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Baer 6S Upgrade


misterp

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It's amazing what a good night's sleep can do for you. Because today I'm my happy self. :seeya::) But yesterday I was some kinda f'n pissed off. :mad::shakehead::banghead::mad::ughdance: I'll admit that sometimes I'm a lot like Al Bundy, just learn as I go and yesterday's lesson was that the Baer 15" rotors do not fit well with the McGaughy's dropped steering knuckles. I took off the Baer Alumasports and the larger calipers and rotors went together no prob and I noticed right away that the factory caliper bracket bolts were too long and needed to be shortened by a lot (like 5/16" - 3/8") so I took my grinder and worked them down to size, then assembled everything. Everything spun freely so I put the wheel on and took my test drive; backing out of the garage there was a major metal-to-metal grinding, the kind so bad you feel it in the steering wheel. :banghead: So I pulled forward, parked and got out then discovered also that the valve stems on the wheels were too tall and the calipers had pulled them out of the rims, both front tires were flat in seconds. :banghead::banghead: It was not one of my finer automotive moments.

 

So I disassembled the brakes and discovered that McGaughy's had cast a 1/8" tall pad with their part number and patent number not present on the OEM part and this extra casting had totally tore-up the backside of the rotor. :sigh: With a bit of anger I ground the offending casting off the steering knuckles, plus the next morning found a tire shop that had some trick valve stems that clear the new calipers, so today we're all smiles. :D

 

Comparison of the stock calipers, Baer alumasport calipers, Baer 6S calipers:

Calipers.jpg

 

Calipers2.jpg

 

Comparison of stock, Baer 14", and Baer 15" rotors:

RotorsSBS.jpg

 

RotorsStacked.jpg

 

Rotors12vs15.jpg

 

(continued...)

Edited by Mr. P. (see edit history)
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Fitment Issues:

WitnessMark.jpg

 

Grinding.jpg

 

Assembled.jpg

 

Tire.jpg

 

Valvestems.jpg

 

So now that everything is on there, how are they??? They're GREAT! I love them! The brake feel is fantastic, this is how the truck should have been made IMO. The Alumasports bite about as hard as these larger 6-piston calipers but I can tell now how much more 'reserve' these larger brakes have.

 

Mr. P. :)

Edited by Mr. P. (see edit history)
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That looks bad ass man i love it now we need a pic of the SS all cleand up with the new mod showing also. :D
Yup time for a bath, the truck is so dirty again I can smell it :sick: I hate working in a dirt parking lot. :mad:

 

Mr. P.

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  • 3 months later...

Yet one more reason not to buy mcgoofys crap my brakes worked perfectly with my belltech spindls the only problem I had was the backing plate was slightly rubbing so I got in there with a screwdriver and a small pry bar and moved it away a bit.

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Mr. P, I have some questions for you if you don't mind? Here it goes....

 

Let me get this straight, you have a set (frnt & rear) Baer/PBR Alumasport system (4 calipers and 4 rotors), (just like i have), then took the FRONT rotors and calipers off and upgraded them to the larger calipers/rotors, leaving the rear stock Baer/PBR correct? If so,...

 

How much did this cost?

What is the part number you used?

Where did you purchase from?

Did pads come with the kit?

 

Lastly, how in the hell did i miss this post!?!?!?!

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Mr. P, I have some questions for you if you don't mind? Here it goes....

 

Let me get this straight, you have a set (frnt & rear) Baer/PBR Alumasport system (4 calipers and 4 rotors), (just like i have), then took the FRONT rotors and calipers off and upgraded them to the larger calipers/rotors, leaving the rear stock Baer/PBR correct? If so,...

 

How much did this cost?

What is the part number you used?

Where did you purchase from?

Did pads come with the kit?

 

Lastly, how in the hell did i miss this post!?!?!?!

 

Also, have you noticed any squeeling or excessive brake dust?

Yeah this BBS/forum is crappy like that, the programmer who wrote the 'show latest posts' logic should be fired and hired back for less - I never get to see a lot of the newer posts either.

 

Yes I started with Alumasports at all four corners and they worked well enough but under extreme braking I had the rear axle lock-up well before the fronts, even the ABS didn't catch it and if it weren't for the fact that the truck is as long as a freight train the rear would have come around a couple of times. Upgrading the fronts from PBR to 6S restored the braking balance close to stock, the rear Alumasports will not overpower the front 6S calipers. So from my experience I recommend either Alumasport fronts + factory rears, or 6S fronts + Alumasport rears to keep a well-balanced brake system.

 

The front 6S kit is about $3K new, I've heard that they are about $2300 wholesale :dunno: , and I've seen used 6S kits on flea-bay for well under $2K. The kit is complete: calipers, rotors, pads, adapters, kardware - everything is space-aged materials & uncompromising quality.

 

And no the pads on the 6S kit don't make a peep; they are still dusty like any performance pad but IMO a tad cleaner than the stock Alumasport pads. I just got the chance to test the performance for real last weekend, I panic-stopped the truck from 120-mph down to 55-mph and the pads did get hot but no warping, impressed the hell out of me considering the truck weighs 5500-lbs - and I've got a fix in mind for shedding more heat. :)

 

BUT, I *highly* recommend the Alumasport front brakes for all trucks even for use with the factory rears, you will have no worry dropping the truck on it's nose at typical freeway speeds; sometimes things get dicey panic stopping the factory brakes on rush-hour freeways. IMO the 6S + Alumasport rears setup is not worth buying unless you routinely drive at tripple-digit speeds, at 65-mph and under my truck stopped just as hard with the Alumasport/PBR calipers as it does now with the 6S kit. Also, with the 6S calipers the smallest rim you can use is 20" so if you have a flat up-front you will have to move a rear tire to the front, then put a spare on the rear -or- carry a 20" spare.

 

Mr. P.

Edited by Mr. P. (see edit history)
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