Wilwood Big Brake Kit? Anyone run it?

[lariat]

I did Powerstop w/ Tow https://www.powerstop.com/product/power-stop-z36-brake-kit/#y=2020&mk=FORD&mo=RANGER

If you have a mushy pedal, bleed and purge the brake system.

- btw most of the lines under the truck are SS lines covered, the rest is prebent lines.

For a bit more than $300, this seems like a nice upgrade. How has the performance been?

I don't tow, but do offroad as high speed. I just like have nice and tight brakes like most higher end cars. I've had mushy brakes since I got my Ranger. It stops just fine, but you need to plan as there's a big gap before the pads start activating.

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[1pt21gw]

I have a full brake flush coming to help get my pedal to the "death touch" as I say.

I do not drive it a lot, it is in stages of upgrades, but I do not get a lot of brake dust. It will be interesting if there is a change with new wheels and 33's in E-rated, as its a touch more weight.

 

[OGMix376]

I have a full brake flush coming to help get my pedal to the "death touch" as I say.

I do not drive it a lot, it is in stages of upgrades, but I do not get a lot of brake dust. It will be interesting if there is a change with new wheels and 33's in E-rated, as its a touch more weight.

I’m curious of this “death touch”… is that like barely touch the pedal and it brakes hard?

 

[yamahaSHO]

I've had several Wilwood kits over the years across several different cars. Wilwood is generally my last option when it comes to upgrading brakes. Most of their calipers are pretty light duty. I just recently did a front and rear Wilwood (TCE Performance Products) brakes on my Saturn Sky Red Line, which I use for street and autox. I was looking for other options, but this is a rare platform and this allowed me to get a front and a rear kit, keep a parking brake, and run stock wheels when I need to.


These are what I just put on the front of my Sky. The caliper is very similar to the caliper in the Ranger kit. My biggest complaints are that it does not allow for top loading pads, and like most Wilwood calipers there aren't any dust boots. This just means you have to clean the pistons when really well when you switch pads and push the pistons back in. I am running the same pad in these as what comes with the Ranger kit, though I have a set of Polymatrix H compound pads for when I need some much better stopping during competition.

Here is a Wilwood kit I used to have on my S2000, which is mainly a track car for me. They worked well and I could generally find consumables for pretty cheap. They did have some caliper flex (not the worst I've had with some smaller Wilwood calipers), but these did allow top loading.

I later went to these up front as they are significantly beefier. The caliper probably weighs at least twice as much as either of the above Wilwood calipers. This is pretty significant on track.

The Ranger kit does use a decent thickness pad at 17mm (my Sky uses a 12mm pad... It looks half worn when new). But I don't care for getting a brake upgrade such as this and not having 2-piece rotors.


All that said, you'd probably be very happy with them if you're a brake guy like I am. Wilwood generally keeps the bias near stock, but you may have to upgrade the pad in the rear.

 

[1pt21gw]

I’m curious of this “death touch”… is that like barely touch the pedal and it brakes hard?

If I touch the brake pedal I want to feel the brakes move and how the vehicle responds. You shouldn't be thinking about when and where you'll end up and going "whoa Whoa WHOA" in fear of not stopping in time.

My bicycles are the same way, if you touch the brakes too much, over you go. - Hence the death touch referral. A lot of times people think that it is too touchy.

If you know how to use weight in your favor, you get precision and control. The harder I press the harder I want to stop. From a slight touch to a firm press, I want them to do what I want them to do, not them tell me when they'll work.

By the way, I do not believe in brakes, only the long skinny pedal. I drive defensive, not reactive. ?

 

[OGMix376]

If I touch the brake pedal I want to feel the brakes move and how the vehicle responds. You shouldn't be thinking about when and where you'll end up and going "whoa Whoa WHOA" in fear of not stopping in time.

My bicycles are the same way, if you touch the brakes too much, over you go. - Hence the death touch referral. A lot of times people think that it is too touchy.

If you know how to use weight in your favor, you get precision and control. The harder I press the harder I want to stop. From a slight touch to a firm press, I want them to do what I want them to do, not them tell me when they'll work.

By the way, I do not believe in brakes, only the long skinny pedal. I drive defensive, not reactive. ?

Oh the bike reference explains it very well, the brakes on my 09 Honda Cbr/rr I had tightened up to be less is more..if you panic brake the front would either lock up quick or the rear would come up (I wanted the back end to come up because i thought stunts would be fun ?.).. brake pedel feel on the Ranger does leave room for improvement.. I’d like to achieve this “death touch” brake pedal feel, I prefer finesse over force as well

 

[lariat]

Has anyone had a Ford Ranger brake flush performed with OEM brakes? I wonder if this is a decent improvement in brake pedal feel alone?

 

[awd.nv]

I've had several Wilwood kits over the years across several different cars. Wilwood is generally my last option when it comes to upgrading brakes. Most of their calipers are pretty light duty. I just recently did a front and rear Wilwood (TCE Performance Products) brakes on my Saturn Sky Red Line, which I use for street and autox. I was looking for other options, but this is a rare platform and this allowed me to get a front and a rear kit, keep a parking brake, and run stock wheels when I need to.


These are what I just put on the front of my Sky. The caliper is very similar to the caliper in the Ranger kit. My biggest complaints are that it does not allow for top loading pads, and like most Wilwood calipers there aren't any dust boots. This just means you have to clean the pistons when really well when you switch pads and push the pistons back in. I am running the same pad in these as what comes with the Ranger kit, though I have a set of Polymatrix H compound pads for when I need some much better stopping during competition.

Here is a Wilwood kit I used to have on my S2000, which is mainly a track car for me. They worked well and I could generally find consumables for pretty cheap. They did have some caliper flex (not the worst I've had with some smaller Wilwood calipers), but these did allow top loading.

I later went to these up front as they are significantly beefier. The caliper probably weighs at least twice as much as either of the above Wilwood calipers. This is pretty significant on track.

The Ranger kit does use a decent thickness pad at 17mm (my Sky uses a 12mm pad... It looks half worn when new). But I don't care for getting a brake upgrade such as this and not having 2-piece rotors.


All that said, you'd probably be very happy with them if you're a brake guy like I am. Wilwood generally keeps the bias near stock, but you may have to upgrade the pad in the rear.

Man, this was an excellent post!! Ugg, the service cost on the Wilwood was another plus but almost seems like they are a half hearted upgrade. DId you actually run the Ranger kit?

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