Full Front and Rear 08-12 STI Brakes Swap

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by 1strwdcar

How much you have in the project

I mentioned it earlier. I have about $2200 total invested in the project. If you wanted new calipers it would be closer to $3000 invested.

[1strwdcar]

Originally Posted by JoeBoxer

Your avatar needs to eat a cheeseburger but still

She is probably ready for a womens bikini fit show im sure she had one after the show

[kmbkk]

Looks great man! I can't wait to get back in town and meet up!

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by King Tut

Calipers are aluminum. I think someone posted the numbers and you are definitely adding some weight to the front and the rear with this setup. If you are worried about it, you can offset some of it by going with a more expensive aluminum hat rotor.

I meant to say calipers LOL. Rotors are all iron obviously, unless you're springing for 2pc rotors ($700 a pair IIRC).

Originally Posted by King Tut

If you swap bleeders, than the pistons are in the same orientation as they are on the STI so you should get nice even pad wear.

And if you're buying used calipers you have a good chance at fucking that up. The fasteners on the opposite end brake bleeder ports SHOULD be red Loctite'd in...so you would want to torch them before trying to get 'em out and swapping. Since it's an all aluminum caliper...every single one of the threads on them is very fragile; most actually have had the mounting ears mangled.

[King Tut]

They were definitely red Loctited on mine, but I didn't use any heat nor mess up any of the threads or heads on the bolts. I have definitely used a torch previously to heat up red Loctite on some wheel studs to remove them, and it works great.

[Hanakuso]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

You're adding weight over stock by going to the Brembo calipers/rotors. The calipers might be aluminum (still heavy and big) but god those discs are huge and heavy.

Damn that sucks the rear is basically just for looks, maybe a bit better modulation and better cooling at extremes but IMO the stock rear brakes are very good as is.

[swift996]

I like seeing OEM stuff used. Any idea of what all the parts end up running?

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by Hanakuso

Damn that sucks the rear is basically just for looks, maybe a bit better modulation and better cooling at extremes but IMO the stock rear brakes are very good as is.

From what I've seen, it appears that the stock rear brakes aren't getting utilized as much as they could be (see the pictures @Dave-ROR posted of his stockers).

Originally Posted by swift996

I like seeing OEM stuff used. Any idea of what all the parts end up running?

@King Tut has said that it ran him just over $2000 with used calipers and to expect closer to $3000 with new calipers.

[ModBargains.com]

Great write up as usual

Glad to see your BRZ is looking better than ever now.

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by Hanakuso

Damn that sucks the rear is basically just for looks, maybe a bit better modulation and better cooling at extremes but IMO the stock rear brakes are very good as is.

I still like the simplicity of pad swaps and the availability of pad options for the STI rear calipers. Go with a more aggressive rear pad if you want to get more use out of the rears.

[ADebelius]

Originally Posted by King Tut

If you swap bleeders, than the pistons are in the same orientation as they are on the STI so you should get nice even pad wear.

I think what the other guy meant is that the STi calipers are rear mounted in relation to the rotors vs the BRZ which is front mounted. Due to this and the fact that the STi has tapered pistons, you'd have the brakes basically backwards from it's design causing tapered wear.

I don't think that is something that is switched by just swapping the bleeders, is it? Brakes really aren't my area of expertise, so I'm all ears.

Looks great either way, I may go this route!

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by ADebelius

I think what the other guy meant is that the STi calipers are rear mounted in relation to the rotors vs the BRZ which is front mounted. Due to this and the fact that the STi has tapered pistons, you'd have the brakes basically backwards from it's design causing tapered wear.

I don't think that is something that is switched by just swapping the bleeders, is it? Brakes really aren't my area of expertise, so I'm all ears.

Looks great either way, I may go this route!

blarg

[2point0]

Bleeders need to be swapped when keeping calipers on the same side as STi (bleeder must be at the top for air to escape). Swapping side to side would reverse the piston orientation.

Just rotating the caliper to the front of the rotor does not change which piston is leading/trailing since the rotor still spins the same direction.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. No personal experience here, just picturing it in my head.

[King Tut]

Swapping the calipers side to side was if you wanted to keep the bleeders in their original location and then the pistons are in the wrong orientation. If you swap the bleeders then you keep the calipers on the same side as the STI, then you are good to go with the pistons in the proper orientation. If you look at a picture of an STI and my car you will notice they are oriented the correct way.