I am running 33's and am looking to replace my brakes with about a $500 budget. I mostly run in water/mud but have been getting into mountains with steep grades(switchbacks) on 2 tracks with little room for error. heh. I'm looking for recommendations for calipers/rotors and pads. It would be nice to find some calipers coated for rust prevention, if it even matters? Is there any calipers that are "the best"? On RockAuto they show Powerstop as heavy duty and coated, but I am too ignorant to make a informed decision. As far as rotors, I read that centric are very good and unless someone says otherwise I will go with them. That leaves Brake Pads, which Ive read BM are some of the best performing on this site but haven't heard about them anywhere outside of Jeep forums. Any input or recommendations with my use cases and budget would help a lot. Thanks.
Brake question and recommendations
- Thread starter j8014
- Start date
I don't spend much time on non Jeep related forums nor do I care much about their braking issues.
Do you have any recommendations on calipers & rotors? Is there anything out there that performs better than Centric calipers and rotors or is it just marketing?
Blaine (the guy who designed and runs Black Magic Brakes) only does brakes for Jeeps, that's why you haven't heard anything about them outside of the Jeep world.
Centric rotors with Black Magic brake pads is the best setup you can get for your Jeep, period.
Although it's outside of your budget, with 33s you could also upgrade to a Vanco big brake kit from Black Magic, which would be a very nice upgrade.
Centric rotors with Black Magic brake pads is the best setup you can get for your Jeep, period.
Although it's outside of your budget, with 33s you could also upgrade to a Vanco big brake kit from Black Magic, which would be a very nice upgrade.
Calipers are very basic hydraulic single acting cylinders. Once you can make the piston move back and forth, there isn't much else you can do to make it any better provided quality rebuild components and practices are employed.
You can make them worse, nearly impossible to make them perform better.
Ah thats kool. Well thank you both for the input. I just ordered the BM kit with the rotors and calipers.
You're going to be amazed at the performance of the Black Magic pads. Best brake pads I've ever installed. Since I don't have anti-lock brakes, I have to remember how much stopping power these have on wet roads.
So just wanted to follow up with this thread. I went and bought the TJ pads, rotor and calipers from Black Magic Brakes, and installed them this evening. Just finished breaking the pads in per instructions... WOW. My buddy and I were surprised at just how much better this setup is compared to anything either of us have ever had. Thank you @Chris for the recommendations and @mrblaine for putting together the best brake setup around, its very much appreciated!
I redid some of my front end last year and in the process replaced the pads & rotors (generic) without having read much about Blaine's product. I really wish I had read a little more, because the brake performance on my 33's leave a lot to be desired. I was going down a decent grade with no traffic last month and decided to test them out (no ABS), I hammered the brake pedal and for the life of my could not get the tires to lock up. Wish I had done my research!
I can relate to your story, it's what prompted me to look for new brakes. I can tell you right now, if you go with BM's you will be able to lock ur brakes up when ever you want at any speed, up hill, down hill, in front of a detective doing paperwork, you name it. Anyways, for 33's that BM upgrade is well worth it.