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Brake system upgrade on the cheap?

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Old 09-10-2015 | 10:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Invest2m4
There is a massive thread on JK Owners on this topic. It should answer all your questions.
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I read that entire thread last night in regards to the BR6 upgrade and wrote myself some summary notes. (Wew...that was interesting, informative and painful all at the same time). Someone needs to write a summary post, since 15 pages of that discussion could be summarized in one nice post. It did answer a lot of my questions, but doesn't really mention anything about modding the rears to match for proper bias.

It's sounding like if I choose to go either the Mopar or BR6 upgrade route, then I should stick with stock replacement rotors/calipers. I was hoping there were some recommended rear 13in rotor/caliper combo kits.

TF's rear rotor's with a bracket kit for $423 is a bit too rich for my blood for what you get. I'm sure they work great, as I would expect they should if you're paying over $200 for each rotor and a bracket and the kit doesn't include a caliper, brake pads or brake lines. At that price, I could go with the Power Stop rotor/pad kits and have vented rotors all the way around, including ceramic pads and purchase a backup kit for when they wear out.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Mopar BBK. It's more than what I want to spend since I'll have to additionally invest in rears, but the fact that the kit includes Pads, Lines, rotors, adapters, calipers, Master cylinder and booster all-in-one makes it a much more attractive and complete kit than the TF offerings. Additionally, since it uses OEM parts that will be a benefit in the future when it comes time for replacement parts and caliper rebuild kits.

Last edited by Rednroll; 09-10-2015 at 10:15 AM.
Old 09-10-2015 | 10:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Rednroll
Additionally, since it uses OEM parts that will be a benefit in the future when it comes time for replacement parts and caliper rebuild kits.
Which is the same reason I went with the BR6s in the front on mine. They accept stock pads.

I can report that with well over a year on them now I still don't feel the need to upgrade the rears at all. I am very happy with the performance with my 35s. However, I do understand wanting to do all 4 wheels.
Old 09-10-2015 | 11:13 AM
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Originally Posted by 14Sport
Which is the same reason I went with the BR6s in the front on mine. They accept stock pads.

I can report that with well over a year on them now I still don't feel the need to upgrade the rears at all. I am very happy with the performance with my 35s. However, I do understand wanting to do all 4 wheels.
Thanks for this 14Sport. I read many of your informative posts on the BR6 build thread in the other forum. I was wondering what others were doing for the rears, so your additional feedback is a welcome addition. I'm planning on going all the way around since my JK just hit 100K miles and I'm over due for rotors/caliper replacments. My thinking was since I'm going to have to spend the money and time replacing the rears it would be nice to have the rotor size match the fronts and get an additional upgrade from the rears but not have to go overboard on cost to do so. The TF offering 13in rear rotor package is way overkill for what I need. The rears aren't as important as you mention, so I'll just shop locally for stock rotor, caliper, and pad replacements.

I'm currently debating between the mopar kit and doing the BR6 upgrade that you participated in. When comparing them, I really like the dual piston caliper option for the Mopar kit since I feel that is really one of the short comings of the JK stock brakes where the fronts seem to wear unevenly. I know you didn't have to do the MC upgrade replacement and I'm thinking I likely won't have to as well with my 2009. However, with the dual piston calipers of the Mopar kit and it coming with an upgraded MC/booster it's a nice additional bonus knowing I won't have to further evaluate pedal stiffness and look for a MC after the fact. It is an extra effort for installation purposes.
Old 09-10-2015 | 11:51 AM
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That Mopar kit wasn't available when I did mine, or at least I wasn't aware of it. Since the price range is similar to the BR6 kit, I would have gone that route had it been available. I like the idea of dual pistons. Changing out the MC certainly would not have been a deal breaker as I was originally planning on it before the BR6 kit became available and possibly even with the BR6 kit. Turned out I didn't need to.

Like you, I hated of thought of dropping that kind of coin on a 4 wheel solution. That and the fact that the parts are proprietary which normally wouldn't bother me except that they're maintenance parts.

Last edited by 14Sport; 09-10-2015 at 12:00 PM.
Old 09-11-2015 | 06:51 AM
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Thanks everyone for all the help and suggestions.

I just ordered the Mopar Big Brake Kit. I tried to find a place that had it available locally because I had hoped to install it this weekend, but was unsuccessful. So I placed an order through a local mopar parts vendor. Mopar Parts Discounted - Genuine OEM Mopar Parts Discounted up to 35%, Largest selection, delivered to your door
I called and they indicated it typically takes about 3 days to arrive which means I will have to wait until next week to do the install.

I guess that gives me plenty of time to go out and purchase some rear calipers/rotors and install those this weekend.

Cost for Mopar kit was $655.60 + $39.94 (6% sales tax)= $695
Shipping was free for local pickup, but that's a wash because the trade off is that I had to pay state sales tax.

I'm estimating once I get the rear brake parts, that should put me in the $1K ballpark.

Here's the BOM/Part numbers of what all comes in the Mopar Kit.


Doing some investigations, it looks like the dual piston front calipers are from the 2006-2008 Dodge Ram 1500. The 13in front rotors are from Crown.

Last edited by Rednroll; 09-11-2015 at 07:12 AM.
Old 09-11-2015 | 07:13 AM
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That's a great deal I think. Looks like both kits share the same rotors which is good. They won't be marked export only anymore. Are you planning to post pictures of the parts? I would like to see the caliper and caliper adapter if possible. Just curious if they are offset like the BR6s.
Old 09-11-2015 | 07:16 AM
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Originally Posted by 14Sport
That's a great deal I think. Looks like both kits share the same rotors which is good. They won't be marked export only anymore. Are you planning to post pictures of the parts? I would like to see the caliper and caliper adapter if possible. Just curious if they are offset like the BR6s.
I will definitely post pictures. I'll try to do some side by sides once I start taking the originals off as well.

That's the part I'm most curious about, to see how the front calipers mount up. I'm not sure if one of those P/Ns is an adapter bracket or if the RAM 1500 calipers bolt right up. The "Adapter-Disc brake caliper" parts sound like it might be for that purpose, but I haven't found any pictures on the web of that part.

Last edited by Rednroll; 09-11-2015 at 07:27 AM.
Old 09-11-2015 | 08:19 AM
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Originally Posted by Rednroll
I will definitely post pictures. I'll try to do some side by sides once I start taking the originals off as well.

That's the part I'm most curious about, to see how the front calipers mount up. I'm not sure if one of those P/Ns is an adapter bracket or if the RAM 1500 calipers bolt right up. The "Adapter-Disc brake caliper" parts sound like it might be for that purpose, but I haven't found any pictures on the web of that part.
Looking forward to it. Thanks for taking the time.

I'm curious if those calipers would fit the br6 adapters. If so, they would be a great replacement if they sell the parts separately.

Last edited by 14Sport; 09-11-2015 at 08:23 AM.
Old 09-11-2015 | 08:44 AM
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Originally Posted by 14Sport
Looking forward to it. Thanks for taking the time.

I'm curious if those calipers would fit the br6 adapters. If so, they would be a great replacement if they sell the parts separately.
You can definitely get those calipers separately since they're standard OEM parts. After I got the BOM of the kit, I shopped around for the parts separately. If you purchased all the kit parts separately it's over $1K.

Here's one of the calipers listed on eBay:
Disc Brake Caliper Right Front Mopar 68157610AA | eBay


Here's the part I didn't post previously with cost estimates of the individual parts.
Old 09-11-2015 | 08:47 AM
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Wow! Those adapters aren't cheap.



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