The pistons dont have dust seals but they dont really do anything for reliability. I have had a set of wilwoods on my F150 lightning for 2 years and they have seen many track days and the truck was my daily driver. Never had a problem with the calipers.

 

Do you drive it in the winter? My concern is road salt.

 

Im surprised its taken so long to ask this question

Wilwood has always been under attack from other manufacturers by claiming that by not having dust boots, the caliper is not reliable. This is just not true. Unfortunately, since Wilwood is not a house hold name when it comes to high performance brake components on street cars and their prices are too good to be true, they get bashed on quite regularly. What makes matters worse is that, on a whole, Wilwood has never put any effort into this particular segment of the market. Wilwoods main focus is on racing. Building high performance brake components for race cars. They dont even have a booth at the annual SEMA show in Las Vegas, the aftermarkets yearly playground for automobiles and trucks. Anyone who manufactures anything is there. Since it doesnt have anything to do with racing, they dont care.

They dont need to. They are so busy serving the motorsport enthusiasts around the world they dont have the time to look into a new venture. What they do continue to do though, is develop or continue to evolve the same product over the years making them better and better each time.

People have associated two common problems with Wilwoods running on street cars. First, is the topic you bring up. No dust boots. Have you seen how many different calipers Wilwood makes? Dont you think they could make dust boots if it was really a problem? To silence all the nay sayers, Wilwood has developed a new line of calipers that DO have dust boots.


We are able to use these calipers on the 14" kit if anyone wants them. They are only slightly more expensive than the non booted version.

The second common critique of Wilwood calipers is that the pads squeek like hell and they rattle around the caliper making horrible noises. The new generation calipers now include pad hardware which hold the pad in place and come with brake pad shims making them as quiet as can be. They also have a lot more brake pad compounds available that dont squeek and are not abrassive to the rotors either.

Now all this writting and I havnt even answered your question. YOU DONT NEED DUST BOOTS. The stainless steel pistons do not corrode and protect the inner seals from damage. There is one small maintnance requirement that is different than a booted caliper but that in itself, only takes a few minutes to do anyhow. As the pad wears, more and more of the piston is exposed to make up for the material lost on the pad. The only thing to remember is to clean off the exposed part of the piston before pushing it back into the caliper. This will ensure a long lasting and properly working o ring seal.

We have 5 cars in our own fleet at this time that are wearing Wilwoods. Two of them now for more than 3 years. One, has over 10,000 track miles on them and still, I have not had to replace or rebuild any of the calipers.

We do have quite a few distributors in the East coast that also deal with the elements on a regular basis. My brother lives in Brooklyn and also has Wilwoods on his Turbo EP3. So I know they are up to the task. As with all components that are exposed to harsh conditions, they require more attention and need to be inspected more frequently. That goes to saying about booted or not booted calipers.

Hopefully that brings some light to the table

 

We always match the total piston diameter of the caliper to each cars master cylinder making them all application specific. Many of the calipers offered by Wilwood are offered in various piston diameters which gives a chance to play around with different combinations helping us fine tune each kit.

All of our kits are designed to keep the cars original balance and feel or make it better. None of our kits use proportioning valves or bias instruments. They also all are designed to with the stock master cylinder.

 

Docofmind, please PM me with the price for a full set of 13" front / 13" rear (or 12.9" rear, if you have them). If it makes any difference - this is for 2003.5 G35 SEDAN.

 

You have PM

 

Before I say anything I need to say this.
Without a doubt this is the best engineered install I have ever done.
I cannot explain to you the craftsmanship here. Again I will say somebody did there homework here. I have a few PICS here of the frt. driver side install.
Again this may seem pricey but it will be worth every penny. Pasta

PS This is just the frt set up.

 

Doc,
How much for a 6POT 14" 350Z?

 

More pictures coming. This is the stuff. Pasta



Now lets do the back!!

 

Price For The F&r For A 2003.5 Sedan?

 

Sweet!

 

Here are a few PICS of the rear wheel install.

Stock weight

Frt. rotor & caliper 36 lb.
Bk. rotor & caliper 24 lb.
(Wil) frt. rotor & caliper 24 lb.
(Wil) bk. rotor & caliper 22 lb. 28 pounds of weight savings.

 

damnnnnn.!

