lowblustang00

So when I first started thinking of doing this, I had a hard time accessing easy to find information. So I thought I would start this thread to put the information I gathered during this process in a hopefully easy to find place for others.

First and foremost Four piston Brembos with 14" rotors will bolt straight up to our 05-09s. This includes 07-2012 GT500s and 2012-2014 GTs with the Brembo package. You can get both brand new for around $1100 - $1200. Or you can try to source a nice set of take offs. I attempted the latter and found a set on eBay that came with front and rear calipers pads and rotors for $650. They all had less than 10,000 miles on them.

DISCLAIMER: an 18" wheel or larger is required for clearance, but not all 18" will work. The Brembo caliper is a much larger caliper and it is wider. Many 18" wheels will hit the face of the caliper with the backside of the wheel spokes. MAKE SURE YOUR WHEEL HAS THE RIGHT OFFSET TO CLEAR THE CALIPER.

Something else to keep in mind is that you will need to remove or modify you stock dust shield to work with the larger calipers and rotors.

I chose to remove mine. This left me with three options:

1) run without one. This may be ok, but after doing a little research I found that this will expose the ball joint to excessive heat from the brakes and may cause it to fail prematurely.

2) order 07-2012 GT500 backing plates/ 2012-2014 Mustang GT Brembo package backing plates. These are full size plates and are currently $30+ dollars each.

3) order ford racing heat shields. These happen to be stock/oem parts on 2013-2014 GT500s. They are significantly smaller than the other pieces, but are pretty much there just to shield the ball joints from excessive heat. They are currently $50 a pair.

I chose option three.

lowblustang00

Start of course by jacking up the front of your car and safely resting it jack stands. Pull the front wheel off and you should be looking at the picture below.

lowblustang00

The next step was removing the caliper. I went straight ahead and went for the two caliper bracket bolts. I believe they were 15mm. They can be found on the back side of the brake assembly. Once removed you can close the rotor straight off. In the picture below the caliper and rotor have been removed. I have circle the two holes where the bolts that held the caliper on went.

lowblustang00

Next I removed the the stock heat/dust shield. I forgot to take a picture of it on the car and have supplied on with it off. There are three bolts holding it on. I believe they were 10mm. I have circled their placement in red in the picture.

lowblustang00

Next I went about disconnecting the brake lines.

They are attached in three points. Two brackets held in with 10mm bolts, and then the line connection itself. Which I used a 13mm open faced wrench to loosen.

Their locations are marked by red circle below.

lowblustang00

Next step was to install the Ford Racing heat shields. They came with new hardware for both the heat shield instillation and for the calipers.

They are attached with only two 10mm bolts instead of three.

lowblustang00

After thoroughly cleaning the faces of the rotor I then slid it on and place the caliper loaded with pads over the top and bolted it on with the two new bolts that came with the Ford Racing heat shields. Had I not had these I would have just reused the two caliper bracket bolts that were removed when removing the stock caliper assembly. Both have threads coated in what looks like blue Locktite.

After that I reversed the process of brake line disconnect and had everything back together with the new calipers and rotors.

lowblustang00

Next step is to repeat on the other side.

Once you have done that it is time to bleed the brakes. This is important to make sure you get all the air out of the lines. For those who haven't done that before below is a link to a how to video.


Once this is complete. It's time to put your wheels back on and lower the car back on the ground.

lowblustang00

Now that your done don't just take off down the road. Make sure that there are no brake warning lights on the dash. And slowly move the car forward and backwards making sure that when you brake the pedal has a firm feel and that there is no squishy feeling. If there is a squishy feel, it may indicate that there is still air in the system and you will need to bleed the brakes again.

lowblustang00

Hope some of you find this information helpful. If anyone notices any incorrect information or anything helpful that was left out please post below.

SpectreH

Nice write up. Thanks for taking the time to post.

05YellowGT

Nice

lowblustang00

Thanks guys. I just hope someone finds it helpful down the road if they are interested in doing the same upgrade.

mrkabc

What? No crossdrilled/slotted rotors? No braided stainless brake lines?


Hahahahaha just kidding, great write up!


The important question that wasn't answered though: Does your pony stop better? Inquiring minds want to know!

lowblustang00

Haha, yea one day. Had intentions of doing it this time. Most of the Brembo brakes that have popped up on eBay are usually just calipers. This one just happened to come with everything, and there was just too much life left in the rotors and pads to not use them.

lowblustang00

Yes, they stop much better over the stock setup. They stop so well in fact, that they have actually reintroduced a little brake dive into the car.

I have a had a little fun throwing my wife into the dash without warning a couple of times. I told her I had to check to make sure they were working properly.

I have a plan for the rear that should help with the brake balance a little bit. Just need to source some rotors.

Imatk

Nice writeup man.

I may get those dust shields myself... I just removed mine.

lowblustang00

Get em'. They still allow for greater air flow for cooling while also protecting other vital components from heat.

Imatk

I just ordered some... I hope they come with the bolts because I think I may have lost those somewhere.

lowblustang00

They do. They come with two bolts for each shield, and as a bonus they also come with new caliper bolts as well.