Help me pick front calipers

[younggun2.0]

i already have my rear brakes. they are wilwood 12.19" diameter and .81" thick. they have 4 piston calipers with a total piston area of 3.00" and a brake pad area of 6.36"

my front brakes consists of 73-76 a-body spindles with the 11.75" rotor from a 79 cordoba. I have the AR engineering bracket that allow me to mount wilwood calipers.

my question is this:

should i get the front calipers with the largest pistons possible? i want to get as much braking force as possible on the front.

they offer the 4 piston calipers in total piston areas of:
3.00", 4.12" and 4.80"

they also make a 6 piston caliper that fits using the same mounting brackets with the following piston areas:
3.08", 4.04" and 5.06"
and a brake pad area of
7.03"

would the 6 piston calipers with the larger piston area and larger brake pad area be a noticeable improvement?

 

[Robbie2734]

The larger pistons need more brake fluid to extend. You'll need a larger bore M/C to make them work. I've read that you'll probably need power brakes too. Good luck, I'm going to follow this one to see how it turns out. It sounds like a interesting project. You do know the KH 4 piston system was replaced by a single piston floating type caliper. Maybe the engineers knew something.

 

[1970Duster]

You'd be better off with larger rotors 13/14" vs the 11.75 with bigger bore calipers

 

[72bluNblu]

You do know the KH 4 piston system was replaced by a single piston floating type caliper. Maybe the engineers knew something.

Yes, that single piston calipers are cheaper to produce and less likely to leak. :violent1:

Multi-piston set ups allow for a more equal clamping force over the area of the pads, which gives better braking. Of course, every additional piston is another seal to possibly leak. But that was probably more of an issue with the KH's than it is now.

You do still need to pay attention to the overall piston area, as that will make a big difference.

Still, if you have 12.19" rotors on the back, I'd run at least that size on the front. The larger rotor will make a bigger difference, which is why going from 10.87 to the later 11.75" rotors is a popular upgrade even though the calipers don't change.

And if you want to unload those AR brackets, let me know. :wink:

 

[younggun2.0]

i have been doing alot of research on this and i think that i am going to just try the 4 piston wilwoods with the 4" total piston area and see what happens. this is the cheapest way to go as the calipers only cost $140 ea. this will get my car rolling for the time being and i can always up grade later. they have to at least work better than my factory 9" drums did.

 

[72bluNblu]

i have been doing alot of research on this and i think that i am going to just try the 4 piston wilwoods with the 4" total piston area and see what happens. this is the cheapest way to go as the calipers only cost $140 ea. this will get my car rolling for the time being and i can always up grade later. they have to at least work better than my factory 9" drums did.

Oh they'll kick the crap out of the old drums!

That's not really the issue though, the real question is how they'll balance with the 12.19" rear disks. You'll definitely need a good adjustable proportioning valve to make the whole system work as a whole, otherwise you'll end up locking the rears under hard braking.

 

[younggun2.0]

that along with the line lock is already in the plans. as of right now the car has no brake lines in the car at all.