Help with RL caliper swap
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Help with RL caliper swap
I just bought rl calipers and was wondering, what year and make do I need to buy for rotors and do I have to do or add anything to them to make them work? I will be buying fast brakes brackets as Paul is not making them any longer.
#2
Team Owner
Aw, Paul's not making them anymore? Now where will I get items that only half work and half my money back?
#5
Moderator
iTrader: (7)
I know everyone says the 350z w/ brembo rotors...but I personally installed a set on an 05 tsx. I used the fastbrakes bracket. the 12.8" brembo rotors did NOT fit, the offset was too high, and it wouldnt allow the pad to fit in. Believe me I tried for a long time, it wont fit. Only after getting the 12.6 non brembo rotors, it finally fits. I compared the rotor depth and the 12.6" has a shorter depth by a couple mm so it worked.
I know some ppl say the 12.8 must be used, but my experience was the opposite. I concluded that the only possibility is the difference in brackets. Perhaps each company brackets are slightly off by a few mm which made it impossible in my case.
I know some ppl say the 12.8 must be used, but my experience was the opposite. I concluded that the only possibility is the difference in brackets. Perhaps each company brackets are slightly off by a few mm which made it impossible in my case.
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smcafee (11-24-2019)
#7
Instructor
Thread Starter
Trending Topics
#9
Moderator
iTrader: (1)
let me search for the thread.
edit*
RL Caliper = four 43mm pistons (5808.8 mm sq). TL Brembo = two 42mm & two 38mm piston (5039 mm sq). That's 15.3% more hydraulic area. Even to an idiot it should be plain to see you are increasing the front bias SUBSTANTIALLY just by switching installing RL calipers. But then you throw a 13 inch rotor on top of that??!?!?!? Now you are into complete Retardsville. This setup will DRASTICALLY upset bias, thereby increasing your minimum braking distance (maximum brake effort), and may even wreak havoc on your ABS system. Just ask IHC about his bogus Rotora kit. This is a terrible way to spend money and ruin a great car.
if you compare it to an automatic TL with regular calipers, the upset will be even greater.
Last edited by justnspace; 11-05-2014 at 07:00 AM.
#10
Moderator
iTrader: (1)
these two kits from stoptech have actual R&D put into them and will stop your car shorter than your automatic brakes.
StopTech Big Brake Kit - Excelerate Performance - Japanese and European Performance Specialists!!
XLR8 Touring Big Brake Kit by STOPTECH ACURA - Excelerate Performance - Japanese and European Performance Specialists!!
StopTech Big Brake Kit - Excelerate Performance - Japanese and European Performance Specialists!!
XLR8 Touring Big Brake Kit by STOPTECH ACURA - Excelerate Performance - Japanese and European Performance Specialists!!
#11
Team Owner
I'm curious- it says it will upset bias- does that mean that more braking will be done with the front wheels over the rear? Isn't that what you would want? I mean, the front wheels do the majority of the stopping anyway.
Would it be possible to pair the RL calipers with the RL brake master cylinder? Or is it not compatible with the TL?
Would it be possible to pair the RL calipers with the RL brake master cylinder? Or is it not compatible with the TL?
#12
Moderator
iTrader: (7)
I'm curious- it says it will upset bias- does that mean that more braking will be done with the front wheels over the rear? Isn't that what you would want? I mean, the front wheels do the majority of the stopping anyway.
Would it be possible to pair the RL calipers with the RL brake master cylinder? Or is it not compatible with the TL?
Would it be possible to pair the RL calipers with the RL brake master cylinder? Or is it not compatible with the TL?
Also, you say "majority" of the stopping, which is true, but more importantly, how much? you dont want to just put a huge caliper in the front and let it do everything. your front tires only have so much traction, and thats going to be your bottleneck.
if you ever tried pulling the ebrake hard when you are driving, you will notice that the car doesnt squat forward, it actually squats backwards. This might seem contradictory at first but upon further thinking you will understand. The rear brakes act as a pivoting point. I wish I could go further into detail but I dont have enough physics classes under my belt to do that. But my point is this, with a good balance of front and rear, you can make both front and rear suspension compress downwards and maximize traction for quick stopping distances
and regarding your master cylinder comment, I know a lot of civics use the TL-S master cylinder when doing the tls brembo or tsx brake swap so their brake pedal doesnt sink so far down. RL may be a bit different, but I could be wrong.
