Brake system upgrade on the cheap?
 

It's time to replace the rotors and calipers on my 2009 JKU. I decided I might as well go all the way around and figured if I was going to have to spend the money on replacing the factory stuff and doing the installation myself, I would look into doing an upgrade since the factory brakes are garbage.

Here's the problem. There are a few vendors out there that sell some really nice "Big Brake Kits". Everyone who has purchased them will vouch that they're great. However, to go all the way around (front/rears, rotors, calipers, pads, etc.) the starting price of these kits are $1500 and go upwards and onwards to $7K. This is out of my comfort zone of what I'm willing to spend on a brake upgrade, especially considering I'm doing all the installation work myself.

If I was to just replace the stock stuff, I'm looking at a price range of $400-$500. So where's the vendor who's filling the need for the more budget conscience folks looking to get an improvement over stock brakes in the $500-$1K price range to go all the way around?


I think I've been on almost every Jeep Wrangler forum on the web reading similar posts, where this seems to be a common interest with no real solution in sight. Lots of discussions and investigations but no solution posted.

The biggest obstacle seems to be in finding a good value dual piston bolt on caliper for the JK. Many have discussed and investigated using the OEM WJ and Dodge Ram Calipers because they are affordable to purchase and have similar dimensions as the stock JK calipers but I haven't read where anyone has posted any success when pursuing this route.

Here's what I'm currently looking at for an upgrade on a budget solution that falls into that $500-$1K range.

Complete rotor and pad kits:
(found on Amazon) Power Stop 4.5 star review rating.
Do a search on "Power Stop K2798 Front/Rear Ceramic Brake Pad and Cross Drilled/Slotted Combo Rotor One-Click Brake Kit"
Price:$308

(found on eBay) (Vendor Store= Brake Motive)
Do a search on "FRONT + REAR DRILLED SLOTTED BRAKE ROTORS AND CERAMIC PADS 2007 - 2014 Jeep"
It looks like the same stuff as on Amazon.
Price: $210

Now if I could find some bolt on or adapter mounted dual Piston Calipers at an OEM brake caliper price, I would be in that wonderful $500-$1K price range.

Any suggestions?

I've not looked into it but have you considered the "jeep jk br6 brake upgrade"? Google that and see if maybe it fits the bill for you.

A few more miles and I'll be in the same boat that you are.

The dynatrac brake kit covers all 4 brakes and cost less than $1k. I'm running this kit and it doesn't disappoint, very easy install also.

Are you looking at the same dynatrac brake kit that I have? The one I looked at was $1K without the calipers.

Here's what I got from their website:

http://www.dynatrac.com/progrip-brak...angler-jk.html


No calipers in that kit the way that I read it, which means I'm still in that above $1K area even with re-manufactured stock calipers.

Thanks, I did run across some discussions where they mentioned that our European JK owner friends were blessed with better brakes, but the info I read in that particular discussion, was they were struggling to find part numbers.

Keying in on your suggestion for a Google search, I now found this:

Sounds very promising. Thanks for the tip!!!:thumbsup: :beer:

I just had the Mopar bigger brake kit put on mine and for the price, it was well worth it. Check this part #P5160051. It is only the fronts but it comes with a lot for the price.

I just recently installed the Power Stop Z36 brake kit Front And rear . For the money I can't complain.
Noticeable improvement. It helped to , too have upgraded brake lines also.

Thanks for your feedback on the Power Stop stuff. For the price, I've read many good reviews. I ran across an interesting forum discussion where someone who installed them on their JK had highly recommended them as well. A brake expert from Black Magic Brakes chimed in on the discussion, stating they had purchased them and were going to bench mark them against their Black Magic Pads/Vanco kit combo because they suspected they may be nothing more than stock rotors with holes and slots drilled in them.


The ironic part, the nice fella from Black Magic Brakes never did post a follow up on the test results, which basically says a lot by not saying anything. You don't go out and purchase competitor parts that are available at a much lower cost and announce you're going to bench mark them against your stuff and not post the results unless you get the negative results you were expecting to get. So by Black Magic not posting their test results, seemed to tell me they learned they were probably pretty darn good for the price as the Amazon reviews seem to indicate as well.

Currently, I'm leaning in the direction of the Power Stop Front/Rear kit and then getting some re-man calipers. I'm estimating that should put me at the $400-$500 price range total which is the same if I go full stock replacement which makes it a win if I get better performance. However this BR6 information has me intrigued. If I can find a one stop shop that can have the needed parts shipped to the U.S. Larger stock rotors/calipers at a good price, direct bolt on solution, with increased braking performance sounds like win/win to me. :thumbsup:

Thanks, I've been looking this over as well. It does seem like you get a lot for the price. I really like that it's a dual piston caliper with a 13in rotor. Where I'm struggling with these front only kits, is what do you put in the rears? It seems strange to me that you would have 13in rotors in the front with the stock 11.89 rotors in the rear. Are there any matching rear rotor/caliper combo kits?:thinking:

There is a massive thread on JK Owners on this topic. It should answer all your questions.

The majority of improvement will come from the front brakes. If you're not running 37"+ tires, leave the rears stock and maybe get some quality pads (people seem to leave those Green Stuff pads).

You'd probably be thrilled by just going to the Teraflex larger rotors TeraFlex - Performance Slotted Big Rotor Kit - Fits 2007 to 2015 JK Wrangler, Rubicon and Unlimited - 4WheelParts.com.

Again, get some quality pads. The change in rotor diameter will make the greatest difference.