So I’m waiting for some warmer weather so I can do brakes on my ‘93 Cab as the only working area I have is a covered carport. In preparation, I’ve been scouting parts. Pelican seems to have the largest in-stock selction by far. What I find really surprising is the wide range of prices. Pads range from $39 to $375 a set. Rotors range from $19 to $531 each. I obviously would prefer to spend $19 vs. $531, but I also want my car to stop when I step on the brakes. I don’t race the car and I don’t need the best state of the art, lightest, most futuristic parts. Also, I don’t have the M030 option.
Pelican also sells a couple of brake kits for around $520-$550 an axle, one with Zimmermann parts and one with Sebro parts. Are these a good deal or should I be ordering the parts individually? If the kit is the way to go, is one better than the other? So how do I figure out the best choices with such a big range of prices? Thoughts, opinions, personal experiences all greatly appreciated.
Bill
“I also want my car to stop when I step on the brakes” This says it all. Proceed with caution. After all you are worth it.
Zimmerman are OEM, and a few others
Avoid the cheapest, never a good choice
I have Brembo (same parts as a Ferrari 355) on my coupe non M030, powerful enough, but far more important is free moving pistons and pads,
Close inspection of plate lift and dried out piston grease
For a street car, a nice set of ceramic pads (or semi-metalic) will work just fine. Just pick a quality manufacturer (i.e. Hawk).
I once made the mistake of putting red EBC pads on a street car of mine. Those pads are not for a street car and the braking was terrible. In addition, I replace the shims with new ones.
As others point out, inspect the whole braking system. If you don't have records when the flexible lines were replaced, replace them. Flush the whole system and put new fluid in.
I'm running Zimmerman drilled rotors all around. No problems, no regrets and they're hella sexy. However, measure the thickness and turn them if within specifications, which will save you some $$ too.
For a kit, make sure you're getting all the parts you'll need. Like: quality pads, flexible lines, shims, quality rotors, wear sensors, etc.
If not, make sure to get everything else you need before starting the job...Best wishes for a successful project.
Hi Bill,
I went with StopTech drilled (not slotted-too noisy!) rotors and carbon pads. I replaced the lines with stainless at the same time since I was already in there. The wear indicators can be removed from the old pads if you use a thin bladed screwdriver and a lot of patience. The set I purchased came with sensors, but I liked the old ones so I just reused them. Also, the little rubber anti-squeal cups on the pads came off with a little effort and a putty knife, so I reused them as well. The pads were already rubber backed, so the rubberized cups were just a little more insurance against squeals. I also purchased a power bleeder and a bunch of synthetic fluid and flushed the entire system at the same time.
It has been a few years and the brakes are solid as a rock and work very well. The carbon pads take a bit to get warmed up, so cold braking is not as good as it would be with metal sintered pads, but once warmed a little they are very good.
Good luck, hope all is well with you two!
Matt
After a bunch of research, I went to order rotors, pads, etc. Surprisingly, I discovered that almost all 968 front rotors are out of stock everywhere! I finally found a set of Sebro plain discs (I decided against drilled) at Autohaus in Arizona at a very good price ($84/rotor). Found ceramic pads for a good price on rockauto.com. Already picked up some new tools on Amazon (torque wrench, impact driver, piston spreader). As soon as we get some good weather and I have a free weekend, the 968 gets all new brakes. Glad I don't have the Club Sport option. Those rotors are going for over $500 each!
Bill
So yesterday, while doing the rear brakes, I discovered that my rear passenger wheel, which had recently had the tire replaced (road hazard/warranty), had the lug nuts tightened by the Incredible Hulk! I wound up stripping a couple, but eventually got them off. So last night I cruised the web looking for some new lug nuts. Talk about crazy prices, official Porsche lug nuts were in the $250-$300 range! Come on, LUG NUTS! Are Porsche OEM lug nuts really that much higher in quality than everyone else's $20-$30 set of lug nuts? I feel so sorry for all those Chevy, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Kia, Honda, Fiat, Volvo, Saab, etc. drivers who are taking their lives in their hands risking their wheels falling off because they are using sub-standard non-Porsche lug nuts.
Bill (who bought the $25 set off of Amazon)
My 968 has alloy lug nuts, which I assume are some new-fanged space age alloy. I can’t remember for sure but I don’t think my Cup II wheels have steel inserts like my Mercedes wheels do. (with steel lug nuts)
Porsche lug nuts are not at all special or of a higher quality / durability than most other manufacturers , it’s the Porsche name they assign to it that causes a rip-off surcharge . Typical with other parts which are nearly identical to the ones used in VW, Volvo, or a variety of other brands, available at a small fraction of the cost . Ferrari and Maserati does the same crap . They’re all Brembo brakes, they just stick a Ferrari or Maserati logo on them and charge double.
