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Originally Posted by sanjay
okay none of this thread is making any sense to me. full of people getting different kits off ebay and somehow jacking their cars up professionally in their own backyards (i envy you guys :()
i wont be doing any work myself, all with my mech (so factor that into costs)
having just missed a by barely metres just then (who was turning right as i was going straight) - ive decided i want and need to beef up my brakes (just have standard AU brakes - not sure if the XR brakes are meant to be any better? but they feel like despite my mechanic saying my pads and rotors are fine).
what can i do for $500 - $800 to get the best bang for buck as far as braking is concerned? dont mind if i need new rotors, pads, maybe a few other things like a swaybar...but i do NOT want to be having an accident and today really shook me up, particularly as i never had much confidence in the AU brakes beforehand.
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I don't think your issue was caused by AU1 brakes. I suspect you were travelling too close to the car in front. There is nothing wrong with the emergency stopping power of AU1 brakes. Anticipation will work better than brakes. Leaving enough room to the car in front of you will work better than better brakes.
Having done the preaching, here's some (simplified??) info on the upgrade. To upgrade your brakes to AU2 spec, you will need the following:
AU2 brake rotors & pads
AU2 callipers (including hoses)
AU2 Upright including balljoint and lower control arm
AU2 swaybar
AU2 swaybar chassis mounts
AU2 swaybar link ends
You will need at least 16" wheels to fit AU2 brakes/suspension.
The last 4 bits above are the same from AU2 right through to BF, so you can substitute BA to BF for any of them. There's not a lot of difference between AU2 to BF XT, but the Terries (SX/SY) and BF XRs got bigger brakes, but the difference between AU1 to AU2 upgrade is more noticeable than AU2 to BF.
Having said all of that, and having done the swap myself, the braking distance doesn't halve or anything. It's an improvement of maybe a few metres from 60, but the real improvement is the fact that the brakes do not fade under repeated application (for example, like when travelling down the Clyde or Brown mountains in NSW).
You can get the above parts from most wreckers for anywhere between $500 and $1k, plus fitting on top. If your local wrecker wants to charge more than say $650- for the lot, just tell them you can get them from a mob in Qld for $650 delivered; they should match price.