Good words, courtesy of TOD TCE (Brake Guru):
I'll toss out some info for eveyone here one more time. At the risk of being bashed, flamed, whatever.
Please understand that I did NOT come here claiming I had all the answers or that what I offered was the best thing one could spend your money on. Nor did I ever say that four pot calipers or two piece rotors are the only answer- nowhere. I did, and still do, stand by the facts of brake design and that there is a significant difference between bolt on stock parts and a proper brake kit. I have nothing against those who sell 'bling' or whatever we wish to call it. (fact is sometimes I wish I sold it too, cashflow is a wonderful thing) As a potential buyer of this type of product you owe it to yourself to fully understand what makes parts like this work and what is required for YOUR application. Clearly, no, not everyone here needs a TCE, Brembo, StopTech, X brand brake system to meet their needs.
Can shops like mine do a bang up job for you cost no option? Yes, you are correct we can and do. Do I expect one to take delivery of a product that doesn't fit and tell them 'tough'? Not a chance. The only ones who get near that level of complication are those who WISH to help partake in a new prject and go into it knowing full well there will be some bumps until the final kit is resolved. And they are well compensated for it.
I want you to understand that I DID spend some time with the local dealer researching your issue on the parts of the PT. They probably went only to confuse me more. Please do not blame vendors for all your problems when this type of thing comes up. I had no idea there were two PT Turbos! The base PT, the 'low output' and the 'high output' ones.... and looking with the parts guy we find a number of different spindles, calipers, caliper brackets and rotors with no apparent reason for mix and match on the car. Some parts DO indicate a direct change to the SRT4 (to which I fit another kit in house today) and some parts do not come up the same number. The only one part which is the same is the hub. Same center bore and same stud patttern. That being said; please don't hold a vendor accountable to keep track of all the changes a manufacture does. For an example: I had an upset customer with a 2G Eclipse complain that the hat did not fit his hub. Turns out that Mits had sold him the 3G part (a whopping .062" larger, so no go on the hat) some time ago for his early car. Bolts right on and "it is the replacement by my book" was the best he got. One side only mind you!
The next issue on the PT (as well as the SRT4) is simply lack of room. There is just no way to shoe horn a decent brake kit in there. Let's talk engineering for a minute: Inside limint- ball joint, out side limit- wheel. Take your stock caliper of say 1" past the rotor and try to fit a caliper of 2" width in the same space. Add to that a wider rotor for proper brake improvements, and you have a problem. Not the vendors problem, the cars problem. If it were that easy to do, everyone would be selling it!
Bottom line on this one from where I sit is that I'm more than willing to work with someone on a quality package (even you Kirby) to help you get what you want. I cannot do what cannot be done however. The start is to find a turbo owner with ample mechanical skills to do some test fit work and report back in a manner helpful and not a rage of complaints. It would be great if shops like mine had full access to all cars all the time... doesn't happen.
I 'filed' the PT about two years ago as a no-go project due to lack of fit and lack of interest. That may be changing with the turbo, who knows. Clearly the SRT4 is the track car, but that doesn't mean you cannot share in the quality of parts available.
Anyone wanting to pursue this further can reach me here:
(hoping to not get banned for advertising)
www.tceperformanceproducts.com
toddandchris1@cox.net
480-967-7901
There's hope for all of us, but lets start at the begining and cover the bases
29 Apr 2004, 11:06 pm
The BEST brake upgrade - by far
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