Upgraded Brakes & More

[Tone]

Flush the system well and take extra time bleeding it since replacing calipers will let a lot of air into the system.

[kpaske]

Do you recommend any particular brand of fluid? I've been using some sort of synthetic - Castrol Syntech I think is what it's called.

[Joe_Black]

There are a number of good synthetics on the market, but they're typically not available as most auto parts locations. You can find "synthetic" brake fluids, but just be mindful of what you put in. This is the part of the VX that keeps you from hitting things you don't want to, so do the research.

Here's a great page from Pagasus Racing's web site that has a listing of all the synthetic fluids they carry along with a chart of their comparative properties: Brake Fluid Comparisons

I've liked the ATE Super Blue for it's affordable performance and good track record. Plus it's available in an alternate color, amber, so you can change colors at each flush to be sure you got all the old stuff out when using the MityVac bleeder. You've probably been using the Castrol LMA which is good, but wait 'til you see the Castrol SRF. At about $60 a liter it's about the best you can get! The highest wet/dry boiling point of all the synthetics by a good margin too.

As for the rotors, I don't know if you'e ordered or not but have you looked at Frozen Rotors? They've got a good following on the autocross circuit and are one of the more innovative braking products out there. Essentially, they're cryogenically treated which does some wonderful things for the material used in the rotor. This has in the past been a very expensive process, but like most things has come within the financial reach of the enthusiast. Tire Rack has pretty fair prices for the VX: PowerSlot Frozen Rotors for Isuzu VehiCROSS



I'll be looking around to check for better pricing as I've got to replace the rotors on the IronMan and this is what is on the top of the list, along with Axxis Ultimate brake pads. All the top competitors in our rallycross series have used the Axxis pads and they do the job on the street, in the sand, in the mud and in the gravel.

[kpaske]

Thanks for the info, Joe... I checked out info and prices on just about every brand of rotor I could find: PowerSlot, PowerStop, EBC, R1 Concepts, Brembo, SP Performance, Magnum... There may have been one or two others. Most of them don't make a rear rotor, and as silly as it may sound to those who know anything about brakes, I really wanted the rear to match the front, which narrowed my choices down to Brembo, R1 Concepts, PowerSlot, and SP (and STOCK). I liked the diamond slotted design that SP offers, and since Brembo only offers a solid and PowerSlot only offers slotted, I eliminated those two choices. R1 Concepts offers a drilled, slotted rotor and pad set for a VERY good price, but I just didn't get a warm and fuzzy about them. So the bottom line is SP was the only company that offered everything I was looking for. I opted for the SP pads because I'm assuming that like brands of pad and rotor should theoretically work well together. I like the EBC Green Stuff pads, but I was told that they were on back order from the UK, so I didn't bother pursuing those.

[kpaske]

Grrrr

It turns out that SP won't do rear rotors for the VX in diamond slotted. They couldn't tell me why they wouldn't do them, but I'm guessing that it's a thickness issue. I can't think of any other reason that makes sense. So I'm back to the drawing board.

I did look at the PowerSlot Cryo rotors, but haven't been able to find anyone who has actually run them to tell me if there is a measurable difference. Do you think they are worth the extra money or are they all hype?

Anyone care to offer an opinion on the manual hubs? Superwinch, Warn or Aisin? Are they all pretty good quality?