Anyone upgrade to the SSBC calipers? Looking at doing this on the wife's truck since she just had a slide pin that froze on the freeway for some reason and got things smoking.

She doesn't put a lot of miles on it, so getting rid of the slide pins sounds like a good idea.

I think I've got the parts figured out for the front brakes and rotors, but can't seem to figure out if they make the same set up for the rear or not. Maybe I'll just do the fronts for now.

2001 F250 4x4. Summit seems to have the best pricing from what I can tell.

 

The fronts are nice but if she's not driving it much then it may not be worth the money. I have never seen them advertise rears but a few years back, Dennis at Strictly Diesel was talking about trying a set on the rear of his race truck. I don't recall him ever specifying a part number but he may still have the info.

 

What kind of brake grease are you using? How often are you checking them? Below is a image of the stuff I am using currently. Also from being on here it seems the general consensus is to lube them annually.

I will tell you the Hawk LTS pads and Powerslot Cryo rotors are more than enough for my use. If anything I may add the stainless lines, but that is a ways down the road.

 

I'll have to get some of that stuff. I see Permatex makes it.

 

Any silicone based lube is recommended for brakes. I go this one because it should last the longest and I like the permatex brand. Autozone has some silicone stuff in tubes, O'reilly has a couple different ones and this was purchased on sale at Napa.

 

The slide pins get checked every year. I've got something similar to the above. I think my bottle is a different color, but it could just be different packaging. Comes with a brush on the cap to apply the grease.

I've had a frozen slide pin on my truck before. Wore the pad down but didn't cause any of the issues that she had.

 

I'm sure that is a great product, but I just use dielectric grease (I always have some of that anyway) and have excellent results. I've put 300k miles on my dually now and have even done comparisons with other 'brake lubricants' for fun - the dielectric grease did better!

As far as better braking goes, I have to strongly recommend EBC Yellowstuff pads. They make a NOTICEABLE improvement - especially if you'll put them on all (4) corners. I often tow heavy and I live in the mountains, so maximum braking ability ranks high on my list of must-haves.

I just run lifetime warranty calipers and rotors from local autoparts.

I check my slide pins at every other tire rotation, but you can do this with the truck on the ground and the tires on it. Just loosen the slide pin bolts and use the bolt to push the slide in and pull it back out. If its smooooth, you are good until next time - if its gritty or stuck, it's time to lube them. If a pin got stuck, it wouldn't do much damage in 10k miles...

 

Chris, buddy of mine has a 01 f250 CC/LB and tows his 33' toy hauler.... he was not happy with breaking performance even after some EBC pads and rotors. so he ordered up the SSBC kit for the superdutys.

for one thing the calipers are monsters!!! at 8 pistons each! if i remember right he told me they use a GM pad, so readily available from parts stores.

after the install, holy lugnuts!!! in a panic stop the truck stops on a dime and gives a nickle change!

then about a month ago he upgraded his power steering pump/hydro boost system, and had the steering box rebuilt and ram assist installed. because low speed trailer maneuvering was a issue... with more pressure going to the hydroboost and the SSBC kit on the front that truck stops on a DIME still but gives 9 cent change!!!

now i might be wrong, but the total surface area of the 8 pistons is not much more than the total surface area of the stock 2 piston calipers, but the clamping force is spread out more over a longer brake pad which in theory adds braking.

 

Do you know what he did/used for the power steering pump/hydro boost? I'm about to remove all my power steering stuff to get the motor out and didn't really want to put the old one back on.

 

he had a performance steering shop do all the work, i think they installed a modded Saginaw pump that they put there own stink on, rebuilt the steering box and taped it for ram assist ports and then they installed a ram assist on the truck. since he had replaced his hydro boost about a year ago it was left alone.

 

Oh wow, that might be a little over my head then. Thanks for the tip.

 

off road unlimited sells a ram assist kit, which is just a steering box hoses and a ram for around 1800 bucks. the shop my friend used did a pump box rebuild and ram installed for 2200...

anyways thread hijack over, ssbc is some sweet stuff... im considering it on my truck some day.

 

Thanks for the input. Did he upgrade to stainless steel braided lines of leave the factory rubber lines in place? Stock rotors or cryo or SSBC slotted rotors?

 

I like the SSBC calipers, had them a couple years. Braking is definitely better! More fun to drive when you can plant that heavy front end to help change direction. Bolts to stock spindle so install is easy. One of the benefits of that is if the caliper croaks out on the road, OE parts will fit right back on. I wanted better braking and like you to get rid of the effing slide pins.

Some tid-bits;

I do not think rears are available. I wanted them also.

SSBC does not sell a rebuild kit, but they will rebuild them for $50.

Both halves of the caliper have active pistons so there is a bleeder at the top of both sides. So it is necessary to remove the wheel to bleed them. Also need a quality flare wrench since the bleeder is a skosche too close to the spindle. My Harbor Freight cheapies were too chubby, had to use a wrench from my ignition kit.

Brake pad is industry size D174 IIRC, a common Chebbie size so every vendor will have their product to fit. I use Hawk LTS. The calipers came preloaded with Hawk Superduty.

Rotors are cryo. Meh. All I can say is I have no problems with them.

I also put in braided stainless lines from Crown. Modulation is improved and a nice hard pedal is reassuring. All of the brake stuff was installed at the same time, so how much improvement is due to each product is unknown.

One trick for install I got was to true the rotor at assembly. Bolt it to the hub and spin against a dial indicator (or in my case a heavy wrench on a stool, the wrench just barely touching the rotor) to look for lateral runout. Remove the rotor and 'clock' it until runout is minimal. Easy to do if you have the patience. I forget the guys' handle, Frdmtrvt or similar. Kinda the Mark K of brakes here at FTE, ex factory brake guy.

SSBC are not cheap but no buyers' remorse here. Get the whoa before the go.

 

i think the ssbc kit comes with slotted rotors... i think he ordered it from riffraff.... lines are stock rubber.