S550- 6 piston Brembos on 05-14 GT Guide (affordable)

[S197H]

Try putting the rear wheel to the front. The rears are wider and have a different offset. If anything you could go to the dealership and buy 2 rears so that you’d have a square setup. Unless you want staggered.

My rear tires are 275, the fronts are 255s. I guess I would have to get new tires as well.

 

[xeninworx]

My rear tires are 275, the fronts are 255s. I guess I would have to get new tires as well.

Yes that too. Try the swap of rears to front and see how it goes. I guess you like the wheels so not really much options.

 

[S197H]

Yes that too. Try the swap of rears to front and see how it goes. I guess you like the wheels so not really much options.

The only other thing is that I don’t know why my wheels hit the studs even after adding spacers that clear the brake calipers.

 

[Blown_S197]

Lines: Power Stop BH00115
Cost: 108$ front and rear

I'm about to do this upgrade to my 06 s/c Gt but am hoping someone can confirm the line upgrade. The above kit would be the lines for the s197 shouldnt I purchase BH00116 the lines for the s550 since those are the brakes being used? my understanding is the line to the car is the same but the adapter to the caliper is the change. I am currently running the 19 inch rims from the new mach 1 so I believe the brakes will clear

 

[S197H]

Yes that’s the correct kit, but I would purchase these from LMR since they come with the brackets and it’s plug and play. I installed the Powerstop Kit you mentioned and had to make it work with the brackets they supplied. This was before LMR released their brake hoses.

https://lmr.com/item/SVE-32120H/2005-2014-mustang-s550-sve-brembo-front-brake-hose-kit

 

[steve shaker]

Has anybody got the brembo 6 piston to work with 7 spoke saleen wheels? If so what spacer did you use for them?

 

[GriffX]

Brake balance is despite ABS still important, you usually brake not so hard that the ABS is used. Let's say you change the 70:30 front rear to 90:10, that means the dynamic weight distribution during light braking is higher than before, leading to less traction of the rear tire. In a curve the car could go into oversteer sooner than with the correct brake balance.
Can be compared to the rear LCA relocation bracket when you lower the car.

 

[yote0]

Ford did use a larger master with the 6 piston brakes on S550's. I did on a thread on it a while back here.
https://trackmustangsonline.com/threads/s550-pp-master-on-s197.14230/

This is my concern as well with the six piston setup. Significantly more fluid is needed to move those six pistons. Seems the master cylinder would need to have greater fluid moving capacity.

I did a four piston upgrade on my 14 GT and am very impressed with the much improved braking. Six piston upgrade for a street car is massive overkill and possibly dangerous on a track car with the stock S197 master cylinder.

 

[Zukie06]

What is size difference between 4p and 6p calipers? I have set of 4p and just ordered the 13-14 Gt500 rotors. Now I not sure if I got correct rotors after reading post.

 

[yote0]

What is size difference between 4p and 6p calipers? I have set of 4p and just ordered the 13-14 Gt500 rotors. Now I not sure if I got correct rotors after reading post.

You need the 14" rotors for the four piston calipers, not the 13/14 GT500 rotors.

 

[2morrow]

Hey OP, great thread.

Can you elaborate more on the S550 rotors? How exactly will it not fit and the washer thing? Is it the depth of hardware used?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Andrey Sidorov]

Hey OP, great thread.

Can you elaborate more on the S550 rotors? How exactly will it not fit and the washer thing? Is it the depth of hardware used?

Thanks in advance.

Hey, thanks - so the spacing on the s550 rotors is different it wasnt designed for s197 platform, so you will need washers to push the caliper a bit out so it fits on the rotor and wont rub on it all the time. I dont know the exact spacing because i never tried to put washers on , but i can confirm that it will not fit without those. Gt500 rotors from s197 gt500 are same spacing as our rotors and just larger while being same diameter that 6piston s550 rotors. They dont need any modification and all is plug and play, just go with those

 

[TFish2607]

Can anyone confirm the minimum needed backspacing for this setup to work correctly?

 

[Porto]

BE aware of the wheel clearance, 17 and 18 will not clear the brakes - they are massive!
19s and 20s will (depending on the offset), spacers may be needed
My setup is
20x10/11 Velgen VF5
+33mm + 55mm, i think, might be wrong with offsets
I did not need to use spacers, also off topic, but with this setup you can run 265/35 fronts and 315/35 rears without rubbing Nitto nt555 fronts and invos rear

Can I use the same banjo bolts from my original brakes in the Brembo's?

