Big brake kits

speedyrb29 · Post by **speedyrb29** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 11:53 am

has any one used the wilwood or stoptech big brake kits on there neon? and why is it that the kits only for the front . could you possible buy another set and put them on the rear?

blazesxt · Post by **blazesxt** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 12:07 pm

save yourself the money and get srt4 front brakes and maybe pt cruiser/rt rear brakes.

Post by **Diablo0** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 12:33 pm

Those kits will ONLY work with the SRT-4 knuckles as our knuckles won't allow for a larger brake setup without major modification.

There is a Brembo kit for the rear but you'll lose your ebrake with the install and costs over 1K just for the rear... about 4K for both front AND rear for the Brembo setup.

Baal · Post by **Baal** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 3:20 pm

Not true about the knukles, you only need to cut the "ears" off for the larger rotor and make your own caliper mounting bracket.

Ive researched about this on the org and Machfly has a wilwood srt-4 BBK in his 1st gen knukles without major modifications.

As far as the rear go, if a proportioning valve doesnt provide you enough rear braking force you could just get a bigger diameter rotors and build a caliper bracket to mount it.

Post by **Diablo0** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 4:53 pm

To a lot of people, that would probably be considered major.

Baal · Post by **Baal** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 6:22 pm

Diablo0 wrote:To a lot of people, that would probably be considered major.

Well the ears could be cut probably even with a hacksaw, making the mounting bracket may be a little harder.

But nothing you cant measure and have it done in a machine shop

OB · Post by OB » Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:26 pm

doesnt mopar offer a brake upgrade thats replaces the rotors and pads? i think i saw it on moparsupercenter.com. and it was for the neon by the way not the srt. i was thinking about getting it, i have a good question ive been thinkin about? how can i covert the rear brakes to discs on my sxt (and keep the ebrake if possible).? is it difficult, what will i need?

scneonchic · Post by **scneonchic** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:19 pm

I think you can get stock rear disk brakes from a first gen and put them on a 2gn...I thought about doing it, but not too high on my list right now

OB · Post by OB » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:23 pm

dont srts have rear discs? u know how ancient 1st gen parts are? lol yeah right, no used junk for me. anyone do this conversion?

scneonchic · Post by **scneonchic** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:45 pm

Im pretty sure srt's have rear disks...but to do a rear disk upgrade kit...you have to have them to begin w/.

Post by **Diablo0** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 10:51 pm

SRT has rear disc brakes... and the rear brakes are about 99% identical to the R/T rear brakes. The same calipars are used and everything. The rotors are just a tad thicker and thats really it.

OB · Post by OB » Sat Jan 07, 2006 11:30 pm

so can i grab rt rears then? what will i need? i wanna upgrade the fronts for sure, anyone know if the Mopar upgrade is any good?: moparsupercenter.com. the link is the same everywhere on the site so i couldnt post it (wierd). just go to Mopar performance on the left side at the bottom and click Neon and go to break kits and shit. they have front and rear. looks sweet

Casketbearer · Post by **Casketbearer** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 3:26 am

vitor offers 2 big brake kits, about $1000-1500.
http://neongoodies.home.comcast.net/

Post by **Diablo0** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:18 pm

His big brake kit is the SRT knuckles with the holes in the steering arm drilled about 1/2" outward since the Neon steering rack is longer than the SRT rack.

You yourself can pickup a set of used SRT knuckles for $100 (i picked some up for $60 used on here) then weld up the old holes and drill new ones to the same size just farther outward... thats what i plan on doing. Then after that just decide on what brake setup I want.

Casketbearer · Post by **Casketbearer** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 5:31 pm

stage 2 has 4 piston calipers, but stage 1 looks like srt brakes

OB · Post by OB » Sun Jan 08, 2006 5:32 pm

anyone got info on that kit from MSC?

scneonchic · Post by **scneonchic** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 5:49 pm

Why not call them tomorrow and see what they tell you about it? I havent personally looked for the one on their site, but I have spoken to them before and they're nice, theyll help you out.

Post by **Diablo0** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 7:53 pm

Casketbearer wrote:stage 2 has 4 piston calipers, but stage 1 looks like srt brakes

S1 is yes the SRT brake setup... S2 is the Willwood setup...

About the MPSC brake setup last I hear it was only for the SRT and the front SRT rotors won't fit on the regular neon as they're larger.

OB · Post by OB » Sun Jan 08, 2006 8:05 pm

shoot. ill prob just go for the hawk pads and call it a day. what about the rear disc dealy?

Baal · Post by **Baal** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 9:47 pm

Vitor's BBKs are a rip off..

he charges $500 for modified knuckles wtf.

Post by **Diablo0** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 10:04 pm

I'm right with ya Baal

Rear disc would work but I'd suggest just getting the Powerslot rotors and hawk pads instead.

