single piston versus four piston

[TheRoaringEagle]

my 67 has the 69 single piston calipers. i was looking through ricks 1st gen catalog and saw the 4 piston calipers for 67-68s. these are fixed calipers right? i always thought fixed, multi-piston calipers were better than a single floating one. why did GM change to single pistons from four? and which is a better upgrade? <-- between the two, no aftermarket suggestions please.

[baz67]

Probobly has alot to do with $$$$$$$$$.

[chicane67]

1967 "D-3", fixed four piston 1 7/8" standard bore caliper. RPO "J52". Uses an 11 x 1", two piece rotor.

There are now optional 2 1/4" bore calipers available. Also uses a 11 x 1", two piece rotor.

The reason GM went away from the four pot design, really came down to a cost and complexity issue (race teams excluded).

Tell ya what, my 67 had the four pot "D-3" calipers on it factory..... and after a little tuning, all I gotta say is holy-*****. They rivaled my 13" BAER track system easily..... with a set of Porterfield R4-s pads and some bias tuning. At first, before figuring out a good pad compound, they just did not have the fade resistance at higher speeds like the 13" system did (only from a swept area and mass points of view).

In my opinion, the four pistons rock. The single pistons, well....... basically suck. Earlier pin guided systems we not all that good, factory. They needed a little tuning.

The caliper brackets go for around $400.00 by themselves and the calipers are about $125.00 - $150.00 each rebuilt with stainless pistons..... and one piece replacement rotors go for about $110.00 each. Dust plates are in around $80.00...

I have a complete OE, J52 front brake set-up. OE dust plates, OE caliper mounts and hardware, calipers with stainless steel flex lines (the SS flex lines you will never find anywhere) loaded with Porterfield R4-S pads and a set of one piece replacement rotors (with new Timken bearings, seals with 1/2 x 20 x 3" ARP wheel studs) if anyone is interested.....