[TJeeper]

I finished installing my Vanco Big Brake kit on Tuesday, I have to say it works very well in conjunction with Vanco's hydroboost. I know what some of you are thinking, if the hydroboost works so well, what is the point of the upgrade? Well, the hydroboost works as advertised, I can lock up all four of my 35" MTRs on beadlocks on demand. But it gets more difficult the more weight I have in my Jeep. When I load up my tools, spare parts, and the family for a trail ride, the brakes start to get marginal. Add a trailer with camping gear, it starts to get scary. I was using about 90% of my braking power for moderate stops. I tried one hard stop on the highway, I had severe brake fade half way through, and the brakes were smoking. Clearly the front brakes were not up to the task.

But that isn't even the main reason for the upgrade. The main reason I switched is because the slider design isn't up to the task of severe braking. When I disassembled my current brakes, this is what I found with the left brake:







No wonder I have been having problems with my Jeep pulling left. In the past year I have bent the sliders on two sets of knuckles, and trashed four sets of pads. Fact is, I'm convinced mrblaine designed this kit for me.

The problems with the stock design isn't limited to Jeeps with large tires and hydroboost. The sliders over time develop divots that keep the caliper pads from sliding back and forth. My stock ZJ has the same problem. With any moderate or hard braking, the pads get stuck on the sliders and make a loud grinding sound as they try to work themselves free. I grease the sliders and caliper bolts with every tire rotation, so it isn't a maintenance problem. So when is that 16" kit coming out?

For those looking for objective numbers, such as how much this decreases my stopping distances, I don't have any. My brakes worked well before, and work well now, hopefully without breaking any parts. In fact Van said if I break these brakes, he will give me my money back. Right Van?

For those with hydroboost, I can help with some descriptive observations. The brake pedal seems a bit firmer than before. It feels like I am using less leg pressure to come to a stop than before. I have not adjusted my Wilwood proportioning valve as my front brakes still lock up before my rear ones do. I might be able to dial it out a bit, I'll see how it works out. The best part about the upgrade is I seem to have a better feel for the amount of pressure needed to almost lock up the brakes. Before it was almost like all or nothing, i.e. it was easy to lock them up, but getting right on the edge of locking up was more difficult. It wasn't from a lack of practice, I live in a rural area so slamming on the brakes is daily thrill for me. Now it seems easier to control them.

I want to finish up by saying what great customer service Van has. I bought my Jeep in '99, and have dealt with many vendors over the years. No one comes close to his customer service. He has a policy, if you don't like his kit, send it back for a refund. The products are that good. He answers the phone when you call, and is patient and takes the time to answer all the questions you have. He will even give out his cell phone number if you are doing an install on the weekend and are having problems.

On my kit, there was a technical glitch during production and the rotor was not quite centered in the caliper. We talked about the problem on Monday. That day he had the correct parts made and shipped out to me for installation on Tuesday. NO VENDOR had ever done that for me. Most of the time when I have had an issue with a product, I have had to wait weeks for the vendor to get around to sending me the correct part.

I would also like to thank mrblaine. When I had some questions Van couldn't answer, Blaine took the time (on his dime) to go over my questions and clarify some points I had with the kit. I have been working on brakes on my vehicles now for over 20 years, but I found out I haven't heard all the little tips to make the install go smoothly. Thanks Blaine.

[55willystruck]

Glad to hear everything works out so well-an excellent upgrade, with EXCELLENT customer service-I couldn't agree more!

Seeing your pic of the brake pads makes me wish I'd have taken a pic of mine, simply to illustrate the difference between the factory trash, and Van's upgrade. I had such a significant difference between left and right sides, both front to rear it was unbelievable. No wonder my brakes sucked so bad. The leading edge of one side was worn to near nothing, while the opposite side was thick, appeared near-new. Exact opposite at the rear end of the pads, illustrating very well how much flex was actually happening with the factory system.

Great Job Van, and Blaine!

Best of Luck,

Mike

[PhulesAu]

Good to hear about vendors with gold service. Is the Hydroboost needed? or did you have it already? We're headed to Moab in December pulling about 800#s of trailer, and I'd REALLY like better breaking.

[TJeeper]

I added the hydroboost last year, but like I said, even hydroboost isn't going to help you stop with a trailer. I would start with the brakes and see what you think. Assuming you have unit bearings, it only takes a couple hours to bolt on, and works very well. People are reporting being able to lock up 35" tires with the new brakes, where previously they could not.

In case you missed the previous posts, the new brakes are a dual piston design. Like Mike stated above, the single piston design on the TJs does not work well at all. The harder you press on the brake pedal, the more the caliper flexes. Those of us who have enough mileage on our Jeeps to replace the pads know only one side of the pad wears out, the other side looks new. Not very effiecient.

[The Mean Fish]

Anything special needed since you have the Warn hub kit?

[TJeeper]

The only thing special you need to do is tell Van when ordering. He can have the rotors machined for you (a lot cheaper than what I paid locally for my previous rotors) if you like, and adds the appropriate spacers to center the calipers in the rotor. That's it.

[JerDog53]

Well Good!

I was thinking I would do the upgrade befor I looked in to doing the hydroboost so my thinking agrees with you. I take it there is no difference in the kits between the D35 and D44 set ups.

[TJeeper]

This is a front brake kit, fits D30s and Rubi D44s. No other modification of the brake system or rear brakes needed.

[PhulesAu]

I wasn't sure if anything had changed, from the other thread. My L J over 50k miles and now that I've gone to 35's it's really noticeable. Thanks for the info.

[TJeeper]

Update:

This weekend I got a chance to practice some 80mph-0mph stops (legally and safely). The improvement over the old brakes is incredible. The pedal felt firm, no brake fade, and the Jeep stopped straight, it didn't get squirrely like it would previously. I hit the brakes hard enough to be on the verge of locking up, and was able to hold it there without locking up any of the tires.

Besides the cool sound of a 35" MTRs getting squishy under hard braking, I love the way the g forces press you into the seat belt. Don't try this at home without a seat belt, or your face is going to be planted against the windshield.