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:57 am

my srt is stuck at the boarder till the paper work goes through, but as soon as i get back i'm doing a break test to compare it to my 05SX. i honestly think it stops SLOWER! now, we're talking powerslot rotors and hp+ pads on the sx and a little less weight, where the srt has stock disks but with ABS and 225 tires vs 215 so in my mind it should have stopped like it hit a wall. even if they are about the same i'm starting to debate the need for rear disks on anything else but a roadcoarse car where you hit the breaks hard after long straighaways, let alone a big break upgrade. start with good pads and rotors (yes OEMs perform great, but then you have to sand them first to prevent contamination between the 2 break compounds or possibly remachining if you've had them on for a while) and ofcourse TIRES and see how much more you need from there. i'm more than happy with the setup on my SX as it works real well for daily driving and autocrosses with no real fade. hope to have the test done next week at teh latest and i'll be sure to post pics and stats

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 1:07 am

rice_eater wrote:my srt is stuck at the boarder till the paper work goes through, but as soon as i get back i'm doing a break test to compare it to my 05SX. i honestly think it stops SLOWER! now, we're talking powerslot rotors and hp+ pads on the sx and a little less weight, where the srt has stock disks but with ABS and 225 tires vs 215 so in my mind it should have stopped like it hit a wall. even if they are about the same i'm starting to debate the need for rear disks on anything else but a roadcoarse car where you hit the breaks hard after long straighaways, let alone a big break upgrade. start with good pads and rotors (yes OEMs perform great, but then you have to sand them first to prevent contamination between the 2 break compounds or possibly remachining if you've had them on for a while) and ofcourse TIRES and see how much more you need from there. i'm more than happy with the setup on my SX as it works real well for daily driving and autocrosses with no real fade. hope to have the test done next week at teh latest and i'll be sure to post pics and stats

im not trying to argue with you or anything, but your comparing aftermarket parts vs. oem parts. and plus the SRT-4 weighs more than a SX but ~150lbs.

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 1:28 am

Anonymous User wrote:
rice_eater wrote:my srt is stuck at the boarder till the paper work goes through, but as soon as i get back i'm doing a break test to compare it to my 05SX. i honestly think it stops SLOWER! now, we're talking powerslot rotors and hp+ pads on the sx and a little less weight, where the srt has stock disks but with ABS and 225 tires vs 215 so in my mind it should have stopped like it hit a wall. even if they are about the same i'm starting to debate the need for rear disks on anything else but a roadcoarse car where you hit the breaks hard after long straighaways, let alone a big break upgrade. start with good pads and rotors (yes OEMs perform great, but then you have to sand them first to prevent contamination between the 2 break compounds or possibly remachining if you've had them on for a while) and ofcourse TIRES and see how much more you need from there. i'm more than happy with the setup on my SX as it works real well for daily driving and autocrosses with no real fade. hope to have the test done next week at teh latest and i'll be sure to post pics and stats
im not trying to argue with you or anything, but your comparing aftermarket parts vs. oem parts. and plus the SRT-4 weighs more than a SX but ~150lbs.

yeah no doubt, i am comparing apples with oranges, but imo the hassle to swap over disk breaks and add weight to your car should be rewarded with a noticeable decrease in stopping distance and feel in order to be worth it. if nothing else, at least the stopping power of the OEM setup should be at par with the modded disk/drum setup, especially since the srt has bigger front brakes and perf pads to begin with. i dont think the abs is really holding it back though i dont know enough about this to really say one way or another but at the moment it seems to me that the only reason rear disks are good is coz you get ABS. however no one who is doing a rear disk swap will be able to take advantage of that without a bit of hassle. again, i very much look forward to having some real life numbers because this has been one of those highly debated topics that no one can agree on

EDIT: are the R/T and SRT also sharing rear brake pad compounds?

Baal · Post by **Baal** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 5:42 pm

ill make the rear disk swap not because of stopping distance but because of brake fading.

Post by **Diablo0** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 6:50 pm

Rear pad compounds look to be different on the SRT and R/T based off DCx part numbers but as far as aftermarket like from Hawk the parts look to be the same since the part numbers are the same.

Jerome Adams · Post by **Jerome Adams** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:36 pm

high performance neon said that for most applications stock brakes are fine. The race pads tore up the rotors quick style. They upgrade to a rear disc on one of their autocross cars and ended up switching back. THe rear dics added like 16lbs and they saw no measureable increase in brake performance (rear brakes only handle like 20% of the braking load).

That being said, Willwood and Brembos LOOK FLIPPIN SWEET! If I had the coin, I would love to have them...I just have so much more to do before I am throwing on a couple grand worth or pretty brakes that won't improve performance too much....guess it depends on your priorities and your bank account

Baal · Post by **Baal** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 8:18 pm

Autocross is not a very brake demanding type of racing, how in the hell are you going to make your brakes fade in such a short run.

Thats why you will see a lot of people saying that solid rotors are fine, that slotted/drilled rotors are useless.... (neons.org against every brake research brand).

Thats because you dont NEED slots in auto-X, and you dont need rear disks in auto-x.

However in road racing or a real type of racing actually demands much better breaks, i put drilled and slotted brembo rotors in the front and the braking was MUUUUUUUCH better, the fade was reduced a lot.

And 16 extra lbs are worth it the rears dont fade as fast as drums do, even with a 20% of brake force, the drums are closed and get hot extremely fast.

Jerome Adams · Post by **Jerome Adams** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 7:15 pm

thats cool if you are doing that kind of racing. I assumed this was a street set up. Another option for looks only would be to paint the front calipers.

rice_eater · Post by **rice_eater** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:08 am

Jerome Adams wrote:thats cool if you are doing that kind of racing. I assumed this was a street set up. Another option for looks only would be to paint the front calipers.

i hear type R yellow disipates heat the best