288mm brake upgrade from 1.8T/VR6

jnecr

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2004
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
2014 BMW 328d
Well I did it.

I got all the stuff in last Monday and I did the transformation this afternoon. It took about 4 hours from driving into the shop to driving out of the shop. I took a couple pictures along the way and hopefully some pictures to hope show why the new spindles are needed.

The used brakes and spindles from VWvortex.com (there are two sets of these):



What I started with (driver's side):



What I ended with:



The reason why you MUST change the spindles if you want to upgrade our brakes:

You can see in this picture that the caliper carrier is one piece with the spindle itself (the caliper is lighter gray metal piece while the carrier is dark grey like the spindle). The 1.8Ts and VR6s do not have this, in the very top picture (of this post) you can vaguely see that the carrier is bolted on to the spindle. In this picture you can also see the wheel speed sensor rotor, the electrical attachment there is a brake pad wear sensor I guess, the wheel speed sensor is to the right in this picture which was taken from the top of the assembly looking down.


Some steps along the way:

Here you can see that the steering control arm out of focus in the very foreground on the right of this picture. That is the first step (after disconnecting all electrical connections and brake lines, suprisingly little brake fluid came out while disconnecting the brake line), disconnect the control arm. You can kind of see that it has a cone shape to it and it just has a nut on the bottom and is pressed into it's seat which you can see in the direct middle on this picture (it's looks all wet).

You can also see the (yellow) strut in the top of the picture. That is the next step, remove strut from spindle. Not very hard to do if your car is new! If it's old you'll either have to have the VW specific spreader tool or just bang on it A LOT with a rubber mallet (go for option number one if you've never changed your struts). My struts have only been on the car for about 6,000 miles, so they practically fell out.


The next step is to remove the three small bolts from the ball joint (which you can see in the middle of the picture as well).




Here's a picture from the front side of the wheel well look back. You can see that I disconnected the sway bar link, it gives you a little more room to work with if you do that.

You can also see the black boots around the two allen screws that mount the caliper to the carrier. This will be the next step, removing the caliper and then the rotor. The rotor is held on by one tiny little screw because when you have your wheels on the rotor is kept in place by your five lug bolts. The tiny little screw was absolutely mutilated on my brakes which only have 15,000 miles. I'll take a picture of it just to scare ya'll.
But really it only holds the rotor on while you have your wheels off, it's not under high stress usually, but I think VW could have had a better way to mount the rotor to the wheel flange.

Anyhow, the caliper and rotor come off really, really easy.
The driveshaft, however, does not. You MUST have a presser in order to do this. I don't think there is any other way.
Picture of a presser in action:

You can see that the rotor and caliper have been removed and you can see the carrier hanging off to the left there. What you can't see is me behind the camera with one special finger up for the spindles with their cast carriers.

So back to the presser, all it does if push on the driveshaft while pulling on the wheel flange. It was a B!tch to get out even with the presser. But the driveshaft went back in the new hubs really easy.

So this is what you get after getting the driveshaft out of the bearing:

You can see the driveshaft and the very edge of the tranny (way up in there) where the driveshaft enters.

Putting the new spindles back in is just a matter of tracking the steps back, the hardest part is that on the passenger's side you have to get the driveshaft, ball joint, and strut all lined up correctly and then push them all in at the same time. But it takes about the same amount of effort as disassembly.


So that's that. Now I have to get my rotors turned because it was slightly more than surface rust and I have to bleed my brakes again because my pedal is very slightly soft. I also have to get an alignment, but these things are easy compared to the job itself. And now, I can upgrade to whatever I like and it won't be hard at all. Upgrading from here just requires new rotors, calipers (if you want new calipers), and caliper carriers. And... I won't have to disassemble the ENTIRE thing. I'm very pleased with how well it went. Any questions? comments?


