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Source: The following is excerpted from a post on FordMuscle.com about the build of a project truck around a junked Ford F-100 pickup. Integral to the project are the use of a Baer Brake System which is discussed below.
PHOENIX – Project F Word won’t be a sedated fairground cruiser. It’s being built to thrash. And with that in mind, it was going to need some serious brakes.
To paraphrase an old saying, “acceleration is optional. Braking is not.” But many people don’t realize the potential landmines when choosing high-performance brakes. These days, most vehicles have a nearly infinite choice of rotors, calipers, and master cylinders available. Further complicating brake system decisions are wheel and tire fitment, suspension design, and, of course, the intended use of the vehicle.
Some people plow into brake upgrades without understanding how these choices interplay. This can lead to poor performing, dangerous brake systems. But just as often, the wide array of choices and the potential for problems discourages car builders altogether, says Rick Elam from Baer. “If you look at how many people we sell brakes to, it’s probably just a small fraction of people that actually are interested in the product,” said Rick. “They get scared, because brakes can interfere with so many different avenues of the vehicle, so they’d rather just not do anything.”
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The best way to avoid potential issues is to start by consulting experts — the guys that develop and build these systems from the start. Rick says Baer reps talk to different customers about these choices “all day long,” and they’re happy to do so.
For Project F Word, that discussion revolved around several key points: how the truck was going to be driven; what wheels we wanted to use; and the brand of suspension system it would have on it. Project F Word’s hardcore performance intentions and wide-open wheel availability made the recommended choice Baer’s 6P six-piston caliper, with 14-inch EradiSpeed rotors. The 6P caliper features a two-piece, radial-mount design, and features pistons in the following sizes: 1.625-inch, 1.375-inch, 1.1875-inch front, and 1.1875-inch, 1.125-inch, 1.0-inch rear. Baer utilizes staggered piston sizes to help reduce brake pad wear. The two-piece, high-performance iron rotors are slotted, cross-drilled, and zinc-coated, with a curved vane design intended to promote airflow and heat dissipation.
Although this stout combination of components obviously suits Project F Word’s all-out performance mission, it would also be a great choice for less intense applications. “You can never have too much brake,” explained Rick. “If you go with a massive six-piston caliper and 14-inch rotor, all it’s going to do is stop the car that much quicker before the point of lockup. Yeah, if a guy is just cruising car shows and stuff, he doesn’t necessarily need it. But there’s literally no downside to it.”
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The one caveat is whether or not the vehicle’s wheels can accept big brakes. Wheels are a matter of personal preference. It’s a choice that can make or break the style of any vehicle. For that reason, Baer recommends choosing wheels first and building your brake system around that, unless it’s an all-out performance application.
Project F Word is a clean-slate build, so our wheel options were practically unlimited, with the one request being that we wanted to run wheels with the smaller 5×4.5-inch Ford Mustang bolt pattern instead of the larger 5×5.5-inch Ford truck bolt pattern. Since we didn’t need the higher load capacity of big truck wheels, running the smaller bolt pattern gave us a wider choice of wheel designs, sizes, and backspacing. To accommodate that, Baer developed a special hub with holes for both bolt patterns.
The entire post with images can be viewed by clicking HERE.
