Era brakes Upgrade

[marionp01]

Hi
I have an Era n°589, this car is fantastic except 2 points :
The brakes are standard and the performance of the front brakes is so poor that it could be limit dangerous
Did some of ERA owners install some upgrage or new system to improve this point ?
Could you give me some advises

[patrickt]

I have the big brake option up front. It requires a little work on the knuckle for it all to fit. 12.2" rotors on the six pins and, I believe, they now use Wilwood instead of Sierras. Whether you need to then modify the rears is another question.

[marionp01]

[quote=marionp01;1350385]Hi
the second component that give problem is the steering rack that was not construct for such larger tires

The 2 arms are too flexible and give a poor precision on the position of the steering wheel

Did some of you replace this component by another more rigid

Thanks for your info

[patrickt]

If you have the old Subaru rack in there, you can change it out to a nice Flaming River rack that will fix it.

[patrickt]

... which will necessitate new tie rods, but which will have the added benefit of helping you eliminate the radial play that has no doubt built up in the outer bushings.... Do you have the Triumph column in there?

[patrickt]

OK, so that's a new steering rack, tie rods, steering column, knuckle work, rotors, four piston calipers and pads... might as well throw on a quick release hub on that new column, too, and now we can move to the back end....

[marionp01]

My steering column is comming from triumph parts
As concern wilwood front brakes , could you give me a reference that could be compatible with less adaptation job as possible

Thanks

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by marionp01

As concern wilwood front brakes , could you give me a reference that could be compatible with less adaptation job as possible

OK, what you have on there now are, basically, GM Calipers that fit a 1975 Camaro. What you could try is checking out the Camaro forums and do an internet search for an upgrade that would just bolt on. Surely there are easy Camaro brake upgrades out there. Once you find something, run it by Bob P. just to make sure.

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by patrickt

OK, what you have on there now are, basically, GM Calipers that fit a 1975 Camaro. What you could try is checking out the Camaro forums and do an internet search for an upgrade that would just bolt on. Surely there are easy Camaro brake upgrades out there. Once you find something, run it by Bob P. just to make sure.

Patrick,
I have car #698. I want to change pads all the way around. How can I tell which brakes I have up front? Are they the same Camaro brakes you are referring to here? As far as the rear pads are concerned, what Jag(year and series) pads do I look for?
Thanks...Dave

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by davids2toys

Patrick,
I have car #698. I want to change pads all the way around. How can I tell which brakes I have up front? Are they the same Camaro brakes you are referring to here? As far as the rear pads are concerned, what Jag(year and series) pads do I look for?
Thanks...Dave

If they don't look like mine, which are big ass four piston jobs, and have Sierra, JFZ, or Wilwood written on the side, then you have the Camaro brakes, which are half the size. The Jag rear ,which uses the XJ-6 differential, uses the Lucas/Girling GP97 pads.

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by patrickt

If they don't look like mine, which are big ass four piston jobs, and have Sierra, JFZ, or Wilwood written on the side, then you have the Camaro brakes, which are half the size. The Jag rear ,which uses the XJ-6 differential, uses the Lucas/Girling GP97 pads.

No, I don't have your killer brakes...but I already knew that. I have the standard brakes. I need to know what year Camaro brakes so when I need parts or pads or upgrades, I know what to buy. In a past conversation with Peter, he said I was near a cutoff year and I may not have the Camaro brakes, but he was not sure. Is there a way to tell what year, or years of Camaro brakes that I have? Or even if I have Camaro brakes. What other types did ERA use for standard brakes on the front?
Thanks for the XJ-6 info, isn't there also series and year info that I need for part info? Would you know that?
Thanks

[Dangerous Doug]

I hated the Camaro brakes. The single large piston made for a very squishy, long-travel brake pedal that felt unsafe and disconcerting.

I upgraded with some dual piston SSBC brakes for about $500 from Summit Racing. They were a direct replacement for the Camaro brakes and bolted right into place. The SSBC brakes feel solid, safe, and I have plenty of stopping power. I left the rear brakes alone, and I believe the ERA outboard brakes came from the Corvette. I don't have any weird front-rear biasing issues on braking.

My car is a 289 FIA with a 331 stroker.

DD

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by Dangerous Doug

I hated the Camaro brakes. The single large piston made for a very squishy, long-travel brake pedal that felt unsafe and disconcerting.

I upgraded with some dual piston SSBC brakes for about $500 from Summit Racing. They were a direct replacement for the Camaro brakes and bolted right into place. The SSBC brakes feel solid, safe, and I have plenty of stopping power. I left the rear brakes alone, and I believe the ERA outboard brakes came from the Corvette. I don't have any weird front-rear biasing issues on braking.