Additions:
The aformentioned screwed screw:



Calipers:
TDI on the left, 1.8T caliper that has been sprayed black on the right:



TDI Brake pad with wear sensor:

The screws that hold the caliper on the carrier are in the lower right portion of the picture.
 

rpmjunky

Banned
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Location
CA, LA County
TDI
2005 PD TDI Red Spice Jetta Wagon
good write up & pictures...!!!
i'm gettin mine done by ef1motorsports.com for mere lunch money of $130 that includes bleeding, alignment and the install itself.

i can not say enough for Fabrizio for his job well done (well...in progress as we speak) and his reasonable price.

 

tongsli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD
So this is what you get after getting the driveshaft out of the bearing:
Not trying to nit pick but it's technically out of the Wheel Hub, which holds the bearings inside.

Don't forget to bleed the clutch and ABS module for good measure!

Great pictures!
 

jnecr

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2004
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
2014 BMW 328d
So this is what you get after getting the driveshaft out of the bearing:
Not trying to nit pick but it's technically out of the Wheel Hub, which holds the bearings inside.
Right.. Right.. whatever.
I was suprised when I first did this write-up that I got NO replies, I guess nobody wanted to do a brake upgrade then..


I will soon be able to add how to upgrade from the 288mm brakes to 312mm. I don't know why I want to go to 312mm brakes... but I'm going to do it anyhow.
 

rpmjunky

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2005 PD TDI Red Spice Jetta Wagon
I will soon be able to add how to upgrade from the 288mm brakes to 312mm. I don't know why I want to go to 312mm brakes... but I'm going to do it anyhow.
let me guess...the looks...???
i have the stage 1 from ecs & love it not because it looks awsome but it works like a charm...
do i hear a 288mm setup on sale on the market soon...???

 

skicrave

Veteran Member
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Jul 21, 2003
Location
Bend, OR
TDI
2004 Passat 1.8T 4Motion Wagon
So how much should we be looking to spend for the parts? Just a rough ball park price will do, as I realize there are lots of variations
 

jettafock

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Joined
Mar 2, 2004
Location
Catonsville, MD
TDI
2004 Jetta GLS TDI auto, platinum gray, ESP
I will be upgrading my brakes to 05 GLI brakes in the next month. Can't wait to get thoughs on.
 

ArturCosta

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2003
Location
Portugal
TDI
Audi A4 Avant 1996 Silver
The 1.9TDI in europe have 288mm brakes!

jnecr: Are your rotors vented on the center?

When I changed my rotors it was very difficult to find vented on the center...

I ended up with this setup:

 

rpmjunky

Banned
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Location
CA, LA County
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So how much should we be looking to spend for the parts? Just a rough ball park price will do, as I realize there are lots of variations
just look for used stuff from vwvortex...
i got my setup for $100 including the 1.8T front suspension just because the guy that was selling couldn't get it off the hub housing.
 

ArturCosta

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Dec 8, 2003
Location
Portugal
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Audi A4 Avant 1996 Silver
Artur, are those Koni Specials (aka Reds) in the picture?
Yes. I was gonna install the Sports (yellow) but they were to hard! These ones are also good for performance and are still very confortable.

My stock ones had 220k kms so I had to change to something...

Cheers
 

tongsli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Location
Baltimore, MD
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2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD
I will soon be able to add how to upgrade from the 288mm brakes to 312mm. I don't know why I want to go to 312mm brakes... but I'm going to do it anyhow.
You should really consider changing the rears as well. The 312/256 Front and Rear combo is just excellent.

Going from 232 to 256 does make a difference.

L
 

jnecr

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2004
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
2014 BMW 328d
I will soon be able to add how to upgrade from the 288mm brakes to 312mm. I don't know why I want to go to 312mm brakes... but I'm going to do it anyhow.
You should really consider changing the rears as well. The 312/256 Front and Rear combo is just excellent.

Going from 232 to 256 does make a difference.

L
Yeah.. I want to, but I've been putting too much money into it already. And I don't have access to the shop that I once had access to. So it makes it harder now.

