I recently made a larger purchase for my 2005 Wrangler Rubicon when I ordered a the Vanco 16" big brake kit. I've never kept it a secret that I hated the stock brakes on my Wrangler, and I think if you read enough on any of the Jeep forums this seems to be the general consensus. The stock brakes aren't that bad when you're running stock tire sizes, but start getting into 33" or larger territory and it's pretty noticeable (at least to me) how much the stock brakes start to show their weakness.
Before this purchase I'd done a ton of research online in regards to brake upgrades. I initially had planned to do some nice rotors and Black Magic brake pads. From what I hear from others, the stock rotors with a set of properly broken in Black Magic pads makes a very big difference. However, being the kind of person I am (always wanting to have the best of the best that is), I decided why stop there when I could just get a big brake kit?
Now, as far as I know Vanco is the only big brake kit option for the Wrangler TJ. There may be others, but if so I've never heard of them, and none of them would be nearly as well received or as well documented as the Vanco kit. It's been around for probably close to a decade now (maybe longer?) and it's gone through several generations including numerous updates and revisions. There are guys out there still running the original Vanco Hydroboost brake kit, but from what I hear that kit wasn't all that great. The newest generation of Vanco big brake kits is something else altogether.
One thing I had to take into consideration when making this purchase is that I run RCV front axle shafts. Anyone who has installed a set of RCV axle shafts knows that some grinding is involved of the stock knuckles. Well, with the latest generation of Vanco brake kits they made the replacement knuckles (which are included with the new kit) 100% ready for RCV axles. Yep, that's right! The newest generation of Vanco brake kits has knuckles that accept RCV axles with zero grinding or modifying whatsoever.
This is awesome news for RCV axle owners like myself! I'd read a ton of threads on other forums in my research that had a lot of guys opting not to get the Vanco brake kit merely because they had RCV axles and didn't want to mess with it. Well, everyone can rest easy now since RCV knuckles and the Vanco big brake kit can finally coexist peacefully! And coexist they do indeed, because I must tell you that my experience with the Vanco big brake kit thus far has been nothing short of spectacular. Read on to see my thoughts...
My Initial Thoughts
I'm going to skip the entire installation procedure. Installing the Vanco big brake kit is easy, especially if you're a mechanically inclined person. I could do an entire write-up on the install, but why bother? The instructions included with the kit are so thoroughly put together and well thought out, that honestly you don't need a write-up. They include pictures, step-by-step procedures, etc..
Anyways, after installing the brake kit the first thing to do was to do the break in period. This is absolutely imperative to get the brakes functioning properly. If you don't follow the break in procedure correctly, it's almost a guarantee that you won't get the same amazing results from these brakes as you would have otherwise.
The break in procedure can be found here.
I have to admit that after completing the install and taking it out for the first time to do the break in, I was a little disappointed. I was expecting more 'bite' when I hit the break pedal for those 40 mph plus stops. Sure, the Jeep stopped just fine, but it didn't seem to be that much of an improvement over stock. Still, I continued the break in process and remained optimistic. I'm glad I did too, because with each stop the brakes seemed to get better and better. Alas, after cooling them down I had to take the Jeep home and park it for the night.
After the brakes were broken in completely, the family and I decided to go to the Oregon coast for the weekend which was perfect! It's around a one and a half hour drive from where we live to the coast each way. I figured this was a perfect chance to get some time behind the wheel and test out these new brakes. It was mostly highway driving, but there was also some stopping and going involved, and plenty of huge downhill roads at 55+ mph since you have to drive through the coastal mountain range to get there.
The one thing I found about these brakes on my trip is that they do indeed improve each time you use them. The trip to the cost was dry on the way there, but it was a torrential downpour on the way back which ended up in multiple high speed highway stops to yield to the morons in front of me who were seemingly scared of driving in the rain.
