V50R BBK Big Brakes Installed...320mm Set Up.

V50R · Jan 26, 2015

After a long wait I finally found some time this weekend to install the 320mm brakes.

PREP:
Sourced most of my parts online and paid about 225$ for everything. Calipers were remanufactured, rotors were new as well as the pads.

PARTS NEEDED:
2 Front Rotors 320mm.
2 Front Calipers.
2 Front Caliper Carriers.
1set of front brake pads.

OLD VS NEW.
300mm vs320mm set ups.

INSTALLATION:
There is nothing complicated for the install.

1. Put the front up in the air.
2. Take the front wheels off the vehicle.
3. 15mm socket is used to remove the 2 bolts holding the caliper carriers off the spindle/hub.
4. 12mm wrench is used to loosen the brake hose off the caliper.
5. Install the hose on the new calipers.
6. Mount pads into caliper and load assembly onto spindle/hub after you replace the rotors.
7. Bolt up everything and use a DOT4 fluid to bleed your brakes.

Thats it.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
Took my time to weare the pads in without any significant breaking events that would overheat the pads or rotors.
Yesterday and today are the first times I got a chance to really stop and i am amazed of the difference.
Old brake set was 10-20$ worn out leaving almost 80% pad material but the new brakes are absolutley awesome.
Pedal feels the same as before except when you are breaking and say you increase pedal effort another 10% you get 30-40% more breaking force, to the point that your body is thrown into the seatbelt which then locks up.

Also im happy to report that these fit under 16" wheel set up.

Here are some pictures.

Not my pics.
300mm

320mm

Installed.

Brown9348 · Jan 26, 2015

nice job! so you left the rears alone?

somebody is selling the brake upgrade here- good to know that you got new rotors + used calipers for cheaper than that guy wants for the whole setup!

Great write-up/ informative pictures!

V50R · Jan 26, 2015

Brown9348 said:
nice job! so you left the rears alone?

somebody is selling the brake upgrade here- good to know that you got new rotors + used calipers for cheaper than that guy wants for the whole setup!

Great write-up/ informative pictures!

I should have taken more pictures of the install but it was extremely simple and everyone can do it with just 2 wrenches... 15mm and a 12mm...

I was not aware that the rears were also upgraded. Is that for the face lift model or is it a custom est up?

I Saw 50 · Jan 26, 2015

Oooh! I'd been looking for those pictures! And thanks for posting the parts you used.

Did you sourced the used calipers online or at a "pick and pull"?
We're you able to use the same brake lines? (Same location, threads etc)

crossie · Jan 26, 2015

nice writeup.

but I'd be careful... my 320mm standard rotor setup (V50 D4) fits just right with OEM 16" rims, but the inner weights from my aftermarket OZs rubbed. so - 16" is possible with limitations

Brown9348 · Jan 26, 2015

oh i dont know if the rears can be upgraded or not... I was wondering myself!

V50R · Jan 26, 2015

I Saw 50 said:
Oooh! I'd been looking for those pictures! And thanks for posting the parts you used.

Did you sourced the used calipers online or at a "pick and pull"?
We're you able to use the same brake lines? (Same location, threads etc)

You can source everything from Rockauto.com just look for 2010 brakes and make sure you are picking the 320mm set up.
I got all my stuff from there.

Everything is a straight bolt on, no need for new hoses or any other bolts. you will need only 2 wrenches to do the upgrade. One 15mm for the bracket bolts and one 12mm to take the line off. The bleeder screw was a 10mm i think.

Took me about 2 hours from start to finish.

V50R · Jan 26, 2015

Essentially the 320mm is only slightly larger then the 300 due to the difference in calipers.
In many cases when you go from 300 to a 320mm you are increasing the overall distance from the center of the wheel to the edge of the caliper by 10mm. Now in this case my brakes were less then a finger gap from between the wheel and the caliper. This is why i wated so long to upgrade.
Once i found the pictures above which confirm that there is ample clearance with the OEM 16" wheels decided to try and see how it will fit.

I would say if I had about 10mm before I have about 4-5mm left now and the gap between the wheel weights and the caliper is about 3mm.

If you are running 16s now im 90% sure that these brakes will bolt up.

One thing to note is where the old 300mm discs had the entire surface area swept these new ones leave about 20mm of unswept area at the bottom. I guess this is just how they are designed but the increase in braking power is amazing. Every time i stop i am amazed of how much grip there is even on winter smushy tires.
Deff worth the money for the upgrade. Down the road I may even paint the calipers some other color then this brownish casting color that they are now.

