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2 piston brake upgrade

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37K views 40 replies 21 participants last post by  Bigj2233 
#1 · (Edited)
I found this thread on another forum and wanted to share it here BBK: Brake upgrade Thread. Its basically a pretty easy and relatively cheap way to upgrade the front brakes to a 2-piston set up with the factory 12.6" rotors on the turbo Optimas.
I already had the drilled and slotted rotors from Brake performance .com but saw this and thought I would give it a go !
It seems the 2-pot calipers from a 2004-5 Hyundai XG350 are a direct fit to our cars, I bought the calipers from Rock Auto and plan on installing these in the very near future.
I noticed that Concept III were advertising a BBK (2 piston) from Racing cube for $900 and it looks to me like these are the exact calipers they are using on that kit.

I am assuming the kit also includes the rotors.
I got my calipers for around $90 a piece (which includes a core charge) and the rotors are about $180 a set IIRC. Have to get some pads yet, but looking at around $50 for them.
So, this is what those calipers look like out of the box



As you can see the castings are a little "rough"...so, being the OCD type...I got to "cleaning" them up ! after a little treatment with a flapdisc and some grinding... followed by some painting ,decals and 2K clear coat..they now look like this.....I actually applied the clear coat over the decals so they should have no trouble peeling off or getting the edges caught while cleaning.


I just hope they do actually fit after all this work !!.......I'll let you all know how this works out and the difference in performance once I get them installed.
Could be an affordable alternative to the other BB kits that are out there for those who don't want to spend $1000.00 + to improve braking performance. (although, I got to say ,those BBK's do look darn good )
I could have gone for a BBK in the front ,but my SXL has the electronic rear park brake ,so I'm not able to match up a BBK in the back.
Like this, it still looks factory but hopefully will perform better !!...and I should have the same kit as the $900 Racing cube version.
Will update after installation with pics and performance review.
 
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#4 ·
Looks great, will be waiting on your review.
 
#7 ·
#8 ·
That's sweet! Mine are about to ship to your house right now! LOL
Thought you already had drilled rotors and red painted calipers? You just change those up?
 
#9 ·
I do,I am keeping the rotors but the OEM painted calipers are a single piston, these are a double piston so should be more efficient (I think the brake pad area may also be larger) the guys on the HK forum that have done this say it makes a big difference, although I think they were going from slightly smaller rotors to begin with....I'll be able to let you know after the weekend !
 
#10 · (Edited)
I found this thread on another forum and wanted to share it here BBK: Brake upgrade Thread. Its basically a pretty easy and relatively cheap way to upgrade the front brakes to a 2-piston set up with the factory 12.6" rotors on the turbo Optimas.
I already had the drilled and slotted rotors from Brake performance .com but saw this and thought I would give it a go !
It seems the 2-pot calipers from a 2004-5 Hyundai XG350 are a direct fit to our cars, I bought the calipers from Rock Auto and plan on installing these in the very near future.
I noticed that Concept III were advertising a BBK (2 piston) from Racing cube for $900 and it looks to me like these are the exact calipers they are using on that kit.

I am assuming the kit also includes the rotors.
I got my calipers for around $90 a piece (which includes a core charge) and the rotors are about $180 a set IIRC. Have to get some pads yet, but looking at around $50 for them.
So, this is what those calipers look like out of the box



As you can see the castings are a little "rough"...so, being the OCD type...I got to "cleaning" them up ! after a little treatment with a flapdisc and some grinding... followed by some painting ,decals and 2K clear coat..they now look like this.....I actually applied the clear coat over the decals so they should have no trouble peeling off or getting the edges caught while cleaning.


I just hope they do actually fit after all this work !!.......I'll let you all know how this works out and the difference in performance once I get them installed.
Could be an affordable alternative to the other BB kits that are out there for those who don't want to spend $1000.00 + to improve braking performance. (although, I got to say ,those BBK's do look darn good )
I could have gone for a BBK in the front ,but my SXL has the electronic rear park brake ,so I'm not able to match up a BBK in the back.
Like this, it still looks factory but hopefully will perform better !!...and I should have the same kit as the $900 Racing cube version.
Will update after installation with pics and performance review.
Very interesting.

The information that i found on the 2004 XG350 stated that the front rotors were 12.1in in diameter, so i am wondering how the calipers would fit the 12.6 rotors on our cars.

I hope they work, because I am very interested in upgrading to the dual piston calipers if they fit our 12.6in rotors and if the Optima brake booster are up to job of pushing the dual pistons.

FYI, the BBK calipers look similar to the XG350 calipers, but the faces of the two calipers are a bit different if you look closely in the photos so BBK maybe using dual pistons calipers from another Hyundai car model.

Never mind I read the whole thread in the link and it seems to fit and work on our cars according to the OP.
 