 

[Davie P]

Information I found says your banjo bolts may or may not work.

LMR sells banjo bolts with one number fitting the following cars/calipers. Oddly it does not cover 05-10 Mustang 2 piston calipers. The banjo bolts cost $9.99/pair, so if you are this far into a brake upgrade, it just makes sense to spend the extra 10 bucks.

• 1994-1998 Mustang GT
• 2003-2004 Mustang V6/GT/Cobra (built after 08/02)
• 2007-2014 GT500 4 and 6 piston brake calipers
• 2011-2014 Mustang GT
• 2015-2023 Mustang Ecoboost with 4 piston Performance Pack brakes
• 2015-2023 Mustang GT with 4 and 6 piston brake calipers

 

[Porto]

Thank you!

 

[Porto]

I searched YouTube to see what others have done for rear brakes and found a video showing a similar front swap (different color calipers) and the rear upgrade solution you suggest.

The rear upgrade uses your suggestion, the original S197 caliper and the larger 2013-14 GT500 rear brake disc. This puts 2013-14 GT500 discs all the way around the car.

Video Link -

One topic the video goes into at the beginning is brake balance. This is critical in keeping the car drivable and safe.

When you repurpose rotors front and rear from the same vehicle, it helps in maintaining brake balance if you can replicate the same brake piston area ratio, front to rear. This isn’t a sure fire method of getting the correct brake balance, but it will get you to a good starting point.

The 2013-14 GT500 calipers have 4 – 43.9mm pistons up front and a single 43mm piston in the rear. This makes the front piston area 4.69 square inches and the rear 2.25. Ratio – 2.04:1 front to rear. FYI 1.9-2.1:1 is the typical range for the vehicles I have checked over time.

The rear calipers on the S197 have a single 42.77mm piston with an area of 2.23 square inches. To maintain the original GT500 ratio of 2.04, the front brake piston area should be at 4.54 square inches.

I couldn’t find any data on the piston sizes for the 6 piston S550 calipers to verify the ratio. If anyone knows the piston diameters, please share. And if the data I am using is flawed, please correct me on that as well.

Thanks for the information, got the parts shipped from Rockauto.com and assembled the kit; everything fits perfectly and it looks way cooler than with the stock calipers!

Only thing I have to work out is, when I brake, the left side brakes a fraction of a second sooner than the right side, so the steeringwheel will move a few degrees to the left for a moment. Did feel a bit weird the first few times but now I'm used to it, although it's not how it should be, so I have to work it out. I have bled the right side again because I suspected there was maybe still an airbubble in there, but the issue isn't solved yet. Maybe the airbubble is stuck somewhere, or could it be something else?? Someone have suggestions what else to check??

Greetings from the Netherlands!

 

[Davie P]

I am slowly progressing with my 6 piston brake upgrade. I will post a recap once I am finished.

In my search for info on the install I ran across this video. While it does cover the 6 piston upgrade, it gives more options for the S197 with both benefits and drawbacks on all options.
Link - Vorshlag Tech Tip: S197 & S550 Mustang Brake Weights, Comparison, & Experiences!

My car is intended for street driving, so rather than going with the small SVE brake shield, I added onto the stock shield so it would cover the 15" rotor. My reasoning was to keep water from splashing onto the rotor in heavy rain. I experienced this on a motorcycle years ago, the braking was so diminished I had virtually no stopping ability.

I added onto the dust shield using a flat piece sheet metal, cut to cover the OD of the 15" rotor. It is riveted to the back side of the OE dust shield.

 

[ghunt81]

My car is intended for street driving, so rather than going with the small SVE brake shield, I added onto the stock shield so it would cover the 15" rotor. My reasoning was to keep water from splashing onto the rotor in heavy rain. I experienced this on a motorcycle years ago, the braking was so diminished I had virtually no stopping ability.

As a side benefit it will also keep oil off your rotor if you blow a strut- I found that out firsthand.

 

[ShelbySteve]

Can anyone confirm the minimum needed backspacing for this setup to work correctly?

Spoke design matters too. I’m running 20x9.5 +40mm wheels, but only needed a 3mm spacer. (2mm clearance now).