#14
Racer
iTrader: (2)
I am still confused over which big brakes I can put on my tl,base.
I have +20 offset xxr530. I will need a brake job very soon and want to "upgrade" my front calipers to something better.
Does the rear need to be changed also? it would just be new front calipers, rotors, and pads correct?
I have +20 offset xxr530. I will need a brake job very soon and want to "upgrade" my front calipers to something better.
Does the rear need to be changed also? it would just be new front calipers, rotors, and pads correct?
#15
Team Owner
I can't really comment as I have never physically dealt with different calipers.
One thing though- you mentioned the car doesn't squat forwards when applying the ebrake, but that has zero to do with brake balance. When you pull the ebrake, only the rear brakes engage- there is no force on the front of the car being applied to make it dive. It does make sense that the rear squats a bit though.
To take this a step further, Spoon offers caliper upgrades for civics, integral, s2000s, etc. I'm pretty sure those do not change anything besides the front calipers, which do increase stopping power. Doesn't seem to harm those cars braking abilities at all. I don't know what the piston sizing is, but I'd find it hard to believe that 4 pistons are the same surface area as a stock caliper, which has 1 I believe. Those would be some tiny tiny pistons. Something doesn't add up...
One thing though- you mentioned the car doesn't squat forwards when applying the ebrake, but that has zero to do with brake balance. When you pull the ebrake, only the rear brakes engage- there is no force on the front of the car being applied to make it dive. It does make sense that the rear squats a bit though.
To take this a step further, Spoon offers caliper upgrades for civics, integral, s2000s, etc. I'm pretty sure those do not change anything besides the front calipers, which do increase stopping power. Doesn't seem to harm those cars braking abilities at all. I don't know what the piston sizing is, but I'd find it hard to believe that 4 pistons are the same surface area as a stock caliper, which has 1 I believe. Those would be some tiny tiny pistons. Something doesn't add up...
#16
Moderator
iTrader: (7)
have you seen the piston sizes on a brembo caliper?...they arent much more than 1" in diameter.
the single piston base calipers are at least 2" and keep in mind, surface area increase exponentially as radius increases. (pi*r^2)
the single piston base calipers are at least 2" and keep in mind, surface area increase exponentially as radius increases. (pi*r^2)
#17
Instructor
Thread Starter
Why don't big brake kits come with master cylinders. If they are that important? All kits that I see just give you the calipers and rotors and never have I seen any comments about the master cylinder.
#18
Car Bibles : The Brake Bible
From what it looks like most BBK is made to use the stock master cylinder, the bigger rotors and pads are used for heat transfer so you don't have brake fade when you are constantly using your brakes. They don't make you stop faster but instead allow your brakes to "work" longer
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d1sturb3d119 (11-26-2014)
#19
Racer
I have read this and found it very usefull
Car Bibles : The Brake Bible
From what it looks like most BBK is made to use the stock master cylinder, the bigger rotors and pads are used for heat transfer so you don't have brake fade when you are constantly using your brakes. They don't make you stop faster but instead allow your brakes to "work" longer
Car Bibles : The Brake Bible
From what it looks like most BBK is made to use the stock master cylinder, the bigger rotors and pads are used for heat transfer so you don't have brake fade when you are constantly using your brakes. They don't make you stop faster but instead allow your brakes to "work" longer
#20
Don't forget making your car have street cred and not being able to fit stock rims on the car anymore.
#21
Moderator
iTrader: (7)
also, aftermarket bbks are designed to work with stock master cylinders, which stoptech does very well, but same cant be said for wilwood(looks nice though, but thats about it).
this thread is about using the RL caliper, which is designed for a different car completely, and has no relation to the TL. it makes sense that it wouldn't work optimally.
