I have an 02 Lightning. My situation is that I love the car, but the brakes are just awful. I mean, theyre practical, but my truck is more for show. I don't race it, so I dont need super brakes. I don't especially need new brakes, the stock brakes are fine, but the rust is just ugly, and I am attempting to build a show truck. Any brakes I build that are specific to the Lightning should be an upgrade though.

I have seen Lightnings with ABS brakes. So he took them off of a ABS Mercedes, I am curious as to how I could go about doing that. I really like the crossdrilled/ slotted look, and they would look fantastic since I have open rims.

My main problem is lack of knowledge, so I dont know if I could just take the brakes right off or what. But if I were to find a wrecked vehicle with those kind of brakes, i woudl love to use them.

Basically, I ahve just entered a hugely vague topic without any knowledge, so I guess my one question I am asking, is for anybody who has dont anything unique with their brakes, to tell me about it. And if possible, show them off please. Thanks in advance

 

I have some zinc platted crossdrilled/slotted rotors from R1 concepts and EBC greenstuff pads. They were an excellent upgrade, and teh whole thing cost me about $350. Here is a pic of the front

 

I just checked out that company, and I was quite impressed with the price and customer service. I think I will go that route, very very well priced. Thanks for that insight.

But also, I am wearing 22"s, so I have a lot of space. Baer told me they have a 16" brake kit, which sounds intense, but nowhere near my affordable range. So if anybody has done anything like ABS or other performance kits, please show them off. Or any brakes for that matter.

 

Mine are 20's, and I knew I could get bigger. There is an affordable larger solution, its called the eradispeed +1. Its nowhere near the $3000 plus those big systems are, I think its about a grand. If you do choose the R1 Concepts rotors, they are listed on ebay and if you search through all of their listings (and I mean ALL) some are cheaper than others for the same parts. It pays to search. Mine were $179 + shipping. They first shipped me the correct rears and incorrect fronts (which really pissed me off, they sent me chevy fronts) but they immediately shipped the right ones and emailed me a return label for the return of the others.

Some may tell you to stay away from the crossdrilled because they say they will crack, but my response is always then why have mercedes and Porsche been using them for 20 years on their highest performance cars? You can't go wrong

 

The R1 Concepts look like they have a neat style. I was wondering, what is the difference between zinc and silver though? When I look at your brakes, they look silver colored. So I suppose silver is just a little more silver?

Also, how do the zinc hold up to rust? Is what makes silver different that it has powder coating on it so it doesnt rust, where zinc lacks that? Thanks for the update

 

The zinc coating Navi98 speaks of is mainly done to stop the corrosion/decomposition within the venting fins on a vented rotor and on the hub. The coating comes off the braking surfaces immediately after break in. Also, the reason cross drilled rotors on the high $$ European cars do not crack is because of the higher nickel content used in the cast iron. Replacement rotors from China...forget about it.

 

When I bought mine they offered three different coatings. All of them were zinc coatings but it the silver color I got, black and gold. The black and gold cost more and take longer to get. cudacrazy is correct that the coating will wear off the surface that the pad is in contact with quickly, and that portion will rust if they get wet and sit for more than a day. There is really nothing you can do about that.

As for the higher nickel content in the rotors, I don't really know about that. When I order rotors for customer cars, they all come in a wagner box for exact OEM replacement style rotors (except for the cheap asses that get the whitebox rotors)