SSBC Tri-power brake

[medbali76]

I know most of the people swear on the Wilwood and Baer brakes but what about SSBC's Tri-Power kits? Are they good for track use?

[medbali76]

Well, I went with SSBC.
I have just received their front (TRI Power) and rear (Sport R1) kits.
The front is a 3 piston floating caliper and the rear is a single floating caliper with 13" front and rear rotors ( which are actually around 12.8" measured by measure tape)
Will see soon how they work.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]62240

[jpgolf14]

Looks great. Do you happen to have the piston sizes handy?

[medbali76]

Looks great. Do you happen to have the piston sizes handy?

They are 3x38 in the Tri power caliper and 1x54 in the Sport R1

[Toadman]

For what it's worth, I'm running the SSBC D52 replacement front calipers, and while I haven't had an issue with them, I called their customer service looking for something for rear discs & got cut short. Looks like some kits on their website would work, but I got brushed off. I was VERY disappointed! For that experience alone, I plan to switch to Wilwood all around in the near future. Plus, Wilwood is always very supportive of the website & our events!

[robertjra]

im running the ssbc brakes too!!!

[medbali76]

For what it's worth, I'm running the SSBC D52 replacement front calipers, and while I haven't had an issue with them, I called their customer service looking for something for rear discs & got cut short. Looks like some kits on their website would work, but I got brushed off. I was VERY disappointed! For that experience alone, I plan to switch to Wilwood all around in the near future. Plus, Wilwood is always very supportive of the website & our events!

That is strange, as you see I am not american but I got a very helpful costumer service from SSBC. I got answer for my questions every time.
First I wanted to buy Baer brakes but they did not answer any of my emails so and I ended up with Baer and contacted to SSBC.

[medbali76]

im running the ssbc brakes too!!!

Nice kit.
I got the grooved rotors maybe I will upgrade them to this crossdrilled type. They look better.
Have you installed yet?
Do you have SSBC all around?

[jpgolf14]

They are 3x38 in the Tri power caliper and 1x54 in the Sport R1

Wow, that is a huge piston area. I have a database of different kits. Would you be able to weight one front and one rear caliper without pads? Also, based on your measurements it sounds like they are using a C6 rotor, do you agree?

[medbali76]

Wow, that is a huge piston area. I have a database of different kits. Would you be able to weight one front and one rear caliper without pads? Also, based on your measurements it sounds like they are using a C6 rotor, do you agree?

I can weigh them tomorrow no problem. They are aluminum and pretty light. How big is the C6 rotor?
These are around 12.8" x 1.125" front and rear size are the same.

I read on the Corvette forum that a few of C5 guys are running the SSBC Tri Power on the track instead of the factory brake and they are very happy with it.

[robertjra]

Nice kit.
I got the grooved rotors maybe I will upgrade them to this crossdrilled type. They look better.
Have you installed yet?
Do you have SSBC all around?

yes parts are installed car is not running but I have installed 10-15 of the big bite kits good brakes!!!

[medbali76]

yes parts are installed car is not running but I have installed 10-15 of the big bite kits good brakes!!!

Which rotor size you have?

[medbali76]

I have installed 10-15 of the big bite kits good brakes!!!

Good to hear that

[jpgolf14]

I can weigh them tomorrow no problem. They are aluminum and pretty light. How big is the C6 rotor?
These are around 12.8" x 1.125" front and rear size are the same.

I read on the Corvette forum that a few of C5 guys are running the SSBC Tri Power on the track instead of the factory brake and they are very happy with it.

Interesting I don't have a rotor that size in my table Closest I see are C5/C6 which should be 12.8" x 1.26" or the C4 HD which is 12.99" x 1.1". Would you mind weighing the rotors as well?

[medbali76]

Interesting I don't have a rotor that size in my table Closest I see are C5/C6 which should be 12.8" x 1.26" or the C4 HD which is 12.99" x 1.1". Would you mind weighing the rotors as well?

