The 280mm REAR brake thread

[Kevin Bacon 5]

OK, done mine today and it was dead easy :)

 

I think most people know how to remove rear brakes, but here's a few pics to give you an idea of what's involved and what they look like.

 

The only things worthy of note are; you have to cut off the shield plate and you also need to reposition the handbrake cable retaining clip to give it enough slack to account for the caliper's new height. I would recommend getting a wind back tool aswell, makes life a lot easier 8)

 

I tarted the brakes up a bit with some smoothrite too. They still look tiny in my wheels though.....but not as small as the original saucers :lol:

 

On the road with new pads, I can already feel the rear brakes contributing more to the overall braking and it makes the car feel more stable when you jump on them. Should be even better when bedded in!

[dinkus 10]

Oooh me like...

[StormchargedVR6 0]

Nice work Kev, did you get new bearings in the kit.

 

I need bigger fronts first :?

[alex303 0]

cheesewire did you find it necessary to adjust the brake bias regulator after fitting the kit? i'm just wondering if you still need to do this when running uprated front stoppers too.

 

tks Alex.

 

p.s. looks very smart!

[paul20v 0]

very nice :)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Forgot to say..... these Irwin "easy outs" are a god send when removing the rear carriers!!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yep, bearings included in the kit! The only things not included are pads and, err, instructions!

 

I haven't adjusted my rear bias valve. I think it's seized anyway :lol:

[VRTrickster 0]

Very good cheese!

 

Ill have to do a thread on my 280mm vented rear conversion with 4Motion calipers.

 

Nice work :)

[Joe M 0]

Forgot to say..... these Irwin "easy outs" are a god send when removing the rear carriers!!

 

They do look handy, I used a torx socket when I last took the carriers off.

 

How much did the rear 280 kit cost then?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Joe, GWerks did a GB on them @ £205 all in. Just thought I'd start this thread rather than clog up the GB thread.

 

VRTrickster, 280mm vented rears with bigger calipers! Do tell more! Mind you, the rear wheels are driven on a 4Motion and is a heavier car therefore need the extra braking power. Could be a tad overkill on a FWD, but who cares? :lol:

[VRTrickster 0]

Joe, GWerks did a GB on them @ £205 all in. Just thought I'd start this thread rather than clog up the GB thread.

 

VRTrickster, 280mm vented rears with bigger calipers! Do tell more! Mind you, the rear wheels are driven on a 4Motion and is a heavier car therefore need the extra braking power. Could be a tad overkill on a FWD, but who cares? :lol:

 

Yeah I know what you mean, they are a bit OTT, but at least they are there for when I do up the power :)

 

I got the spacer brackets and special hubs of John at JMR Racing in Littlehampton. I brought the calipers by mistake off VR6OC, and didnt want to give up making them fit! I Heard that someone had carried out the conversion, which happened to be John.

 

He can get made up brackets for 256 or 280 vented discs. Im not sure if the the hubs are actually rear discs machined into hubs on a lathe? The disc face ends up being exactly where it normally sits, which is good!

 

Im going to probably do a thread when I put it all back together. Ive just taken the axle off, stripped off, and dropped it of to be zinc then power coat finished.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah let us know more because the MK4 rear setup is miles better. Proper bearings and the discs pop onto hubs like they do on the fronts. Much nicer!

[KADVR6 0]

nice to see your still getting your hands dirty kev, surprised you had time to do this job instead of "detailing" :lol:

 

karl

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Nah that's the dirt off the Polo before I started work on the brakes mate :lol:

[VRTrickster 0]

Yeah let us know more because the MK4 rear setup is miles better. Proper bearings and the discs pop onto hubs like they do on the fronts. Much nicer!

 

Yes the discs do pop on to the hub, but the hub still uses the taper style bearings. Thats why I thought they might be machined rado discs.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Do they? Bums. I thought they might be like Ford Focus rear hubs (also uses "MK4 calipers") which are a catridge bearing instead of taper jobbies.

 

Well, my rear 280s are bedded in and with DS2500 pads front and rear..... stopping power is rather fruity :D

 

The control from the back under hard braking is so much better now.

 

Defo a worthwhile mod!

[NormanCoal 0]

I'm really suprised that you guys havent gone for the MK4 style rear brakes, the bearing setup is so much better, and all the parts are available from VW models

[dinkus 10]

I'm really suprised that you guys havent gone for the MK4 style rear brakes, the bearing setup is so much better, and all the parts are available from VW models

 

It's definitely an interesting idea, especially if it's a bolt-off, bolt-on type swap.

 

Is there much angle-grinder/machining involved?

How much do the parts cost?

What are the part numbers?

 

I'd definitely be game, price-permitting...

[yeti 0]

i heard from speaking to a mechanic who converted the rear of his ibiza 1.8t to mk4/tt vented that fitting the callipers and discs involved a fair bit of machining... i thought ibiza's shared many parts with mk3 golfs so they woudl be a similar PITA to fit... hence the 280's!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Trickster said the MK4 rear hubs are still taper bearings? If they're cartridge bearings like the front then it's worthwhile, but if not, then it's not imo.

[Guest]

Nice paint job on the disk centre but I'm sticking with silver for mine.

And talk of the shield has reminded me I need to find my new ones and put thicker paint on before fitting.... Oh so much to do and so little time :grin:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Silver paint, or leaving it, err, silver? :lol:

 

I was going to just leave it, but then I had visions of that big expanse of metal turning a nice rust colour, so painted it. I've been smelling hot Smoothrite the past few days, so I guess they're working!

[Guest]

Silver paint, or leaving it, err, silver? :lol:

 

I was going to just leave it, but then I had visions of that big expanse of metal turning a nice rust colour, so painted it. I've been smelling hot Smoothrite the past few days, so I guess they're working!

 

Silver :)

You will be concoursing next doing little tricks like that :wink:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Blimey, that'll mean getting the sponge out.... and cleaning underneath aswell..... :)

[VRTrickster 0]

Trickster said the MK4 rear hubs are still taper bearings? If they're cartridge bearings like the front then it's worthwhile, but if not, then it's not imo.

 

Good to hear you liking the brakes cheese!

 

No, Im not saying that Mk4 rear hubs have tapered bearings. I think the hubs I have are machined from rado discs, into hubs, see what I mean?

 

I think its best I get some pictures up to show you, but I cant do that until I get back to the car next weekend, sorry :)