Indeed, each of those stops got better and better, and the bite on these big brakes was instantly noticeable over the stock brakes in a HUGE way! The stock brakes on the Wrangler TJ can be particularly scary at high speeds (especially with no ABS), and that was one of the first things I noticed about this Vanco big brake kit, is how it effortlessly slowed this 4000+ pounds of steel from 60 mph to 20 mph without even breaking a sweat.
The other nice thing I noticed is that with the new big brake kit the brakes don't seem to lose their power when they get heat soaked. Whereas the old stock brakes would gradually lose stopping power (and distance) the more often you used them, the Vanco kit doesn't seem to be affected by this. I suppose this makes perfect sense though since the Vanco kit uses dual piston calipers as well as rotors that are not only much larger, but have a much greater surface area. The included Black Magic brake pads are almost twice the size of the stock Wrangler brake pads. All of this combined adds up to one hell of an improvement over stock.
Once we got into town it was noticeable as well. The brake pedal is stiffer, there's much more bite, and the braking distance seems to be drastically reduced. I feel much more confident hitting my brakes now. I locked them up numerous times just to test things out, and while there is no ABS on the Rubicon, it's insane how little distance it takes me to come to a full stop, it's almost scary!
So, I've only had the Vanco brake kit for a matter of days as I'm writing this. However, I have managed to log around 150 miles on them thus far, and to say these are an improvement over stock would be an understatement... A HUGE ONE! I would say that the $1060 I spent on this brake kit was worth every penny and I would do it again in a heart beat.
If what I read from others is true, and the brakes continue to get better, well then I'm going to be one hell of a happy guy. I'll leave the review here for now, but I'll periodically post back here each week or two and let you guys know my impressions the longer I own the kit.
Week 2
It's going on week 2 since I installed my Vanco big brake kit. My awe and excitement for this kit continues to grow with each passing day. It's true what they say, the more you use the brakes, the better they seem to get. I was driving the other day in traffic and some asshole in front of me slammed on his brakes on the highway. I had to hit my brakes in response going about 55 mph. Now normally (before the big brake kit) this would have been a very scary situation with the stock brakes. However, with the Vanco kit it seems as if I almost stopped in place, they really are that good!
Driving around town at slow speeds you don't really notice the big brakes much (which is fine). What I've found is that you notice the braking improvement the most when coming to high speed or sudden stops. Consequently, each high speed or sudden stop seems to improve the brakes each time. When I go to hit the brake at suddenly the amount of 'bite' that the brakes have is instantly apparent. It's also very apparent that the brakes don't 'fade' as much with heat and constant stop-and-go driving.
Week 3
Here I am in week 3 now which is odd because it seems like I just installed these the other day! Anyways, the brakes are continuing to improve. It's funny, because anytime I get in my Jeep to go for a drive and use the brakes at low speed they feel just like the stock brakes, including the amount of pedal pressure. You really wouldn't even know there's upgraded brakes on the Jeep unless you were doing some high speed stops. The cool thing however is that when you do need to do a sudden stop (or a high speed stop) it's instantly noticeable that the brakes are far from stock!
Just like last week, I had to do a few hard and sudden stops this week and sure enough it seems that the brakes got better each time. From what I'm told by others who have the same kit, this is normal. The brakes are supposed to get better each time until hey initially taper off at some point. I don't know when that point will be, but I love it so far.
The other great thing about this kit is that it uses calipers and rotors from a Ford Explorer Sport Trac. This is great, because should you ever need to replace any of the components, you can do so on a budget. Imagine how much money you'd be in the hole if this was a Brembo kit and you had to buy new rotors or pads? Good lord... I don't even want to imagine!
Week 4
I'm loving these things! I just got back from a huge downhill drive with a massive hill, and the entire way going down the hill the brakes didn't fade once and completely stopped more than expected. Talk about a massive, massive improvement over the stock brakes.
When driving around town it's sometimes easy to forget the brakes are upgraded. These brakes really shine when it's sudden stops or hide downhill declines. This is of course fine with me, since I'm not concerned about insane stopping power when I'm just putting around town. The bottom line is that these brakes are there when you need them to be, and do their job 100% and then some.
