Once I decided to upgrade the front brakes I did an exhaustive research of kits designed for my truck. I found there are a lot of people that supply 'kits' but the quality and completeness of the kits varied vastly from vendor to vendor. I also did a cost/quality trade off, which included every item I was interested in. By listing each element (e.g. discs, calipers, brake pads, ball joints, etc.) I was able to find 'hidden' costs and ended up with a fair tradeoff matrix. I also was interested in the quality of the parts and their affect on handling. Some manufactures design consisted of stock height spindles with modified lower control arms to achieve the desired front-end drop. This of course negatively affects handling so was easily eliminated from the choices. Others had smaller rotor sizes or cheaper brake linings.
I settled on Early Classic Enterprises front wheel disc brake kit because it was a complete kit, was cost effective and was in my opinion the best design. The design doesn't change the steering or suspension geometry and fits all stock components without modification.
My kit was one of the early models and has been slightly changed since my purchase. My 2-½ inch drop, 6 lug steel spindles came with 5/8-13 threaded studs which works okay but is not consistent with my rear ½ inch studs. I have to use two different lug nut sizes for my front and back wheels, which is an unfortunate inconvenience. Also, the brake lines routed too close to the moving suspension components and needed modification. The folks at Early Classic designed, manufactured and provided an upgrade kit at no cost to me. Other than these two bothersome issues everything fit beautifully. Another measure of the 'quality' of their product was the helpful and cooperative service they supplied after the sale.
Braking performance is excellent, easy to install and a well worth upgrade everyone should make. |
