Shaved brake calipers still working

Post by **Nevada1906** » 12 Feb 2016, 18:19

Long time since my last post, I know.

Just wanted to say that way back in June 2012, I posted that I upgraded my brakes to 302mm front rotors by shaving down my stock calipers to fit my Columbas, which gave me JUUUUUST enough clearance to do the trick.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... 12#p243812

20,000 city and highway miles later (some of it through West Virginia multiple times), these things are still working fine. No wheel rubbing, no caliper warping, nothing but strong, fade-free performance. I've taken the wheels off multiple times to clean and inspect them, and the calipers aren't bent or anything. Volvo really overengineered everything on this car.

And for some reason, still just about as thick - rotors and pads on all four corners - as when I bought the kit. I can't figure that part out. I'm absolutely sold on the Akebono-Zimmerman combination. If anyone wants to see what I did, the link's above in this post. The mod might not be recommended, but it really works.

Post by **rspi** » 13 Feb 2016, 03:20

I'm about to do the 302's on my 850. Could you feel a real difference in braking power?

Post by **rspi** » 13 Feb 2016, 03:37

Is this part 2? Did Matthew ever post the side-by-side grinding pics?

Post by **tryingbe** » 13 Feb 2016, 07:50

rspi wrote:I'm about to do the 302's on my 850. Could you feel a real difference in braking power?

302 mm brake wasn't made to increase braking power. It was made to resist brake fade after multiple long hard stops.

Post by **matthew1** » 13 Feb 2016, 14:03

Big Brakes, Small Wheels

Just got this in the VRD.

Post by **rspi** » 18 Feb 2016, 04:11

Installed the upgrade on my car last night, what a challenge. The nuts on my metal lines would not budge. Liquid wrench didn't help, just seized. The one on the passenger's side spun the nut off, that actually helped. The one on the drivers side would not, so I had to cut the lines on both side of the bracket and connect the new hose and metal line against it. I'll get a used bracket today.

I guess I'm warning others to be prepared to replace the hard lines to those calipers if you begin this mod. Once you damage a line you have passed the point of no return. I actually broke the nut off of the passenger side line several days ago and being in the SW I was able to get a nice set used to complete the job.

All done now short of the one bracket. I also went with steel hoses.

Post by **benpineapple** » 18 Feb 2016, 06:57

Interesting that the ribs are the only things keeping it from clearing. I'm assuming the caliper guide brackets (sized for the 302s) have the same mounting points as the 280s?

I have a question, did you only have to do this mod because the Columbas wheels are smaller inside than others? Or is this a false assumption? I'm rolling on the 16x6 5 spoke Persus wheels.

I can imagine this mod not working on cheaper aftermarket calipers. Nevada1906, did you use the calipers that were already on the car, or were they new? The kit described in the original thread doesn't make this clear.

Post by **Nevada1906** » 18 Feb 2016, 08:34

Yeah, those ribs are the only things preventing installation.

To answer your question, I'm not sure what the Persus wheel dimensions are, but I used reman stock calipers from AutoZone on the new kit brackets. I wanted to be sure that I wasn't wasting all that effort on parts that might need to be replaced.

I liked the way the Columbas look on my car and I couldn't swing both the brake upgrade and a set of Titans and new tires, so I did this.

Oh, almost forgot. The stock steel spare tire won't clear the brake caliper now, so the two times I've had flat tires on the front, I've had to swap the wheels on that side of the car front-to-back.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 18 Feb 2016, 14:43

Nice work, Nevada and thanks for coming back to give us an update. I'm really interested in how you replaced the back two brake lines. I've got braided hoses to replace the rubber ones but the back two look pretty daunting; tight space and corroded fittings.

FastYellow · Post by **FastYellow** » 18 Feb 2016, 16:01

Are the 302mm brake upgrade still being sold??