It's been 4 weeks now and I can honestly say that this is turning out to be one of the best modifications I've done to the Jeep so far!
I'll report back next week for week 5, so stay tuned!
The Vanco 16" big brake kit can be ordered here.
Before this purchase I'd done a ton of research online in regards to brake upgrades. I initially had planned to do some nice rotors and Black Magic brake pads. From what I hear from others, the stock rotors with a set of properly broken in Black Magic pads makes a very big difference. However, being the kind of person I am (always wanting to have the best of the best that is), I decided why stop there when I could just get a big brake kit?
Now, as far as I know Vanco is the only big brake kit option for the Wrangler TJ. There may be others, but if so I've never heard of them, and none of them would be nearly as well received or as well documented as the Vanco kit. It's been around for probably close to a decade now (maybe longer?) and it's gone through several generations including numerous updates and revisions. There are guys out there still running the original Vanco Hydroboost brake kit, but from what I hear that kit wasn't all that great. The newest generation of Vanco big brake kits is something else altogether.
One thing I had to take into consideration when making this purchase is that I run RCV front axle shafts. Anyone who has installed a set of RCV axle shafts knows that some grinding is involved of the stock knuckles. Well, with the latest generation of Vanco brake kits they made the replacement knuckles (which are included with the new kit) 100% ready for RCV axles. Yep, that's right! The newest generation of Vanco brake kits has knuckles that accept RCV axles with zero grinding or modifying whatsoever.
This is awesome news for RCV axle owners like myself! I'd read a ton of threads on other forums in my research that had a lot of guys opting not to get the Vanco brake kit merely because they had RCV axles and didn't want to mess with it. Well, everyone can rest easy now since RCV knuckles and the Vanco big brake kit can finally coexist peacefully! And coexist they do indeed, because I must tell you that my experience with the Vanco big brake kit thus far has been nothing short of spectacular. Read on to see my thoughts...
My Initial Thoughts
I'm going to skip the entire installation procedure. Installing the Vanco big brake kit is easy, especially if you're a mechanically inclined person. I could do an entire write-up on the install, but why bother? The instructions included with the kit are so thoroughly put together and well thought out, that honestly you don't need a write-up. They include pictures, step-by-step procedures, etc..
Anyways, after installing the brake kit the first thing to do was to do the break in period. This is absolutely imperative to get the brakes functioning properly. If you don't follow the break in procedure correctly, it's almost a guarantee that you won't get the same amazing results from these brakes as you would have otherwise.
The break in procedure can be found here.
I have to admit that after completing the install and taking it out for the first time to do the break in, I was a little disappointed. I was expecting more 'bite' when I hit the break pedal for those 40 mph plus stops. Sure, the Jeep stopped just fine, but it didn't seem to be that much of an improvement over stock. Still, I continued the break in process and remained optimistic. I'm glad I did too, because with each stop the brakes seemed to get better and better. Alas, after cooling them down I had to take the Jeep home and park it for the night.
After the brakes were broken in completely, the family and I decided to go to the Oregon coast for the weekend which was perfect! It's around a one and a half hour drive from where we live to the coast each way. I figured this was a perfect chance to get some time behind the wheel and test out these new brakes. It was mostly highway driving, but there was also some stopping and going involved, and plenty of huge downhill roads at 55+ mph since you have to drive through the coastal mountain range to get there.
The one thing I found about these brakes on my trip is that they do indeed improve each time you use them. The trip to the cost was dry on the way there, but it was a torrential downpour on the way back which ended up in multiple high speed highway stops to yield to the morons in front of me who were seemingly scared of driving in the rain.
Indeed, each of those stops got better and better, and the bite on these big brakes was instantly noticeable over the stock brakes in a HUGE way! The stock brakes on the Wrangler TJ can be particularly scary at high speeds (especially with no ABS), and that was one of the first things I noticed about this Vanco big brake kit, is how it effortlessly slowed this 4000+ pounds of steel from 60 mph to 20 mph without even breaking a sweat.
