Jump to content

Wilwoods for street use.


Gaz

Recommended Posts

Anyone on here use wilwood calipers for street use? I know astro does. what they like, what pads you use calipers etc...?

I am looking at buying some at the moment. I have been told that they are shit tho for street use. The seals apparently always leak and they are just utter shit.

Someone who knows hook me up some info.

Otherwise hook us some opinions etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use mine for everyday use and haven't had a problem with them, my model doesnt have dust seals but they havent leaked at all(they're only 4 months old though), I suppose it depends what conditions you are driving in though. Mine have wilwood pads too, Burton told me to get them as they would be very hard to get here, not sure if thats true but I got them anyway, I would rather have them than have to do another order

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had recond m16 calipers beforehand with ebc green. The wilwoods just make braking alot smoother but they dont grab on or anything, but I rarely change down gears when coming to a stop because the brakes are just so good now. In saying that though I havent done any really hard braking so when it comes to the crunch I dont know much yet.

Main reason I bought them from burton was that they came with mounts to bolt straight onto the m16 mounts, i thought they would be hard to get like that in nz and I didnt even look elsewhere because I thought they were reasonbly cheap anyway - $500 for the pair excluding pads. Even burton had to order them from the factory as they didnt stock them. But you may be able to order them with m16 mounts anyway as my mounts had wilwood written on them, which means wilwood make them and not burton.

I would ring around first to see whats available

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes im looking to use them instead of my AP calipers. Supose I will need the spacers etc to fit them on my 22mm thick disc (capri width).

Wonder if I can just order them all set up. $500 is about max I would pay.

Can you also get differant piston volume so the pedal is exactly the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are after Wilwoods for an English Ford, I would talk to Les Hunter Automotive in Christchurch.

Les supplies Wilwood and will custom make hats...rotors...mounts, and he races a OSCA Escort, and knows of the braking issues with the cars.

Les setup the front brakes on my old RX7, and after previously having issues with incorrect sized Master Cylinders that I inherited with the car, we resized the master cylinders to match the leverage angles of the pedals....and bingo the brakes actually started to perform.

The Wilwoods are unlikely to leak.....its more than likely the caliper that was leaking was a JFZ caliper, they were prone to it because of the profile of the o-ring seals, the Wilwoods shouldnt do it unless they need rebuilding.

Remember these brake components are generally race componentry, and as a result are designed to be rebuilt regularly, and as they dont have the things like dust covers, you might experience higher wear rates than for equipment that was designed for road use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sweet might give that dude a ring. I have already sussed discs and hats just need the caliper now.

I didnt think the rumors I had heard were true. If the guy wasnt such a hot head I would have told him he was all shit when he told me.

How long are we expecting from the calipers. For sunday street use wouldnt expect to have to rebuild them for a few years at least right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really should ring them. will do tommorow morn..

Reason for willwood is they do the right size piston etc for my car so itd just be bolt on. Dunno about skyline ones. I have some Austin princess ones that I would go for if I decide not to use the Wilwoods. Jut thought for the price I can sell the Ap ones its only a couple extra hundred for Willwoods. And I thought id rather have Wilwoods

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really should ring them. will do tommorow morn..

Reason for willwood is they do the right size piston etc for my car so itd just be bolt on. Dunno about skyline ones. I have some Austin princess ones that I would go for if I decide not to use the Wilwoods. Jut thought for the price I can sell the Ap ones its only a couple extra hundred for Willwoods. And I thought id rather have Wilwoods

If you want another option....I've got a few sets of BMW ones...apparently the same as early Porsche, and I have the matched 2 pot rears.....

The pads might be easier to get than the Princess ones

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers dude. I still need to come out and grab that book of ya. Have a chat to ya when I get round to that. Have started work again so have been tired most days and havnt been getting out apart from weekends

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah i run wilwoods.. although i dont know too much about the setup exactly..

i find braking pretty good.. although im not running a booster at all so they can seem a little weak at times.. especially if theyre cold..

but yeah.. i havent been doing any heavy braking with them.. and they havent let me down at all.. with a booster id think theyd be psychotically good..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...