#12 ·
I wasn't aware of this vehicle either before I read the thread on the other forum. Not the best looking car I have seen !....but great that the brake calipers are direct fit with our cars...(I'm hoping )
 
#13 ·
Got around to fitting these today, interesting what you say about the Optima rotor being slightly larger, I did notice that the pads now do not come quite so far down toward the wheel center as before,(probably because this rotor is slightly larger) but everything else just bolts and lines right up !....I did have to switch calipers so the "RIGHT" one was on the left and vica-versa because I guess the XG350 may have had them forward of the hub and not behind the hub like on the Optima. Reason being when the right was on the right ,the bleed nipple was at the bottom which would not work for bleeding, switch over the calipers and its on top.
I'm pretty sure those ones pictured are from the same car, they may be from a different manufacturer maybe ?.....when I was looking online there were several makes of caliper available for the XG350, (mine are actually Hyundai original rebuilt).
Anyway, first impression is that these are def an improvement over the original, cannot give a complete review yet as the pads obviously need to be worn in a while and I ran out of brake fluid before I think I got every bit of air out of the system.
But just a quick drive round the block and I have to say there is more stopping power than before.....I am pretty happy so far !
I dont think there will be a problem with our brake booster and these, some guys here are running 6 pot BBK with it and works just fine.


 
#16 ·
I know its been a while, but I finally got around to bleeding out the rest of the air in the system....and the first time I put my foot on the brake just pulling back into my garage.....I felt a HUGE difference !
I obviously didn't get all the air out last time...now the pedal barely moves and these things bite!......A BIG improvement on the OEM set up. For those who want better braking but don't want to spend $1000.00 + on a BBK
I definitely recommend this way to go.
 
#20 ·
Great review of how they're still working out for ya! How much for the "Julian, make them for Jason" pair? :D
 
#23 ·
No, they have a single cylinder caliper.

---------- Post added at 05:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:14 PM ----------

Great review of how they're still working out for ya! How much for the "Julian, make them for Jason" pair? :D
Probably cheaper to buy a BBK!!!!.....;)
 
#29 ·
I had to "clock" (rotate) the brake lines where they attach to the calipers, but re-used the stock lines without issue.
 
#31 ·
I simply disconnected the OEM lines from the OEM calipers and attached them to the XG350 calipers. I didn't know the car that well when I put them on, but after driving other cars, I get back in and notice the feel is really increased. It will depend on your choice of pads, of course. If you plan on putting dustless, high-mileage type pads in there is no point to this mod. My EBC redstuffs are okay; they make dust like an Oklahoma dust storm but it hauls down when it needs to. I plan on tryin G-LOC pads next with even higher hopes for the performance. I also added speed bleeder bleed nipples while I was changing the claipers so bleeding is a one man affair going forward :cool: Be sure to use a good quality fluid and change it "regularly" (I change my brake fluid and trans fluid more than called for; cheap maintenance).
 
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#35 ·
Will these calipers work on my 2015 LX? I read thru the post and didn't see anyone say yes or no.
Thank you Allen
I would suspect no. I think only the SX and SX-L have the larger front rotors which match these calipers.
 
#38 ·
I found this thread on another forum and wanted to share it here BBK: Brake upgrade Thread. Its basically a pretty easy and relatively cheap way to upgrade the front brakes to a 2-piston set up with the factory 12.6" rotors on the turbo Optimas.
I already had the drilled and slotted rotors from Brake performance .com but saw this and thought I would give it a go !
It seems the 2-pot calipers from a 2004-5 Hyundai XG350 are a direct fit to our cars, I bought the calipers from Rock Auto and plan on installing these in the very near future.
I noticed that Concept III were advertising a BBK (2 piston) from Racing cube for $900 and it looks to me like these are the exact calipers they are using on that kit.

I am assuming the kit also includes the rotors.
I got my calipers for around $90 a piece (which includes a core charge) and the rotors are about $180 a set IIRC. Have to get some pads yet, but looking at around $50 for them.
So, this is what those calipers look like out of the box



As you can see the castings are a little "rough"...so, being the OCD type...I got to "cleaning" them up ! after a little treatment with a flapdisc and some grinding... followed by some painting ,decals and 2K clear coat..they now look like this.....I actually applied the clear coat over the decals so they should have no trouble peeling off or getting the edges caught while cleaning.


I just hope they do actually fit after all this work !!.......I'll let you all know how this works out and the difference in performance once I get them installed.
Could be an affordable alternative to the other BB kits that are out there for those who don't want to spend $1000.00 + to improve braking performance. (although, I got to say ,those BBK's do look darn good )
I could have gone for a BBK in the front ,but my SXL has the electronic rear park brake ,so I'm not able to match up a BBK in the back.
Like this, it still looks factory but hopefully will perform better !!...and I should have the same kit as the $900 Racing cube version.
Will update after installation with pics and performance review.
Hi my name is Roy I will like to do the same thing for my 2013 Kia optima ex 2.4l upgrade to a 4 caliper piston do I need any other parts beside the calipers?
 
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