The other nice thing I noticed is that with the new big brake kit the brakes don't seem to lose their power when they get heat soaked. Whereas the old stock brakes would gradually lose stopping power (and distance) the more often you used them, the Vanco kit doesn't seem to be affected by this. I suppose this makes perfect sense though since the Vanco kit uses dual piston calipers as well as rotors that are not only much larger, but have a much greater surface area. The included Black Magic brake pads are almost twice the size of the stock Wrangler brake pads. All of this combined adds up to one hell of an improvement over stock.
Once we got into town it was noticeable as well. The brake pedal is stiffer, there's much more bite, and the braking distance seems to be drastically reduced. I feel much more confident hitting my brakes now. I locked them up numerous times just to test things out, and while there is no ABS on the Rubicon, it's insane how little distance it takes me to come to a full stop, it's almost scary!
So, I've only had the Vanco brake kit for a matter of days as I'm writing this. However, I have managed to log around 150 miles on them thus far, and to say these are an improvement over stock would be an understatement... A HUGE ONE! I would say that the $1060 I spent on this brake kit was worth every penny and I would do it again in a heart beat.
If what I read from others is true, and the brakes continue to get better, well then I'm going to be one hell of a happy guy. I'll leave the review here for now, but I'll periodically post back here each week or two and let you guys know my impressions the longer I own the kit.
Week 2
It's going on week 2 since I installed my Vanco big brake kit. My awe and excitement for this kit continues to grow with each passing day. It's true what they say, the more you use the brakes, the better they seem to get. I was driving the other day in traffic and some asshole in front of me slammed on his brakes on the highway. I had to hit my brakes in response going about 55 mph. Now normally (before the big brake kit) this would have been a very scary situation with the stock brakes. However, with the Vanco kit it seems as if I almost stopped in place, they really are that good!
Driving around town at slow speeds you don't really notice the big brakes much (which is fine). What I've found is that you notice the braking improvement the most when coming to high speed or sudden stops. Consequently, each high speed or sudden stop seems to improve the brakes each time. When I go to hit the brake at suddenly the amount of 'bite' that the brakes have is instantly apparent. It's also very apparent that the brakes don't 'fade' as much with heat and constant stop-and-go driving.
Week 3
Here I am in week 3 now which is odd because it seems like I just installed these the other day! Anyways, the brakes are continuing to improve. It's funny, because anytime I get in my Jeep to go for a drive and use the brakes at low speed they feel just like the stock brakes, including the amount of pedal pressure. You really wouldn't even know there's upgraded brakes on the Jeep unless you were doing some high speed stops. The cool thing however is that when you do need to do a sudden stop (or a high speed stop) it's instantly noticeable that the brakes are far from stock!
Just like last week, I had to do a few hard and sudden stops this week and sure enough it seems that the brakes got better each time. From what I'm told by others who have the same kit, this is normal. The brakes are supposed to get better each time until hey initially taper off at some point. I don't know when that point will be, but I love it so far.
The other great thing about this kit is that it uses calipers and rotors from a Ford Explorer Sport Trac. This is great, because should you ever need to replace any of the components, you can do so on a budget. Imagine how much money you'd be in the hole if this was a Brembo kit and you had to buy new rotors or pads? Good lord... I don't even want to imagine!
Week 4
I'm loving these things! I just got back from a huge downhill drive with a massive hill, and the entire way going down the hill the brakes didn't fade once and completely stopped more than expected. Talk about a massive, massive improvement over the stock brakes.
When driving around town it's sometimes easy to forget the brakes are upgraded. These brakes really shine when it's sudden stops or hide downhill declines. This is of course fine with me, since I'm not concerned about insane stopping power when I'm just putting around town. The bottom line is that these brakes are there when you need them to be, and do their job 100% and then some.
It's been 4 weeks now and I can honestly say that this is turning out to be one of the best modifications I've done to the Jeep so far!
I'll report back next week for week 5, so stay tuned!
The Vanco 16" big brake kit can be ordered here.
