Experimental Brembo Brakes Retrofit Kit

[roket]

last night, i decided to put together a list of parts for a kit that adds the Brembo brakes to a vehicle.
the list is here

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[00Smurf]

Oh good, I've been looking to do this. The rear end seems to be the hardest, as it requires changing out the knuckles and adding the parking brake.
With this I would think we could get the drift brake installed as well.

I talked with a a dealer parts guy, and they mentioned that while all the parts can be swapped out, they are unsure if any computer code changes can be made yet to let the car know it has brembos installed. As the brembo package will change the brake tuning in all of the drive modes etc.

 

[roket]

Oh good, I've been looking to do this. The rear end seems to be the hardest, as it requires changing out the knuckles and adding the parking brake.
With this I would think we could get the drift brake installed as well.

I talked with a a dealer parts guy, and they mentioned that while all the parts can be swapped out, they are unsure if any computer code changes can be made yet to let the car know it has brembos installed. As the brembo package will change the brake tuning in all of the drive modes etc.

the drift brake is just the standard Brembo parking brake with with the pull-handle instead of the little switch. you have to change some stuff in the ABS module, add some things to the IPC and APIM, then you have the drift brake. your parts guy was just saying stuff, the brakes act the same regardless of drive mode, but there are some setting in the ABS module that ask if there is brembos. in that spreadsheet under the "programming" tab, there's all the info you need for that

 

[roket]

got some bad news for anyone who was looking to do the drift brake conversion. it's very hard. and expensive. the wiring harness that connects to the little switch has much different pinning compared to the drift brake, and that harness is a huge one that spans the whole dash and center console. replacing it is nearly $800 in parts and many, many hours in labor as doing it requires removal of the whole dash. the wiring in question is the blue one in the picture below

plus, the ABS module looks for specific signals from the drift brake, as can be seen in the wiring diagrams below

basically, unless money is no object and getting a different Mustang with the drift brake is out of the question, it's not worth it.

 

[timd38]

Nice job getting all the information! I was shocked at the amount of parts you need! When I bought my S550 you could not get Brembo’s on a GT/CS so I bought the parts and all it took was pads, calipers and rotors.

Seeing the amount of parts and the complexity, why not look at buying an aftermarket Brembo or Wilwood kit. Just a suggestion.

 

[roket]

Nice job getting all the information! I was shocked at the amount of parts you need! When I bought my S550 you could not get Brembo’s on a GT/CS so I bought the parts and all it took was pads, calipers and rotors.

Seeing the amount of parts and the complexity, why not look at buying an aftermarket Brembo or Wilwood kit. Just a suggestion.

yeah, it's a fair few parts, but comparing it to the S550 isn't fair because only the Shelby S550s came with a fixed rear caliper; so a brembo kit was the fronts only

 

[timd38]

Very true, but an aftermarket Brembo kit may be more cost friendly and simpler, but you won’t get the drift option. Just my opinion.

 

[highvoltage]

Would it be feasible to install a traditional e-brake and delete the electric? I’m sure you could just delete the one of the S650 and throw on the S550 for the rear rotors. I mean there isn’t that much difference in the cars. Not sure how the Computer would see it though. Maybe you just wouldn’t have BRAKE light. I mean you would have to modify the center console but I’m sure it’s doable with today’s 3D printing or just add a boot over to cover the hole.

 

[roket]

Would it be feasible to install a traditional e-brake and delete the electric? I’m sure you could just delete the one of the S650 and throw on the S550 for the rear rotors. I mean there isn’t that much difference in the cars. Not sure how the Computer would see it though. Maybe you just wouldn’t have BRAKE light.

i dont know, it might not work because even the non-brembos have a new rear knuckle. even if you did get it working, every time you start your vehicle and repeatedly after that you will either get a red message and an "urgent problem" sound saying "Check Brake System" or "Park Brake Fault Service Now"

 

[00Smurf]

Nice job getting all the information! I was shocked at the amount of parts you need! When I bought my S550 you could not get Brembo’s on a GT/CS so I bought the parts and all it took was pads, calipers and rotors.

Seeing the amount of parts and the complexity, why not look at buying an aftermarket Brembo or Wilwood kit. Just a suggestion.

The gt350 brembo upgrade kit for the s550 uses different knuckles on the rear.

 

[LETHAL]

Not worth the entry price.. If you need beyond a 4 piston front, just buy a BAER kit.

 

[highvoltage]

i dont know, it might not work because even the non-brembos have a new rear knuckle. even if you did get it working, every time you start your vehicle and repeatedly after that you will either get a red message and an "urgent problem" sound saying "Check Brake System" or "Park Brake Fault Service Now"

Yea that’s what the hang up could be. The fault message.

 

[00Smurf]

got some bad news for anyone who was looking to do the drift brake conversion. it's very hard. and expensive. the wiring harness that connects to the little switch has much different pinning compared to the drift brake, and that harness is a huge one that spans the whole dash and center console. replacing it is nearly $800 in parts and many, many hours in labor as doing it requires removal of the whole dash. the wiring in question is the blue one in the picture below

plus, the ABS module looks for specific signals from the drift brake, as can be seen in the wiring diagrams below

basically, unless money is no object and getting a different Mustang with the drift brake is out of the question, it's not worth it.

I'm surprised they didn't just make this a sub harness, that can be clipped in. I wonder if it could just be repined?


Are the parts diagrams your looking at avail online?

 

[roket]

I'm surprised they didn't just make this a sub harness, that can be clipped in. I wonder if it could just be repined?


Are the parts diagrams your looking at avail online?

you got me thinking, so i took a look and it seems that all the main connectors have the same amount of used and unused pins with the same usages, maybe it could be re-pinned? in any case, here's some diagrams if you want to try that

as for where to find the diagrams, to my knowledge they cannot be found randomly online

 

[00Smurf]

you got me thinking, so i took a look and it seems that all the main connectors have the same amount of used and unused pins with the same usages, maybe it could be re-pinned? in any case, here's some diagrams if you want to try that

as for where to find the diagrams, to my knowledge they cannot be found randomly online

Thank you for these, Going to give it some study. It just seems in this day and age of prewiring for everything and cost savings, for them to make an entire new dash harness seems a waste of resources. Typically manufactures would put this on a pigtail, where they only need to swap out the sub harness for the differing brake offerings.

I think the electronic parking brake switch is my one major annoyance of the car. I could find no manual 401a gt models with the performance pack and drift brake in my area.

I did find a black one with the brembo option, but normal parking brake switch. I almost picked it, but the vapor blue is such a better color. It had the same options minus the brembos.

Hopefully this conversion is doable, I don't see why it can't be done for a reasonable cost.

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