How To Install Disc Brakes - Gimme a Brake!

Photo by Greg Jarem

Slowly but surely, Gangsta Stang, our '99 GT, is becoming a bad little ride for road racing and autocrossing, as well as a daily driver. At a recent visit to Pocono Raceway, a set of sticky Nitto 555RII tires, along with Tokico springs and D-spec shocks, enabled the Stang to hang with M3s and WRX STi's.

Unfortunately, by the end of the day, the stock brakes were cooked, and fade had gone from bad to worse. After the last lap, the pedal was touching the floor and smoke was literally pouring out of the wheelwells. Meanwhile, those annoying little Brembo-equipped imports were still buzzing around the track and driving hard into each corner.

In the name of all things sacred--like Jack Daniels, hamburgers, baseball, mullets, and the American dream--this could not stand. This aggression will not stand. Common sense might dictate that an independently suspended sedan made by someone named Tanaka or Klauss should outperform a Mustang on a road course, however, we know that's a crock. We would rather fight the laws of physics with our nose-heavy, solid-axle musclecars. If you're one of us, you'll agree that upgrading the puny factory brakes becomes a must for proving that good, old-fashioned American engineering is superior.

When it comes time to upgrade the reins on your colt, the Clarence, New York-based Stainless Steel Brakes Corporation (SSBC) has just what you need. Thirty years of experience designing performance brake upgrades for musclecars have taught the company a thing or two about keeping up with the Jones'. The SSBC line for Mustangs has several choices that will meet or exceed your needs.

The Force 10 Extreme four-piston and Standard rear brake kits came with all the necessary hardware, including bolts, mounting brackets, braided stainless steel lines for the front, and hi-po compound brake pads...

...For this install, we opted for the black powder-coated aluminum calipers, however, there are five other color choices in addition to the natural finish or polished (for a few extra bucks).

Usually, a considerable amount of brake fluid will be lost as the brake lines are detached and the calipers swapped out, so two bottles of Quaker State DOT 4 heavy-duty brake fluid were used.

In addition to its own two-piston Cobra style front brake kit, SSBC had just put the wraps on the new Force 10 three-piston brake kit, which is designed to fit the factory 17-inch GT and Cobra wheels. But we don't play around at MM&FF. "Gangsta," our black 35th Anniversary GT, takes quite a beating at our own handling course as well as open track days at various tracks in the area.

For severe track duty, the Force 10 Extreme four-piston aluminum caliper brake kit is an ideal choice. Four large 43mm pistons grab a set of 13-inch Turbo slotted and plated rotors. It doesn't take a mathematician to know this is a hell of a lot of stopping power, especially when compared to the factory two-piston calipers. Besides the number of pistons, the SSBC forged aluminum caliper is of the "fixed" kind, meaning the pistons are on both sides of the rotors to apply even pressure with both brake pads. As you may know, most OEM brakes use a floating caliper, meaning the pistons are only on one side, requiring the caliper to slide in order for the pad on the opposite side to make contact with the rotor, causing decreased stiffness, pedal feel, and uneven pad wear.

The only detrimental consequence to switching to the "fixed" four-piston caliper is that it requires more clearance than either the factory GT or Cobra wheel can provide. SSBC says a set of 17s will fit with the correct offset, but since Gangsta already had a set of Privat Profil 18x9.5-inch rims, we needn't go wheel shopping. As a precaution, though, the SSBC wheel fitment guide (available at www.ssbrakes.com) was used to create a template to ensure the caliper would clear the spokes.

1 This is what happens when metal grabs metal and encounters a little moisture. Not good. It took a long time and a lot of elbow grease to remove the rust from these rims (not to mention the fact that the rotors were toast), so we don't advise doing this to your rotors. We do recommend taking a spare set of brake pads with you on open track days (so you can at least get home), which would have prevented this from happening.

2 Robert James kicks things off by crimping the brake lines, then removing the two 15mm caliper bolts on the rear brakes and the two 15mm bolts on the mounting bracket.

3 The 1-inch-thick vented Turbo rotors from SSBC are an obvious improvement over the solid 1/2-inch-thick OEM discs. The extra cooling capacity from the vents is crucial in fade resistance.

Since SSBC also offered a 12-inch Cobra rear brake upgrade, we figured why not? Had we planned to keep bolting up slicks at the dragstrip, this wouldn't have been a good idea since it limits us to 16- or 17-inch wheels, but the extra stopping power will be much appreciated on the road course, where Gangsta will see more time. A single 45mm piston is used in the cast-iron caliper to grab the 1-inch-thick vented rotor, which disperses heat far superior to the 10.5x.5-inch non-vented stocker.

Those wishing to take advantage of SSBC's polishing or powdercoating capabilities can also opt for an aluminum caliper, which is exactly what we did to keep the stealth black theme going. Best of all, the rear caliper has a built-in parking brake and does not require removal of the axles for installation.