MyNameIdeasWereTaken · Jan 27, 2015

There's no (factory) upgrade for the rears. Looks good! When my front pads wear out, I'm debating if I got 320s or a real big brake kit.

V50R · Jan 27, 2015

MyNameIdeasWereTaken said:
There's no (factory) upgrade for the rears. Looks good! When my front pads wear out, I'm debating if I got 320s or a real big brake kit.

On a budget the 320mm is a great kit, now i know some of the other kits out there will be better but also cost more, and at some point you will be at the mercy of the contact patch underneath the tire to provide stopping power.
I liked the 320 simply because I can still use my 16" snow tires and wont have to sell that kit to move to say a 17mm.

My TDI is going to have 370mm as soon as the weather warms up and that will pretty much limit me to 19" wheels which is what it has for the summer tires. No more snow wheels unless i remove the kit ever winter.

V50R · Jan 27, 2015

I got a pair of these waiting for install...

Slasher · Jan 27, 2015

awesome job! i'm actually surprised more folk with 300mm stockers havent done this.
as stated, all rears are 185 so there is no oem upgrade for the backside.......

chromecarz00 · Jan 28, 2015

Slasher said:
awesome job! i'm actually surprised more folk with 300mm stockers havent done this.
as stated, all rears are 185 so there is no oem upgrade for the backside.......

Would it be this simple if we have the puny 2.4i brakes, or do those calipers have a different backing plate?

V50R · Jan 28, 2015

chromecarz00 said:
Would it be this simple if we have the puny 2.4i brakes, or do those calipers have a different backing plate?

You should double check but I am near 100% sure that the 2.5T and 2.4i both got the same brakes from the factory. It wasnt until later years that the R-Design bits became a stock set up on the Volvos.

I am not aware of any smaller brakes from the 2.5 to the 2.4 as the smallest thing I have seen is the 300mm.

Go on Rockatuo and look for the stock front brakes on the 2.4 that should comfirm if you have the 2.5T brakes. Also since these cars are the same I am sure that the upgrade will work just fine.

crossie · Jan 28, 2015

I think there are smaller brake disc sizes than the 300mm...

at least ebay sells some in 278mm (I think they're for the small 1.6l diesel models?)

MyNameIdeasWereTaken · Jan 28, 2015

280mm front brakes were standard on a lot of the 2.4is and the lesser engine in Europe. Often times, these were on the cars that came with 15" wheels from the factory.

V50R · Jan 28, 2015

V50R said:
You should double check but I am near 100% sure that the 2.5T and 2.4i both got the same brakes from the factory. It wasnt until later years that the R-Design bits became a stock set up on the Volvos.

I am not aware of any smaller brakes from the 2.5 to the 2.4 as the smallest thing I have seen is the 300mm.

Go on Rockatuo and look for the stock front brakes on the 2.4 that should comfirm if you have the 2.5T brakes. Also since these cars are the same I am sure that the upgrade will work just fine.

CORRECTION:

Research shows that the 2.4I came with 278mm front rotors.
It also came with 300mm front rotors and apparently 320mm as well but not sure on what option package.

From looks of things you can go straight to the 320mm without worry as long as you get the calipers and brackets for the 320 as well.

If you have the 278mm id be glad to sell you the 300mm set up from my car if you are interested.

jschinito · Jan 28, 2015

c70s randomly got 320 vs 300 front brakes. i was lucky to have the 320. definitely appreciate on this heavy car

TG · Jan 28, 2015

We've been over this a million times

there is hardly no real logic into why some cars have the 300mm or 320mm rotors & caliper versions. It literally is the Russian roulette

I'm still driving on 300mm. It's not great but I'd rather not invest big $$$ on this even though I'd be happy if my brakes were better. All I've been able to do is upgrade the pads

Slasher · Jan 28, 2015

TG said:
We've been over this a million times there is hardly no real logic into why some cars have the 300mm or 320mm rotors & caliper versions. It literally is the Russian roulette
I'm still driving on 300mm. It's not great but I'd rather not invest big $$$ on this even though I'd be happy if my brakes were better. All I've been able to do is upgrade the pads

hey TG. but like the OP did, you can probably pick up a set of remanu 320's for not that much $$$. and it's direct bolt on.

V50R BBK Big Brakes Installed...320mm Set Up.

V50R

Brown9348

V50R

I Saw 50

crossie

Brown9348

V50R

V50R

MyNameIdeasWereTaken

V50R

V50R

Slasher

chromecarz00

V50R

crossie

MyNameIdeasWereTaken

V50R

jschinito

TG

Slasher

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