4 piston caliper piston options...

[JMortensen 245]

I'm looking at a set of Superlites for the front end of my car and I've noticed that they come in the same size piston and a staggered version. I know the theoretical reason for doing this, pad taper, etc, but my question is whether or not pad taper is really that big an issue that it's worth another $70 per caliper.

 

Different piston sizes:

http://www.wilwood.com/CaliperProd.aspx?itemno=120-9578-RS

$231.79 http://www.jegs.com/i/Wilwood/950/120-9573-RS/10002/-1

 

Then you can get the "thermlock" pistons (too rich for my blood):

$370.99 http://www.jegs.com/i/Wilwood/950/120-9577-RS/10002/-1

 

Same size:

http://www.wilwood.com/CaliperProd.aspx?itemno=120-7430-L

$165.95 http://www.jegs.com/i/Wilwood/950/120-7430-R/10002/-1

[MoNkEyT88 11]

Personally I would just go with the same size pistons, save money, and put it elsewhere.

 

The money you save on the calipers will take a while to equal out to how long it takes to make the savings back from purchasing new pads.

[heavy85 18]

I'm running 1.38" piston Outlaws and am seeing tapered pad wear. Several mm over the life of the pad. I talked with Outlaw and they said this was why you get the different sized pistons. Based on my experience and had it to do over I would go with bigger and tapered pistons. You could probably rotate pads every event and even things out but the other side effect is piston wear. I'm seeing scuffing on the pistons since they sit cocked in the bores due to the tapered pads. It's not caused a problem yet but can't be good for life of the pistons.

 

Cameron

[jt1 13]

Jon, I've been running the 1 3/4" 4 piston superlites on my car for several years, mostly using PF 01 pads. My experience is that you will see a slight amount of pad taper, but it is insignificant. When the pads are at the end of their useful life, you might see 1-2mm of taper, although I suppose this could vary with different pads. I have not had any issues with scuffing the pistons or bores. Another thing to consider is that the 6 piston calipers have less piston area than the 4 piston 1 3/4" versions.

 

jt

[JMortensen 245]

Another thing to consider is that the 6 piston calipers have less piston area than the 4 piston 1 3/4" versions.

The ones that I'm looking at are a 4 piston with the leading pistons at 1.88" and the trailing at 1.75. The 6 pistons are too expensive for me even if I did want them.

 

Thanks for the feedback on the taper issue.

[Afshin 0]

I have also been using the superlites (same size pistons) with various Hawk pads over several years and have only noted minimal pad taper (approximately 1mm). I have not rotated the pads nor have I had any issues. Would buy them again.

[tube80z 19]

Flip the pads after each weekend and you'll not really have this issue.

 

Cary