 

I am already starting to save up! Sweet.

 

Just wanted to give a little more technical backround on the components for those that interested in the functionality of the kit.

The rotors and calipers used in this kit are brand new to Wilwoods arsenal. They are the result of 27 years of racing experience. This is directly from their website.

"SV-GT Series Directional Vane Rotors:
The SV series staggered vane rotor design has registered remarkable temperature reductions in severe duty, high heat environments. These advances have largely been the results of enhanced airflow through the center of the rotor. By staggering every other vane, from a full vane to two partial vanes, the airflow volume area was dramatically increased. Adding to the overall vane count also increased the surface cooling area. The face and vane wall sections were all increased without substantial weight gain. It is a simple matter of efficiency creating excellent heat exchange and high structural durability.

The SV rotor series is the next big step in brake system heat management. The SV-GT Series incorporates the increased cooling capacity and improved structural stability of the staggered vane design with Wilwood's premium GT machine preparation. Each rotor is cast from premium grade, long grain carbon iron. This material is used for its long wear, high thermal conductivity, and extreme resistance to distortion. Each rotor is fully detail machined to eliminate stress points and maintain less that .001" / .025mm flatness, parallelism, and run-out over the entire rotor. Wilwood's unique asymmetrical face groove pattern provides smoother engagement through reduced harmonics and even pad wear from improved thermal balance between the ID and OD of the rotor faces. Bed-in and interface gasses are effectively vented to achieve maximum performance from the pads. The clean and sweep action provided by this unique face slot pattern also minimizes any tendencies for irregular pad material build up or smearing over the rotor faces that can contribute to chatter during engagement. The minimal amount of material removed from the rotor faces during the slotting operation does not compromise the structural reliability or the wear rate of the rotor faces or pads. Finally, each rotor is individually spin balanced to assure vibration free performance at all speeds."

More info and 360 image of rotor here ROTORS

Here is some info on the calipers. Even though the front is a 6 piston and the rear is a 4 piston, they are the same caliper, just different overall piston diameters.

"Billet SL6R Radial Mount
Caliper for 14" Discs:

This specially configured Superlite SL6R narrow body caliper features an increased bridge radius to allow proper pad alignment and bridge clearance for use with 13.00" to 14.00" diameter rotors. A special body design is used with 16 mm pads to provide the narrowest possible profile for tight clearance applications. Radial mounting simplifies adaptation and provides two planes of adjustment for accurate alignment over the disc. These calipers integrate "Big Brake" style with Wilwood's latest technology to generate big stopping power over a broad range of custom, high performance, and off road vehicle applications. The SL6R is well matched to the fluid output capabilities of many OE master cylinders and serves as the base caliper for Wilwood's 14.00" rotor front "Big Brake" conversion kits.

A key to the superior performance of the SL6R comes from the extremely durable and efficient body design. It is the product of computer generated solid modeling and FEA stress analysis technology. A reinforced radial transition from the piston bore housings to the closed end bridges has produced the strongest Superlite caliper bodies ever built. Additional strength and resistance to deflection comes from the four high-strength steel end bridge bolts. A fifth center bridge bolt provides even more overall strength and easy access to the pads without the need to remove the caliper from the mount.

SL6 calipers are assembled with one-piece stainless steel pistons and high temperature, square faced bore seals. Stainless pistons are used for their slow heat transfer properties and high resistance to corrosion. Slow heat transfer reduces the potential for heat related pedal fade and increases the service life of the fluid and seals. The high temperature square faced bore seals have the largest possible sealing area and provide controlled piston retraction on release. The differential bore six-piston configuration distributes the clamping load over the length of the pad to promote even wear in the highest temperature environments. This is especially beneficial to vehicles that often realize high temperatures during hard braking.

In addition, each SL6R is equipped with SRS bridge plates. SRS plates eliminiate all bridge wear caused by pad gauging and extend the service life of the caliper. The spring-loaded action of the SRS plates also eliminates pad rattle and dampens the harmonic vibrations that contribute to pad squeal. Two piece bleed screws and dampened fluid tubes are recess mounted to shield them from track debris and other potential damage sources. A full range of PolyMatrix pad compounds is available to match the brake response and heat range of any competition or sports driving application."

More info and detailed pics here SL6 Caliper