leita0

Here is the template for the ST42.

https://2n04n31bnx4i2cai3f2wryyx-wpe...NANB-STR42.pdf

k24madness

iTrader: (6)

I currently run the STR42's with 11.75 rotor. Awesome setup for my 300whp Miata.

Looking at your car I would not even consider the above. You don't need that much brake. I bet stock is beyond good enough so what would the goal be? I'd look to loose weight and increase pedal feel. I think the best choice for you would be an 11" kit with the smaller rear rotors (9.5"?). I had great luck with the Dynalites and would not hesitate to recommend the same in your application. I installed a bridge bolt to help stiffen calipers too.

moocow

FYI the StopTech ST(R)42 30/36mm piston can be ordered from V8R if you ask, and StopTech will dropship the calipers to you. This is in lieu of the 36/38mm piston version, and the smaller pistons should better with my non-sport rears.

moocow

I'm concerned by how much slop is on the caliper to bracket bolts. On other radial mount calipers I've seen, the connection is a threaded alignment pin. On the V8R kit, it's just an M10 bolt. I'm thinking about adding some shims to absorb the slop, torqueing it on the car with the brakes compressed, or just bolting it on. Anyone else notice this? Should I be concerned? I don't want the caliper to be at an angle to the rotor.

rdb138

iTrader: (1)

I'm not sure any below answers your question exactly, but it's another data point.

It's been a while since I installed mine, but there was a very little bit of extra movement in both the front calipers & the rear calipers that goes away one installed. I really didn't pay much attention to it. I didn't think it wasn't enough to cause any issues with alignment, but I'm definitely not an expert on these things. (I haven't run mine yet, so I can't say if I'm going to have any issues or notice anything.) I like the idea of the alignment pin, but with our calipers being aluminum, and the bolts being steel, we may need a little room for expansion rates being different between the two. <--Again, not an expert, just throwing out a possibility...

One issue I had with the front calipers was that the bolts supplied were too short / unsafe in my opinion. I bought 10mm longer bolts for both the caliper to bracket and the bracket to spindle to correct that issue.

The rear calipers come with a shim to be placed between the caliper and the bracket to raise it. That got the hight correct, but mine wouldn't center properly, and once you stuck the pads in, it was quite obvious it was off. To fix this, I added another shim between the bracket & the spindle so I could get it to center. I wish I didn't have to use the shim, it's only 1.5mm, but it puts the caliper to close to the wheel, so now I have to run a spacer with my wheels. (For a shim, I am just using a grade 8 washer) I also bought longer bolts for the rear calipers, 5mm or 10mm longer, I don't remember off the top of my head. (I can go digging in my build thread to find out if needs be.)

Hopefully someone else with a little more knowledge also chimes in. You have me curious about all of this now.

moocow

I bought longer 50mm bolts, too. The 40mm that came with the kit were short. The instructions were literally just the torque spec for the rotor hat and the adapter bracket, and no mention of the crush washer for the caliper fitting. I should've just waited for the SPM Superlite kit or got the Goodwin version instead.

rdb138

iTrader: (1)

Sorry you got very short fasteners too. That seems to be an overall trend with items I have bought from V8R. You also received more instructions than I did. HA! I think the Stoptech calipers are very good & you will be happy with them once installed etc. They just aren't as plug and play out of the box as you would expect buying a kit like this.

I never received any crush washers / didn't use any on mine. What fitting do you mean? are you talking about the bleeder / brake line fittings? Those don't use a crush washer on mine. On a tangent, tightening down the brake line is a bit hard to get a wrench in there. You may want to do that before installing the calipers.

I also had some other "growing pains" with mine. (singular brake duct won't fit without modification & the pads needed to be ever so lightly filled down.) Nothing crazy hard, just not plug and play.

moocow

You could do the Wilwood way and Teflon tape the fittings (and those are Wilwood brake lines), but the Stoptech caliper is made for a crush washer. Maybe mine came with the Stoptech fittings since the smaller pistons were drop-shipped? Again, it'd be nice if V8R told us that after we paid a thousand dollars for their kit.
As you pointed out, the rotors get very close to the steering tie rod - I trimmed my singular ducts too. The hats sit proud but are also very close to the washers, especially if you were to use different replacement washers. They even sent me one Metric and SAE hardware set for the rotor hats. I'm just not impressed with V8R's kit or attention to detail. I'm stuck running it since I can't return it.

rdb138

iTrader: (1)

OK, so you are using the NPT to AN fittings. I apologize, those came in the box (from Stoptech) with both the fitting & the crush washers, V8R didn't "supply" those parts, Stoptech would have. I did not use them.



I wouldn't bet the farm on it, but I would bet the tractor, that my brake lines are from Stoptech. They also have a flare ending & should properly seal without any heroics. I would think that the brake lines you received from V8R should have been the same. They might have sent you the wrong brake lines. I would probably contact them and ask about it. (FYI...I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic about Wilwood & Teflon tape or not, but if you are serious, don't use Teflon or pipe dope <--dangerous at best, it will leak. It's best to use nothing and fix the flare / fitting, but there is a hydraulic sealant from Permatex if you must.)






