{"id":19684,"date":"2015-10-22T16:28:33","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T23:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=19684"},"modified":"2016-11-30T13:58:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T21:58:31","slug":"upgrading-brakes-for-your-street-to-strip-drag-car-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/upgrading-brakes-for-your-street-to-strip-drag-car-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Upgrading Brakes for Your Street to Strip Drag Car, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Brakes for drag cars are nothing new. Specialized disc brakes for cars that pound the 1320 have been around for decades.\u00a0 But all of those systems had one thing in common:\u00a0 They were designed from the beginning for purpose built cars.\u00a0 That meant that the rotors were usually thin, non-vented designs.\u00a0 And calipers were usually built as small as practical (many were tiny two-piston affairs).\u00a0 The idea here was to keep the weight down, and to rely upon the back brakes and perhaps the drag chute to do the majority of the stopping. Those systems work great for stripped down race machines. But today, there\u2019s a new breed of car on the scene:\u00a0 The street legal racecar.<\/p>\n

These are often much heavier (nose heavier too) cars that obviously carry license plates. \u00a0Where the common drag car might weigh 2400-2800 pounds, today\u2019s trend has cars tipping the Toledos at 3,500 plus pounds (some are even in the two ton range!).\u00a0 And that\u2019s not the end of it:\u00a0 Plenty of these heavy street cars run elapsed times and mph figures that would embarrass a decade old legal Pro Stocker.\u00a0 Brakes designed for lightweight cars certainly won\u2019t allow you to make the first turn-off road, and in most cases, the thin rotors crack or warp because of the excess heat.\u00a0 Calipers are stressed to the max and in many cases, the calipers actually flex at the mounts due to the strain.\u00a0 Bottom line here is, these new angle cars usually have a wide range of street equipment on board, they\u2019re portly and they really do mandate a different type of brake arrangement.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s needed for these fat flyers (and that\u2019s not an insult \u2013 we really dig the new wave race cars) is some form of brake that will still fit inside a skinny drag race wheel, but with a larger vented rotor \u2013 something that will reliably dissipate the heat with sufficient capability the car can do hot laps at the drag strip or function as a dual duty street-strip car.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s a look at the complete Deep Stage Brake kit.\u00a0 As you can see, it\u2019s a comprehensive package.\u00a0 Equally important, Baer follows the old school principle of \u201cMade-In-The-USA.\u00a0 They even go to the trouble of insuring that the materials they use in manufacturing are USA-sourced.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But there\u2019s something else to consider when you\u2019re contemplating such a system:\u00a0 Believe it or not, there are plenty of brake packages out (race and otherwise) that are actually manufactured in China.\u00a0 Worse, some of those are actually repackaged so you might not even know the source. We can assure you that the quality of some of those pieces is rather suspect.\u00a0 Its buyer beware.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not the purpose of this article.\u00a0 Instead, let\u2019s look at a very high quality, affordable, made-in-the-USA brake system designed specifically for high power, fast street-strip cars. And that\u2019s Baer Brakes\u2019 Deep Stage Brake lineup:<\/p>\n

When the folks from Baer took note of what was actually happening on the racetrack, they sat down and engineered a new brake system that would fit the application. For the front (where we\u2019ll concentrate on now) Baer began with their tried and true SS4+ package and reworked it with an eye toward drag racing.\u00a0 Keep in mind they had to make everything fit inside drag race style skinny 15-inch front wheels too.<\/p>\n

The rotors are a very important part of the equation.\u00a0 Here, Baer\u2019s system features an 11-inch diameter, two-piece rotor. The actual rotors are 1-inch thick and they\u2019re cast from high silicone cast iron.\u00a0 Additionally, the rotors are of the directional vane configuration. According to Rick Elam of Baer Brakes; this setup is superior to a straight vane or solid rotor in that it cools the brake while rotating.\u00a0 Something most don\u2019t consider is the fact a directional vane is actually longer (when compared to a straight vane).\u00a0 This effectively adds to the stability of the rotor.\u00a0 Depending upon the options you tick off on the order sheet, the Baer Deep Stage Brake rotors can be drilled, slotted, drilled and zinc plated. You can specify the whole works (slotted drilled and plated) or slot only with no zinc plate or plain (no slots, no holes, no zinc).<\/p>\n

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Baer offers multiple options when it comes to rotors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This particular set has been zinc plated and features milled slots and drilled holes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Because the rotors are directionally vaned, the rotors must rotate in the correction direction in order to obtain proper airflow.\u00a0 When you open the boxes that contain your brake kit, you\u2019ll find the rotors are clearly marked \u201cleft\u201d and \u201cright\u201d.\u00a0 If you miss that, just remember that the internal vanes curve toward the back (not the front of the car).\u00a0 That provides you with the proper orientation.\u00a0 You\u2019ll also note that the rotors have what is called a \u201creverse slot\u201d or a \u201creverse slot and drill\u201d pattern.\u00a0 While it looks \u201cbackwards\u201d to the uninitiated, it\u2019s actually correct.\u00a0 Baer Brake\u2019s Rick Elam tells us this is current racecar practice, and it lowers the potential for \u201ccarbon smearing\u201d or transfer from the pad material to the trailing side of the slots on the rotor.\u00a0 This is rather important since this carbon smearing has an effect upon the rotational balance of the rotor. That imbalance can cause shake you can actually feel while braking.<\/p>\n