new castings because the used casting where getting harder to resource. They found having someone cast new calipers would be more cost effective than trying to source rebuilt ones.

Most of the Big Bore metric calipers on the market that I have bought and inspected have measured less than their 2.75" diameter claim. The CCP caliper measured about 2.56" and was advertised as a 2.75" caliper. Wilwood is the only caliper that I have inspected that came with an actual 2.75" diameter piston. Its casting was superior to any of the other calipers I have inspected (AFCO rebuilt, CCP Big Bore, Centric, etc.). That being said, I have not inspected a AFCO oversized caliper and cannot tell you the quality. For the money that you will spend, the Wilwood caliper is the only one I would buy if I went oversized and the new AFCO replacement 2.5" piston caliper is the only one I would buy if just buying a replacement caliper.

The benefits of drilled and slotted rotors will not be noticed on a small 10.5" diameter stock rotor. Most of the benefits of good braking come from the pads.

If your brake system is in good "nick", the best braking performance will come from the pad. I am not sure what you want to accomplish with your braking system, but I would do some research and buy the pad that suits the need your trying to accomplish.

If you are looking for bolt on looks, then the Power Stop kit may be for you.

David Schultz
david.schultz@manualbrakes.com

Thanks for the info. Good read. I have all new stock replacement stuff from my local Chevy dealer. At the time I built my cars there where not much for brake kits. Unless you wanted to pay big money and change every thing from the steering knuckle out. Which I still don't want to do.

Also seen ssbc has a kit looks pretty good

Those are good looking calipers.

The SSCB twin piston calipers are 1.5" versus 1.62" for the Wilwood bolt ins. Both have a much smaller piston area than a stock 2.5" diameter caliper.

Both the twin piston calipers will have less clamping force than a stock calipers.

So no matter what the sales pitch says there's no better caliper then the stock ones?
* I am just seeing this now. That both wilwood and the ssbc kits need bigger wheels.
So I guess. That stock is my only option anyway.