#22
Instructor
Thread Starter
Could one think that more surface area covered on the rotor would mean greater surface friction which in turn means stopping faster? Especially since the rotor is getting pressure from both sides of the caliper rather then just one side.
#23
But if your Master Cylinder is still pushing the same amount of pressure there will be no change on the amount applied to the rotor from the pads. Bigger rotor means a better heat transfer to allow less brake fading. If you want to stop faster you need to look into tires, suspension, and your brake setup.
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aztec209 (11-11-2014),
paperboy42190 (11-11-2014)
#24
Instructor
Thread Starter
But if your Master Cylinder is still pushing the same amount of pressure there will be no change on the amount applied to the rotor from the pads. Bigger rotor means a better heat transfer to allow less brake fading. If you want to stop faster you need to look into tires, suspension, and your brake setup.
#25
Moderator
iTrader: (7)
But if your Master Cylinder is still pushing the same amount of pressure there will be no change on the amount applied to the rotor from the pads. Bigger rotor means a better heat transfer to allow less brake fading. If you want to stop faster you need to look into tires, suspension, and your brake setup.
I hope I'm not coming off as some bbk hater, because I'm not. I think they look great and makes the car look way more aggressive, and I acknowledge it'll last longer during repeated stops over and over. But if 1 quick stopping distance is your goal, your money is best spent elsewhere
#26
Moderator
iTrader: (7)
yeah that sounds about right. From 120mph, base brakes might actually get overheated after 1 or 2 stops so a bbk at those speeds can actually help a good amount. For daily driving on the highway at 60mph though, you likely wont see the benefits. Keep in mind kinetic energy also increase exponentially as velocity. KE=(1/2)mv^2. A car moving at 120mph has 4x the energy of a car moving at 60mph, so there's 4x more heat to dissipate
#29
Moderator
iTrader: (1)
The RL calipers, which are proven with math that the Brake MC cant handle can only use the 13 inch G35/350z rotors.
But you dont want the RL calipers because it doesnt provide any performance.
if you want a BBK that does add performance go with the Stoptech BBK from XLR8.
#30
Moderator
iTrader: (1)
XLR8 Big Brake Kits by STOPTECH - Excelerate Performance - Japanese and European Performance Specialists!!
this kit is proven to stop shorter than OEM.
the RL calipers will make you stop LONGER. fact.
this kit is proven to stop shorter than OEM.
the RL calipers will make you stop LONGER. fact.
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d1sturb3d119 (11-26-2014),
justnspace (11-26-2014)
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justnspace (11-26-2014)
#35
much has been discussed in this thread but answer to the OPs question was not one of them. So can I ask the same question? What else is needed for an RL brake caliper swap besides the FFC bracket and a 350z sized rotor? BTW it will be swapped to a 2nd gen TSX. Thanks!
#36
much has been discussed in this thread but answer to the OPs question was not one of them. So can I ask the same question? What else is needed for an RL brake caliper swap besides the FFC bracket and a 350z sized rotor? BTW it will be swapped to a 2nd gen TSX. Thanks!
The RL Caliper is designed for a 28 mm (1.1") rotor thickness. It uses pads that are 2.195" high in the radial dimension. That's bigger than many available rotors can handle. The inner braking surface diameter of the rotor would have to be 2 X 2.195" smaller than the rotor O.D. For a 12.8" rotor, that would be 8.41". I could find no Wilwood 1.1" thick, 2-piece rotor/hat combos that met these size constraints.
The KB1 RL 4-piston Advics Caliper is designed to accept a 10 mm 1.0 thread flare nut rigid steel tubing brake line. The cast hydraulic brake line thread boss does not have a machined surface. So if you attach a TL brake line banjo fitting and bolt to the RL Caliper with stock crush washers, it may leak.
The correct brake line configuration would use a short rigid steel tubing brake line connected to a flexible brake line at a bracket mounted on the steering knuckle. The KB1 RL uses this brake line configuration.
I elected to use Wilwood 4-Piston Ultralite Calipers, Wilwood Caliper Bracket Kit, and Wilwood Caliper bolt Kit with Wilwood 2-piece rotors.
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cris_crozz (08-25-2015)
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