front caliper upgrade for sj?

tonkatoy · Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 5:21 pm Post subject: front caliper upgrade for sj?

hi. is there a cheep way to uprate the front calipers on an sj413 on standard discs. as where mine has sat for so long they have seized???

muddymesser · Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 5:39 pm Post subject:

vit calipers may fit but the bleed nipple is supose to be in the wrong place to bleed it while its fitted

but best would be lwb vitara vented disc brake conversion

Tim Pink · Off-Road Guru Joined: 20 Dec 2002 Odometer: 1938

Why do you need better brakes. I ran standard front brakes on the racer, more than up to the job. I also had a SJ new in '86 (most of you were probably still in nappies!) the brakes were bloody fantastic. I had to be careful about how hard I braked so I did not get rear ended. If they are working right there is nothing wrong with the standard set up.

mcjimny · Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:22 pm Post subject:

I believe jimny stuff fits but if they worked beforehand you could easily rebuild them.
It may take a bit of work to free them off but could work out cheaper and easier than uprating them.

I've always maintained that the brakes on my old 410 were the single best brakes on any car i've owned - in the dry.

scholesy · Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:27 pm Post subject:

Agree with you on that Tim, the brakes on my samurai were very much man enough, I wouldn't want bigger, it would lock up in the wet too much if you weren't paying attention!

tonkatoy · Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:09 pm Post subject:

was just taking the chance to see if ther was an upgrade as ive to to change them any way

scholesy · Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:14 pm Post subject:

I know what you're saying, you are likely to find a set of spanking refurbished sj calipers cheap compared to trying to get vit ones though, my samurai was quite quick to lock its wheels in the wet, even in 4wd, which I put it into to stop the back end sliding around, which I suppose shouldn't suprise me, they do weigh sweet FA

ScottieJ · Guest

I run swb vit front calipers on my sj, they aren't much bigger than sj calipers but do make a slight difference and use the same discs as stock, I do run 33s though so a bit of extra stopping power does help. You do have to bleed them slid around the disc so that the nipple is at the top and then bolt them up though.

Yes sj brakes are good but with larger tyres I think the upgrade is worth it. I've now fitted a vit master cylinder and servo as an upgrade from the stock 410 cylinder and will soon be getting some lwb vit calipers and vented discs for the front and the swb calipers will be going on the rear when I swap to rear discs