I have spacers on my wheels so I bought steel bolts to replace the OE ones, I think they’re much safer .
The up-charge for “name” parts can really get ridiculous. A number of years ago I had a ‘58 Mercedes 220S Cabriolet with the “Hydrak” transmission. It was a four speed on the tree with an electrically operated automatic clutch. It was the same unit as the VW “automatic stick shift” and the Porsche “Sportomatic”. Sort of like a big vacuum advance that sucked in the clutch whenever you touched the shift lever. The Mercedes needed a new vacuum box. Mercedes wanted $5000. I wound up getting a rebuilt VW version for only $260. I love my 968, but lug nuts are lug nuts!
Bill
My lesson in OEM box surcharge was on my Volvo 145. SKF wheel bearing from Kaman Bearing: $7.95. Same SKF bearing in a Volvo box from the dealership: $21.95. Bosch fuel filter from AutoCheckerReileysPep: $12 Same Bosch fuel filter in a Volvo box from the dealership: $29.95.
That said, I’ll keep the locking alloy lug nuts that came from the factory.
Well, the alloy lug nuts are a lot lighter than steel ones. But, the threads wear out much quicker.
Helpful on a race car, not really necessary on a 4 cylinder street car (although we are running alloy lug nuts on the '74 914 mostly because they make me smile).
Very true about weight impact even for something as small as lug nuts : added to any rotating mass ( wheel ) the weight generally translates dynamically to 4 x the actual weight.
IIRC, my steel bolts added up to about 3 lbs per wheel, so 12 lbs which translated into 48 lbs to the car.
In our cars you will feel a small, but nonetheless a seat-of-the-pants drag difference when you accelerate from a stand still . 48 lbs is nothing to sneeze at in a car as light as the 968. So if you try to squeeze every fraction of a second out of your performance times, steel bolts are not the best idea..
The other thing to take note of is the Porsche lug nuts have a radius curve that is not used on any other car
This reduces supply and demand = high price
Quote:The other thing to take note of is the Porsche lug nuts have a radius curve that is not used on any other car
This reduces supply and demand = high price
Which means even if you use the proper torque on your wheels, you risk splitting the centers off the rims. If you have OEM wheels that is.
Reminds me of the one-model-only 4x98 bolt pattern on my Alfa Sprint Veloce, which renders the factory option Ronal A1s I have virtually worthless.
The lug nuts I got on Amazon didn’t fit, even though the Amazon listing claimed they would. So I did a little research. Lug nuts with tapered ends come in two varieties, conical and ball seat. Our Porsches use ball seat. So I took a lug nut off the car, got out my calipers, and found the right set on Amazon for $55. I also read that Porsche OEM lug nuts are alloy but they suggest you switch to steel for safety reasons if you are going to track the car. I’ll weigh the steel lug nuts when they arrive. I’d be quite surprised if they weigh in at three pounds per wheel.
Bill
Mine were steel “bolt-through” for spacers , so maybe longer and heavier than the average lug nut.
Bill, good point on the type of seat our stock 968 wheels have. Although not all Porsche wheel-pattern wheels use conical seats. So good idea to check. As an example, our 955 (Cayenne S) uses conical seats...
Since we've modified so many things on the different cars we run, I actually keep a spreadsheet with the modifications for each one. For example, we have a Pontiac that has modified Japanese wheels (center hole bored to correct size and now hub_centric), Korean tires, English brake pads and Chinese bearings! And that's just the rear axel...
Bill, forgot to mention that you have my sympathy on the lug huts being tightened way too much when you had that tire replaced. So sorry it happened , just one more unnecessary hassle and added expense.
We've all had similar experiences I'm sure. We've had center caps mangled, studs sheared, steel wheel weights pounded into alloy wheels!, even had a tire shop install tires incorrectly and tell me I needed a camber "kit" because they couldn't get the alignment right (staggered wheels which should have had the little ones in the front and big ones in the rear - they had the big ones on the left and little ones on the right side). The shop manager even got mad at me when I pointed out what the technician had done incorrectly.
So, my practice (unless it's not possible) is to remove the wheels from the car and have the new tires mounted and balanced (I've been considering doing my own balancing). I do not let anyone drive the car nor work on it...don't even like having it touched during emissions testing. I then install the wheels myself and even use a torque wrench. I guess I'm turning into a crotchety old man.