Redline Ute Rear Brakes

[tomholzy]

pad & fluid upgrade and they wont fade or give out, just be limited to one piston worth of force

 

[gslrallysport]

I read in one of the Motoring mags that when pushed in the hills, the rear brakes gave out first.

That's not uncommon. The biggest trap people fall into is thinking that because the rear of the car does less braking, the brakes don't work as hard.... Yes, it's true that the rear 'axle' does less of the overall vehicle braking, but it's also got substantially smaller hardware in which to do it with, so the actual 'brakes' themselves can often work just as hard on the back of the car as the fronts do. This is becoming especially true as manufacturers are tending to go with smaller rears pads on larger rear rotors to make it easier for the electronic systems to modulate the brakes under weight transfer... Same reason why modern cars go through rear pads nearly as fast as front pads.

 

[wayneforrest]

So you think it is a good idea to upgrade the rears then

 

[tomholzy]

pads definately, fluid probably

 

[wayneforrest]

i have ordered pads from QFM front and rear, see how that goes.

 

[brad VE SSV]

So has any one on here upgraded the rears with different callipers, I will be soon taking my ute to the track regularly and want it to stand up to it...

 

[Voodoo_SV6]

Also, the rears on many modern cars are the first to commence braking when you apply them.

This assists to load the rear and settle the back end before the fronts start to do real work. I typically go through rear pads before fronts, but change them all when the rears are dead.

I personally would go with the pads Greg suggests.

Also, do you carry much weight in the back? or is the car a show pony?

 

[brad VE SSV]

On my ute I'll be towing a 1 tonne boat a fair bit.. But not so much loaded in the tray.

 

[gslrallysport]

So has any one on here upgraded the rears with different callipers, I will be soon taking my ute to the track regularly and want it to stand up to it...

Honestly, you won't need anything bigger, unless you're dong some SERIOUS work. The VE runs massive rotors, and the rears are vented as standard. You've also got more rear pad area than a Brembo'd STi, Evo or 350Z, so don't get too carried away with the piston count.

The pads I'd recommend would be the QFM A1RM, which are a Ferodo DS2500 equivalent performance wise, and $149 for the front (assuming Redline Brembo front caliper) and $119 for the rear.

That said your first weakness (soft spongy pedal) on the track, long before pads or rotors, will be the fluid. The stuff that we use and recommend is the TRW GP600 Dot 4 Racing Brake Fluid, and is $65 for a 1L bottle.

 

[Senetor17]

I too want to upgrade the rear brakes on my Redline sedan. I saw a set of Brembo 4 piston rears on a Chrysler 300 SRT8 (Red calipers) and the fronts looked identical to the Redline's except for colour. I was wondering how to track down the part number for the rears on the Chrysler and find out if they can be adapted to the rear of the commodore.