S550 4 Pistons on S197 Car

[eighty6gt]

I'm painting the outer half of these, the rears, and my wheels with single stage urethane.

 

[ghunt81]

There's a guy over on AFM saying that these "rebuilt" Brembos are actually Chinese knockoffs...and citing the lack of any numbers or names in the castings. And dammit, I think he might be right.

 

[eighty6gt]

Of course they are. I don't think they call them rebuilt anywhere. They come in plain cardboard boxes.

BEMBO ^_^

 

[Wes06]

Bembo lol
BEMBRO

 

[ghunt81]

Of course they are. I don't think they call them rebuilt anywhere. They come in plain cardboard boxes.

BEMBO ^_^

They call them "remanufactured" right on RockAuto's website.

 

[eighty6gt]

Strange. They certainly appear to be brand new castings, 100% new parts.

Just looked up 2008 brembo calipers - there are casting artifacts on these A1 Cardone parts that are additional to what I see on the brembo's. Stuff that brembo would bother machining off that these guys just left to save $. Looks like what's left of sprues or runners.

 

[fast Ed]

I remember a guy from Brembo USA telling me years ago that there were no service parts for those calipers other than the dust boots ...

 

[eighty6gt]

They are an incredibly simple component.

 

[Saleen4971]

I would be very leery of non brembo "brembos"

While I have seen plenty of reman brake parts still with oem markings (duralast calipers with fomoco still on them, etc) the chance for fake outs is too high for something that sees such stress. For me at least. Crappy metal, poor machining, etc. Would keep me away from something I don't know to be legitimate.

I hope they work out well, and it's a great way to get cheap big brakes, but I've learned my lesson on low quality parts.

Rebuild kits for brembos (seals and dust boots) are like 5 bucks per caliper on rockauto BTW.

 

[RED09GT]

Just saw the "Made in China" sticker on the bottom corner of one of the boxes so it does appear that these are not really a rebuild but are in fact a knockoff.

Only thing that has me worried a bit less is that the Aisin calipers on the S550 cars are likely made in their Indonesian factory so the quality is likely similar.

 

[OX1]

So I had the S550's already, which I got a couple years back when
Rousch was selling brand new takeoffs. It looks like with my 18 X 9
Bullit knockoff, I would need new studs and 3/4 inch spacer for S550's.

S197's, It looks like I can get away with stock studs and 1/2 inch
spacer. Studs and quality spacer I'd need with S550's seem to be
pushing the price of these knockoff calipers from rockauto.

Anyway, some pics and measurement of rotor hat face to outer
edge of each caliper. Appears to be about 3/16 inch difference.
Less that I hoped for after trying to fit S550's.

Clearance with S197's

Using nuts and washer that add up to .535, 255 tire sticks out a bit.

Spacer I was thinking of, mainly as it appears to be
hubcentric

Stock base 14 GT line vs S550. Looks to be the same
on chassis end anyway.

Also, does anyone know the stock MC bore sizes of a 14 vs 15 Gt's?
Caliper pistons seem much larger on S550's, would think MC enlarged
to match.

 

[ghunt81]

FYI the S550 line is NOT the same on the chassis end. When I originally bought my S550 calipers I also bought S550 lines, only to find out that the S550 lines have an inverted flare fitting at the chassis end whereas the S197 lines have a bubble flare.

I looked through all the adapters at two different parts stores AND online and could not find a female bubble flare to male inverted flare fitting anywhere. I'm not even sure if they make such a thing.

 

[OX1]

FYI the S550 line is NOT the same on the chassis end. When I originally bought my S550 calipers I also bought S550 lines, only to find out that the S550 lines have an inverted flare fitting at the chassis end whereas the S197 lines have a bubble flare.

I looked through all the adapters at two different parts stores AND online and could not find a female bubble flare to male inverted flare fitting anywhere. I'm not even sure if they make such a thing.

Was that frame line fitting the same through the whole S197 run?

Next time you pull a front wheel, could you snap a pic of the
fitting to caliper end, seems different than either the S550 or
stock 14 GT base caliper connection.

Might still be able to modify my original line, don't want to pull it a
part yet until I'm ready for install. Seems like a lot of material
would have to come off though.

 

[ghunt81]

Well, I didn't install the S550 calipers on my car...too hard to fit them with my wheels plus the whole brake line thing. Far as I know S197's all used the same bubble flare.

S197 brake lines will bolt up to the S550 calipers but you'd have to majorly bend/modify the hardlines to make them actually work.

 

[OX1]

Well, I didn't install the S550 calipers on my car...too hard to fit them with my wheels plus the whole brake line thing. Far as I know S197's all used the same bubble flare.

S197 brake lines will bolt up to the S550 calipers but you'd have to majorly bend/modify the hardlines to make them actually work.

Sorry, I meant how the S197, 4 piston line mounts
@ caliper end.

Not a lot of meat around opening for banjo bolt washers
on that boss sticking out side of caliper.

They almost look like they would use brake lines
used in the 70's that where direct screw in, no banjo
bolt @ all.

 

[QuickShift281]

Interested on hopping on the S550 brake swap bandwagon. Looks like wheel clearance is the biggest issue.

Anyone happen to have a list of wheels that do fit? Saw that the Forged Roush 18's do. Anyone tried with a set of 18x9 Drifts?

Think I'm going to order a single caliper from the local dealership and do some test fitting.

 

[OX1]

In case anyone needs some useless specs,
here are caliper piston sizes for all 3

S197 GT twin 43mm
S197 Brembo twin 41mm and twin 37mm
SS550 GT-Quad 43mm

 

[ghunt81]

Sorry, I meant how the S197, 4 piston line mounts
@ caliper end.

The S197 Brembos use the same line as the GT's 2 piston calipers and pretty much mount the same way. The banjo bolt fitting points down just like the fitting is on the 2 piston calipers.

I did have to bend the hardline on mine just a touch to get the little bracket on the flex hose that bolts to the strut to line up correctly, but that could just as well be an issue with the replacement lines I got because the bracket didn't look like it was bent at the same angle as the ones on my OEM lines.

 

[ghunt81]

Interested on hopping on the S550 brake swap bandwagon. Looks like wheel clearance is the biggest issue.

Anyone happen to have a list of wheels that do fit? Saw that the Forged Roush 18's do. Anyone tried with a set of 18x9 Drifts?

Think I'm going to order a single caliper from the local dealership and do some test fitting.

Can't say with any certainty but I would think anything that clears the Brembos would most likely clear the S550 calipers.

 

[ZmanM3]

The S197 Brembos use the same line as the GT's 2 piston calipers and pretty much mount the same way. The banjo bolt fitting points down just like the fitting is on the 2 piston calipers.

I did have to bend the hardline on mine just a touch to get the little bracket on the flex hose that bolts to the strut to line up correctly, but that could just as well be an issue with the replacement lines I got because the bracket didn't look like it was bent at the same angle as the ones on my OEM lines.

My 4 piston Brembo GR500 take off front breaks fit great. But I did also upgrade to the boss302 low expansion break lines. It all fit perfect on my 2005. I'm also sporting steeda altralite 18x9 rims.