My car is a 289 FIA with a 331 stroker.

DD

Doug,
That is an excellent idea. I just went to Summitt to take a look. I was not sure of the year so I went with 1975 Camaro for a guess. They have many choices to pick from. in SSBC Do you remember or have the specific SSBC model you ordered. They also have Wilwood upgrade choices also. If I was to go this route, I think I would also spring for new rotors and bearings, they seem reasonably priced. I am assuming all of this is Camaro?

I have the 427 car and you have the FIA; same braking system? So you made no change to the master cyl and had no issues? That is encouraging. I can't believe it could be this easy. Did you have to adjust the bias considering the fronts should now be much better and grabbier than the rears.

Also love your idea of changing out the rubber lines. My car is 12 years old, so I should probably do this for the front and rear brakes! Like you said, "CHEAP INSURANCE". Does it take Camaro specific replacement rubber lines or something else?
Dave

[Dangerous Doug]

Oh, and I replaced the rubber brake lines with DOT braided stainless steel brake lines. I am uncertain how much of a difference this made, but for the money is was cheap insurance. I think the Camaro kit I purchased for this was ~$100.

DD

[strictlypersonl]

The Stainless Steel Brakes caliper A185S is the best bolt-in replacement. Piston area is close to the original, and so doesn't require a master cylinder change. Because the piston centers are further out on the disc surface, there's 5-10% more mechanical advantage.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ssb-a185-s

*By the way... Before you do anything, check that your brake balance bar is set up correctly. If you don't have enough stroke-bias to the front master cylinder, the balance will be off and the pedal will be really hard.

In addition, the pads can become glazed when they are not used hard during the break-in, or for a long period afterward. If sanding the friction surface doesn't fix that, replacement may be necessary.

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by strictlypersonl

The Stainless Steel Brakes caliper A185S is the best bolt-in replacement. Piston area is close to the original, and so doesn't require a master cylinder change. Because the piston centers are further out on the disc surface, there's 5-10% more mechanical advantage.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ssb-a185-s

*By the way... Before you do anything, check that your brake balance bar is set up correctly. If you don't have enough stroke-bias to the front master cylinder, the balance will be off and the pedal will be really hard.

In addition, the pads can become glazed when they are not used hard during the break-in, or for a long period afterward. If sanding the friction surface doesn't fix that, replacement may be necessary.

Great post Bob, thanks, however, this kit is not available. I was looking at this series and I did not see this kit in the 75 Camaro section, now I know why. They do have a replacement for it, but it does not come with some of the hardware. It is http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ss...t/model/camaro
I think I am going to do this. Was not planned, but I love the idea of simple improvement that is cost effective. Between this, new rotors and rubber hoses, I expect a noticeable improvement. Now I just need rotor part numbers and the rubber hose part numbers. I think I saw in the Assembly manual that the rubber hoses are a modified piece from ERA. I just looked, it is EISSP5753/modified whatever that means?

A little confused. Your second paragraph: You are talking about after I install right? This is nothing I have to do before purchasing?

Third paragraph:
Are you talking about sanding the pads or the rotors, or both? Somewhere I think I read 80 grit recently!

[kevins2]

What Dan said.

[Grubby]

I added the ERA upgraded rear and upgraded front brakes to 755 a few years back. It was a pretty easy install, but not cheap.

It looked cool. It is doubtful it improved the street performance.

john

[patrickt]

You know, I don't think the upgrade to the four pistons is all that much. That's the way to do it, ya know....

Edit: (from the ERA 427 Options Page)


Competition [front brakes]: Includes 4 piston alloy calipers, 12.2" directionally vented rotors, custom hats, caliper brackets, hoses & hardware. Requires spindle modifications ... $1500

Spindle modifications, add ... $100

[Dangerous Doug]

Well, for $500 or so the SSBC upgrade made a very positive improvement over the stock Camaro brakes. The difference in pedal feel coming from feeding two smaller pistons in the SSBC brakes instead of the one large piston in the stock Camaro brake caliper. With the two smaller Pistons you feed a much smaller volume on pedal compression.

Bob also mentioned the additional pad area, which undoubtedly helps.

If you're using the stock Camaro brakes and you have an uneasy feeling as you press the brake pedal, the SSBC's will make a noticeable difference. These turned out to be a good solution for me.

Bob? You guys ever think of offering the SSBC's as an upgrade? I am really happy with mine.

Cheers,
Doug