Sooner or later though.. I'll do the rears as well. Since they do look a bit absurd in those big 18" wheels.
 

jnecr

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Joined
Oct 9, 2004
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
2014 BMW 328d
The 1.9TDI in europe have 288mm brakes!
We should be so lucky.. I don't know why we didn't get them from the start.

jnecr: Are your rotors vented on the center?

When I changed my rotors it was very difficult to find vented on the center...

I ended up with this setup:

All MKIV rotors are vented in the front, but only the GLI/20AE/337 rear brakes are vented all others are solid rotors. These special edition brakes are what I will upgrade the rear brakes to when I get a chance.

Do some VWs come with solid rotors in the front?!
I think that's kind of scary if they do.
 

tongsli

Top Post Dawg
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Location
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2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD
I hear ya!

Anyone doing the brake mod needs to keep in mind that you will need to move up to 16-inch wheels. IIRC, the Wolfsburg Edition wheels will not fit, but the others will.

L
 

Golf_GTDI

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Jun 12, 2004
Location
Logan Ohio, USA
TDI
2001 Golf GLS
VR6 brakes should fit over the vast majority of 15 inch wheels. They work for RallyVW and I don't recall talking to anyone who has done the same swap who has not been able to run 15s.

If you move up to the 337 or TT brakes however... bigger wheels are a must. For those I have been told that a few 16s will work but mostly 17s are in order.
 

jnecr

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Oct 9, 2004
Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
2014 BMW 328d
Yeah, the 288mm brakes will fit with most any 15" wheel. They fit my Montereys (I tried just before I sold them). The 312mm brakes, however, will need to go to most 17" wheels. I don't think the Wolfsburg edition BBS wheel will fit over them. This is probably what Lito is referring to.
 

andrewc

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Nov 10, 2002
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Bethesda, MD (Metro DC)
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none :( ....(gone) 98 NB 6spd
312mm will fit inside the NB stock 6-spoke (Monte Carlo?) 16" wheels, but not the Rave 5-spoke 16's. oldpoopie has the Rave and 312mm, but he had to install a spacer between the wheel and the brake rotor to get enough clearance.
 

ArturCosta

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Audi A4 Avant 1996 Silver
Jnecr: I ment vented on the cube not on the center of the rotor! If you search you will find out that some rotors are not vented on the cube(center of the wheel).
I think its very important!

I think the normal 280mm are not vented on the cube too...
 

jnecr

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Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
2014 BMW 328d
Nevermind, I see what you mean... The hub of the brakes is vented, I see that in your pics. No, I've actually never seen, does that really help to cool the brakes? or is that more for weight reduction?
 

ArturCosta

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Portugal
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Audi A4 Avant 1996 Silver
Sorry for my bad english... didnt remember the word hub

They can also be for weight reduction , but I believe that the hub gets also very hot with the braking and using high performance pads will genarate a lot of heat and maybe cause some problems for the hub!
My dad owns a 2003 Audi A4 TDI 130 and it has it also vented on the hub.

Some rotors like TAROX G88 or ATE Power Disks dont have the vent on the rotors...

cheers
 

Golf_GTDI

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Location
Logan Ohio, USA
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2001 Golf GLS
I would actually like to find two piece light weight rotors for the VR6 sized brakes. That would get rid of the heat/venting issue as well as save some unprung weight.
 

jnecr

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Raleigh, NC
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2014 BMW 328d
You can get two piece 312mm rotors, but I don't recall ever seeing 288mm two piece rotors. BTW, two piece rotors = $$$
 

tongsli

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John, yes I was reffering to the 312's. The stock 16" steel wheels fit on my 312's.
 

jnecr

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Location
Raleigh, NC
TDI
2014 BMW 328d
John, yes I was reffering to the 312's. The stock 16" steel wheels fit on my 312's.
Huh, that's crazy, what are your stock wheels? I've heard of people having trouble with a few 17" wheels...
 

Golf_GTDI

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I know that two piece rotors are in fact spendy but the weight savings are rather profound. When we spend hundrends to save a pound or two on tires and wheels the brakes are the next great place to cut unsprung weight.
 
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