Sure, I will do it tomorrow morning. It is close to midnight here in hungary now.

[medbali76]

Interesting I don't have a rotor that size in my table Closest I see are C5/C6 which should be 12.8" x 1.26" or the C4 HD which is 12.99" x 1.1". Would you mind weighing the rotors as well?

Here are the numbers. Unfortunately my digital scale broke down so I used a conventional one.
Front Tri Power caliper is 5.77kg (12.72lbs)
Rear Sport R1 is 2.550kg (5.62lbs)
It seems they are not the lightest calipers on the market at all
Here is a pic of these calipers side by side.

[jpgolf14]

Here are the numbers. Unfortunately my digital scale broke down so I used a conventional one.
Front Tri Power caliper is 5.77kg (12.72lbs)
Rear Sport R1 is 2.550kg (5.62lbs)
It seems they are not the lightest calipers on the market at all
Here is a pic of these calipers side by side.

Wow those calipers are huge. They really look great. Never seen a sliding caliper that large.

I ran the numbers and these are very powerful calipers combined with a large rotor make for a very efficient system. For reference, the chart compares performance to the top line, which are the stock brakes on a third gen Camaro.

[medbali76]

Wow those calipers are huge. They really look great. Never seen a sliding caliper that large.

I ran the numbers and these are very powerful calipers combined with a large rotor make for a very efficient system. For reference, the chart compares performance to the top line, which are the stock brakes on a third gen Camaro.

Yes, the Tri powers are huge pieces. Maybe the pic is cheating a little on the real size compare to the smaller caliper but it is really impressive by visual.
According to your chart it seems these SSBC kits are really on the top line.
It would be very interest to see some Baer and 6 piston Wilwood kits in your comparison chart.
I wanted to buy the Baer's T4... I am wondering if it is better or not.

[jpgolf14]

Yes, the Tri powers are huge pieces. Maybe the pic is cheating a little on the real size compare to the smaller caliper but it is really impressive by visual.
According to your chart it seems these SSBC kits are really on the top line.
It would be very interest to see some Baer and 6 piston Wilwood kits in your comparison chart.
I wanted to buy the Baer's T4... I am wondering if it is better or not.

Yeah I am surprised to see the SSBC kit with that much piston area and the huge rear rotor. Pay a lot of attention to those last two columns. And figure out what you prefer. Personally I like a short moderate pressure pedal. So for me a moderate piston area on a big rotor is good. I do not like how long the brake pedal is on GM cars normally. As with everything on cars, its a compromise. Bigger is not always better.

I would love to add teh Baer kits but I can't find the piston sizes online. I do not like that Baer keeps them secret. If you have the info, let me know.

The Wilwood 6 piston kits typically have about the equivalent piston size to their 4 piston brothers, but it would still be interesting to see them there.

Also, for my chart keep in mind I am making the following assumptions:

Same caliper flex in each kit
Same pad compound
Same master cylinder bore size, pedal ratio, vacuum booster, ect..

[medbali76]

Yeah I am surprised to see the SSBC kit with that much piston area and the huge rear rotor. Pay a lot of attention to those last two columns. And figure out what you prefer. Personally I like a short moderate pressure pedal. So for me a moderate piston area on a big rotor is good. I do not like how long the brake pedal is on GM cars normally. As with everything on cars, its a compromise. Bigger is not always better.

I would love to add teh Baer kits but I can't find the piston sizes online. I do not like that Baer keeps them secret. If you have the info, let me know.

The Wilwood 6 piston kits typically have about the equivalent piston size to their 4 piston brothers, but it would still be interesting to see them there.

Also, for my chart keep in mind I am making the following assumptions:

Same caliper flex in each kit
Same pad compound
Same master cylinder bore size, pedal ratio, vacuum booster, ect..

Unfortunately I don't have any info from Baer calipers.
I will have manual brake and SSBC sent me a MC with 1" bore size. Will see how it works.