Hey Ken,
I'm offended that you imply I'm a dumba$$ and need help from StopTech! Whassup? Last time I checked I've got more Viper and Vette packages in use than they do. No rear wheel fires or anything either!
FWIW, I would NEVER advocate putting stock fronts on the rear for the reasons you mentioned. Under normal circumstances, it just doesn't work.
I'm not sure why you brought that issue up in your post but along with alot of other gossip that I've heard lately it makes me want to clear the air a little. I'm not throwing stones at StopTech, I really like Bob, but I recently had a talk him concerning things that I'd heard. Just idle gossip, you know. But enough of it to hack me off. So I called their tech line to get the sales pitch and find out for myself. I was happy, but unhappy, as while they never mentioned me directly there were plenty of inferences regarding my quality, balance, or my status in the brake "pecking order". There were some pretty sinister things eluded to that were kind of shocking, no big deal. I guess they, and some others, have been under the impression that I advocate putting front calipers on the rear or that I require master cylinder changes. Or that I demand a prop valve be used with my kits. So in our conversation, we cleared that up. Again, no problem.
The truth is, I don't advocate any of those things. For some people that are willing to live with the inherent drawbacks, it's okay. But none of my kits require those changes and certainly weren't built with that philosophy. I have plenty of packages in use with factory master cylinders and no proportioning changes. Yes I build a prop valve package but simply for customers that want it because it fits their philosophy.
You also bring up the issue of balance. Now, and a hundred times before, I'll be happy to publish the nitty gritty of my packages along with details regarding the math and the bias. They are biased! They do work! They don't require changes like other kits and I'm happy to prove it. I won't gossip about it, I'll prove it!
To date some very technical and unbiased people have taken and processed the information. I guess they were skeptical and expected some major bias changes but they were ultimately impressed to find the numbers work. Really well in fact (Please check Seth Palatnick's recent Viper Days post). I personally don't know (or care) as I've never done the math on competitors systems, but some of those people actually say that StopTech's calculations are wrong.
What I do know is that the systems that I've built do what no other kit does. They're Big Kits that bolt-on front and rear. I have many choices for front and rear and you always keep your parking brake. Other little perks like no changes to the MC or proportioning are inherent.
Rather than have a bunch of nasty inferences or a pi$$ing match. Like I said, I'm certainly not throwing stones at StopTech brakes, but since you brought it up, I recommend that you and I publish our numbers and have some of the geeks on this board crunch the numbers and then show us the results. I ain't skeert!
For each corner, what are your:
Disk Diameters
Caliper Piston Quantity
Caliper Piston Diameter
Caliper Piston Depth
Pad Surface Area
What's the weight and CG of your car?
What tires are you using?
You show me yours and I'll show you mine!
Regards, Tittle
<FONT COLOR="#ff0000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by dtittle on 08-01-2001 at 02:14 PM</font>