I bought the semi-floating rotors, and they were already put together for me, so my hardware is different than yours for the hats. I'd of been upset if I received SAE hardware for one hat & Metric for the other. Unfortunately, I've had a bunch of fasterners that were not correct for my stuff from V8R too. I've emailed and they have sent the correct fasterner for me, and other times I just go and buy what I need...(easier / less wait). I agree it's super frustrating when you spend money on a kit and half the items are wrong and you have to go out and spend more money & time correcting.

As far as the picture you sent of the hat. That bolt is tapered at the end, I would want 2 threads showing past the nut like you have for proper fastening. I'm sorry, I don't understand the washer reference, but I definitely understand everything is very close and you need to be very aware of that with the hardware you use. Picture of my hat / rotor for reference.

moocow

rdb138, your brake lines are different than mine. These are 17" long and had "Wil" on the bag name. At full lock, it looks like they'd run into the lower control arm because they are too long and don't have that nice bend at the caliper side. EDIT: you can zip tie them just fine out of the way. Still not impressed that these aren't the advertised lines.
As much as it pains me, I'll ask to return the kit, or as much as I can. They didn't even ship the brake fluid as advertised.

afm

iTrader: (3)

At least the bolt heads actually fit in the counterbore of the caliper. That is not guaranteed for all V8R hardware.

Those are not NPT to AN fittings in the picture, and nothing with an NPT thread uses a crush washer. The caliper port can either rely on a flare seal or a face seal at the machined surface like with many brake fittings (banjos on MCs, etc.). A regular 3/8" crush washer will work fine.

rdb138

iTrader: (1)

Think you might have been sent a Wilwood brake “kit” with the stop tech calipers instead of a stop tech “kit”?

jpreston

iTrader: (4)

I don't blame you for being concerned about the slop, but in reality it's a non-issue. The 11" Stoptech branded kit also uses basic industrial M10 socket head cap screws. There is a small amount of slop, but it's not enough to matter and even in the worst case it still results in significantly less pad taper than the stock calipers.

The bolts in this picture are definitely too short, no question.

The ST/STR42 caliper can be used with the included M10/AN3 adapter fitting and crush washer (Stoptech always includes it with the caliper... V8R didn't send that) OR a hose with a crimped M10 fitting and tapered seat. The Stoptech brand hoses use a crimped M10 fitting with tapered seat, but there's nothing wrong with the M10/AN3 adapter fitting and an AN3 hose. Stoptech has been having some REALLY long backorders for the past year or so (covid...) so I wouldn't really blame V8R for shipping the Wilwood brake hose kit with the Stoptech caliper kit. I've noticed the same as you, though... the wilwood kit hoses are a bit too long and can rub on the control arm at full lock. I don't like it, but there are tons of wilwood kits out there so it's probably a non-issue.

Trimming of brake ducts around the tie rod is a requirement with most aftermarket brake kits. Most brake kits move the rotor as far inboard as possible to gain wheel clearance to the caliper, and the tie rod end is the limiting factor. Cutting the brake duct plate and adding a piece of heat tape on the tie rod boot is common.

+1. I'm not aware of any Stoptech calipers that use tapered NPT or BSPT threads that would require tape or thread sealant. All that I'm aware of use a crush washer or a tapered face seat at the bottom of the port.

moocow

Thanks for the excellent replies. I zip tied the brake line to the upper arm and checked full clearance. I'm using the Stoptech adapter with the crush washer and removed the extra Wilwood adapter. The teflon tape was a bad joke - I've seen some other cars' kits that mention using it (incorrectly so). I ended up torqueing the calipers as they were compressed to give me the best centering.

Andy1212

I had these same issues/concerns with my 11.75 kit, as well as a few more. I figured the slop in the caliper bolts was acceptable. The long brake lines... Annoying but meh. Some kind of installation instructions would have been nice.

​​​​​​The other issues I had were more troublesome.
​​​​​
One of the helicoils in a bracket was installed incorrectly, so I had to remove and replace myself.

Then realized they only sent enough hardware for one rotor and no brake fluid.
​​​​​​
Finally, i noticed the flange of the nut of the rotor fasteners was kissing the rotor hat. Note the removed anodize in the picture. A bit concerning as I'm not sure the correct preload on the fastener is obtained, as well as bolt bending concerns. I am using the PFC rotors, maybe the mounting flange thickness is a little less than other rotors?




I tried calling V8R multiple times, left voicemails, but never heard back from them... They did send me a new bag of rotor bolts though.

k24madness

iTrader: (6)

It's a bummer to hear about these problems with V8R. I don't recall seeing so few exposed threads during my install, I certainly wouldn't have missed that.

I know trying to scale a business and find good help is tough. I hope Shandelle gets his arms around these shortcomings and continues to prosper.

pman9003

I installed my STR-42/21 kit in late 2019, but had similar gripes. Ultimately none of this is a reason to not buy the kit IMO, nor is it out of the ordinary for an aftermarket BBK from what I can gather.

The included bolts were too short for my liking, so I got longer grade 12.9 bolts for brackets and calipers. This was annoying, but ultimately not a big deal. Kind of worked out as I eventually damaged a bolt head swapping rotors, buying the longer bolts from McMaster meant I had spares.

I also had to shim the rear caliper brackets to get the caliper centered over rotor. I only needed 0.8mm to get mine right. The spacer to get the caliper to the right height was odd, but not an issue.

leita0

Any one knows if the STR43 fits in the konig dekagram 15x9 et35 and the freeform 15x9.5 et29 ?

Thanks