Let it Bleed

Haha next year is bleed year, so I’m thinking of doing the whole enchilada, maybe order the kit to hedge against any potential increases before year end. This seems like a cracking deal from FCP euro, especially if their replacement program includes brakes and related parts. Additionally, I like that it looks incredibly complete with all the other related hardware. Manufacturer is SHW. Car is only a road car no tracking so what do you guys think? Kit price total is $1,103.00.

Do you have a link to the kit? I’m curious to see the individual components.

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Nice kit, but you probably don't need more than pads, sensors, Brake Quiet ( Amazon.com ), and rotors.

That’s exactly why I am asking fellas. I always consider free labor enough savings and even though it is not a Mercedes-Benz I like their idiom the best or nothing. I don’t wanna put parts on my car that are mediocre. I agree with you too, things like the rotor screw will be fine; sensors are very brittle after heat / cool cycles so I will add those in no matter what I buy. Do you have a favorite road brand set up?

I’ll look this winter, the rotor choices are limited, pad game is more diverse.

Lots of good pad choices, but unless you track, most won't make much difference. Most all of the clips and pins are reusable a few times unless you live in the salt belt. The vibration dampers can be applied to new pads with brake quiet adhesive, once or twice. Just don't bend stuff as you disassemble it.

Great thread. I'm going to keep a close eye on this one as I'll be looking for rotors and pads within a few months.

Adding this kit, not a bad offering given what I’ve seen so far. Anyone running these? They say OEM but wouldn’t that be Brembo pads ?

If you plan on replacing your rotors, you MUST replace the caliper bolts (2x per caliper) . They are stretch bolts that are one time use only . You can re-use all other hardware, but I would recommend replacing the screw that holds your rotor as well. I know you said you don't track, but for the folks following this thread that do, the FCPEuro combo from Sebro with slotted rotors, RBF600, and Ferodo DS2500s is also a slapping deal for $1200 (from what I remember). I've managed to crack the OEM Porsche drilled rotors at the track from heat. I definitely also recommend changing out the rubber brake lines to the stainless steel ones from Goodridge. Best of luck with the job - make sure you check each brake piston's dust boot for cracks or tears before re-installation. These cars are getting old enough to need caliper rebuilds from wear and tear or excessive heat.

I agree. Since you’re doing the work yourself, go all in and replace everything and you’re still saving a bundle. That same job at the dealership would be 2 1/2 to 3 times that. And although most of those parts can be reused several times, there nothing like looking over a brake re-do when you’re done and admiring those gleaming new pads and rotors, bolts, clips, etc. Always a good feeling.

Caliper bolt torque? Several sources on the web say it’s 80 ft pounds I’ve seen as low as forty too. Obviously one of these is quite wrong. A competitor site has 63 ft pounds caliper bolts, 7.5 ft pounds for the disc screws. They are like the Dow jones industrial bolts apparently… 😂 According to yet another a source it says Brembo recommends 80 ft pounds dry, 110 with anti seize.

Higher torque with antiseize makes no sense. Don't use that source for anything. None of those torque indicates "stretch bolts"

This is exactly the problem with the Internet at times, I don’t trust any of them. I have plenty of time to run down the correct values before I engage on the project. Somebody here will know I’m confident of it.

I’ll replace them it’s not a big deal, thanks for the information.

8 of them sitting in my FCP Euro cart till the next order.

Boris, an alternative to buying the OEM caliper bolts is to buy the Tarett caliper studs, this was you will not need to buy the caliper bolts the next brake job

Last time I replaced my rotors it cost me $29 for 8 calipers bolts from FCPEuro. Tarett studs are about $150. If you aren't tracking, it could be another 50-90K miles till the next rotor change. So that's not a good investment for most of us.

I’m with you on that advice, frankly I carefully hand twist every threaded assembly first. In fact I’d say this is way more critical advice far inside the heads with the spark plugs . I find Brembo to be an elegant design, like working on art. I used to hold a factory certification and I wrenched professionally at a dealership until college. I had the luxury there of the learning curve and tutelage from a spectrum of great wrenches. I’ve never had any problem doing Porsche brakes across three models and a myriad of systems across multiple marques. One of the greater advantages of home wrenching is not having to clear a lift to feed yourself. I can do this over the course of several days like a surgeon and like somebody who wants to make the fun last if that makes sense to any of you other guys.

N_Jay, please check this link: Brake Caliper Stud Kit

I’ve had three sets of Brembo brakes , I have never had one strip out and I’ve had a Porsche in my garage since around 1989. Now, if it happens at the track, I suppose that’s something quite different, but in normal roadwork, I’m confident in the design that Brembo made from the factory. They look fancy, beefy and sweet so I can see why you would convert them. It reminds me of the same argument for wheel studs, I have never had an issue with the Porsche factory wheel screws either. The premise that Brembo doesn’t know how to engineer their own brakes just doesn’t ring true to me, just my two cents, like I said they do look beefy and substantial.

This is a misunderstanding. The premise is that Porsche engineered the wheel carrier out of an extremely soft metal (I believe it is aluminum, but someone can fact check it) that is highly prone to cross threading. It has nothing to do with Brembo. The stud conversion, while is not necessary for your use case or those who are not doing frequent rotor replacements, is to prevent the risk of cross threading the carrier when tightening the caliper bolt, and also to bypass the need to replace the caliper bolt every time you pull the caliper off. I am inclined to agree with Tarrett over what the internet (in broad terms) says with regards to not needing to replace the bolt after completing a stud conversion. Their products are some of the best you can use in Cayman racing. This is all completely beside the point of your thread, however - apologies for the thread-jacking, lol.

Can you explain how using studs negates needing to replace them?

The OEM bolts are "torque to yield" (..?) meaning that the clamping strength is created by stretching the bolt. The Tarett studs are have a higher clamping strength, for this reason you can reuse them (because you are not reaching their shear limits), however, you have to torque the nuts according to Tarett installation instructions. Tarett has an excellent reputation of well designed and great quality products, acknowledged within the racing circles. Please forgive my awful grammar, but English is my second language and doesn't help the fact that I am already on my third tequila, helping my wife with the Christmas tree.. Cheers!

The factory bolts do not look like they are torque to yield. That seems to be an assumption based on the instructions to replace them. I would be interested on hearing what the Tarett instructions are.

I believe that the Tarett installation instructions are with each product on their website

But.. the main reason of using the studs is to minimize the risk of cross threading the treads on the aluminum hub. You install the studs only once.

Seems (from the Tarett website) the main reason for using them is reducing wear on the suspension uprights from repeated removal and insertion of the caliper mount bolts, and the added ease in mounting the calipers. I don't know if the clamping force is higher or lower as the thread diameter is smaller and the torque is lower.

I just watched the Tarrett video and learned a lot about the difference between the studs and bolts application and realize some misconceptions are still out there. Firstly, that the biggest concern is cross-threading, which can occur if one is not careful, and is explained in great detail in the video. But mainly since the hub and mounting assembly for the calipers is aluminum, and the bolts are steel, there is a greater risk of the threads in the aluminum being stressed and ‘stretched’ from removal and reinstallation. The people most concerned with this are trackers who do repeated removals and reinstalls, the average wrencher replacing brakes 4 or 6 times in the life of the car needn’t worry. The high strength and quality stainless steel studs once inserted will be there most likely permanently. If you haven’t watched the video in its entirety, it’s worth the several minutes to see the concept behind the studs. That being said, at $150 per axle I don’t think I would go that route either since I don’t track the car, but I do see the sense for those that pull their calipers frequently.

The factory bolts are not stretch bolts or TTY. If you're concerned about this just clean off the thread locker and run a fresh nut over them, if it goes on smoothly then the bolts are fine and not stretched or deformed and are okay to reuse. The Porsche bolts have pre-applied blue thread locker pads on them. I am reasonably certain the reason they say to replace them is so you always get a fresh pad of thread locker: there's no chance of forgetting to apply it or applying the wrong amount. It's a way of avoiding problems when you're dealing with the least common denominator: if you have the service department always replace the bolts with fresh then you're always sure you have the right amount of thread locker. BMW /Mini does the exact same thing. I'm not the least common denominator so personally I'm fine reusing those bolts, I just add a fresh blue thread locker in the correct amount.

Re the caliper bolts, they are large high-strength steel bolts that are bolted into aluminum which is much softer than steel. I really don't see how the steel bolts stretch from the softer aluminum at only 63 ftlbs torque. I believe the issue is galvanic corrosion due to the dissimilar metals. There is always a galvanic reaction/corrosion issue when bolting/connecting dissimilar metals and in this case the steel bolt gets corroded. This is also why the recommendation to change plugs at no longer than 5 yrs even if a garage queen since the galvanic reaction can bond the plug to the head. Therefore you want to use a new caliper bolt that has absolutely no corrosion since it could result in stripping the aluminum caliper threads. Trust me, i learned this the hard way. Wish i would have spent the $40 on new caliper bolts the first time! When i replace rotors on my new car i will be going w the stud kit.