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Which Brake System is for me?

Disc brakes come in all sizes, styles and configurations. This information should help you to determine what type of braking system will work best for your application.
Brake Type	Description
Single Piston	Single piston calipers have been the braking standard for the past 30 years. The original disc brake designs were four piston calipers which were prone to leaking and other problems. The single piston caliper system is very simple and performs well for most applications. With the single piston caliper design the disc brake rotor is squeezed between a pad that is stationary on one side and a pad that is moved by the caliper piston. The advantage of this design is that it is very simple and is not prone to leaking or failure. The most common single piston caliper kit utilizes an 11" rotor which is perfect for most street applications. After all if GM and Ford used this design for 30 years without change,it has to be good.
Four Piston	The four piston caliper designed disc brake system was the original disc brake design used by the "big Three", GM, Ford and Chrysler. Although beautiflly designed this system had one major weakness...four caliper pistons had four times the chance of leaking or failure. Long term unction without failure was the driving force to go to the single piston caliper design. The advantage of this system is the caliper was prone to less flexing under stress which keeps the pads more even on the rotor producing more friction. Today, the leaking problem can be eliminated or at least severely reduced by having the piston bores of the caliper sleeved with stainless steel. This eliminates bore corrosion which leads to leaking.
Rotor Size	Efficient braking requires the conversion of your car's kinetic energy into heat. This heat is produced by the rotor being clamped by the disc brake pads. The rapid dissapation of this generated heat is critical to good brake function. The larger the rotor the more efficiently a rotor will dissipate heat. This translates into better braking. For most street applications an 11" rotor will work perfectly. However a very heavy car or a car that's subjected to extreme braking will benefit from 12" rotors.
Cross Drilled Rotors	Better braking performance is all about cooling down the rotor fast. When a rotor is cross-drilled or slotted this helps to discharge the heat that builds up and therefore cools down the rotor faster. Hence, better braking. Although cross-drilled and slotted rotors are not an absolute necessity for street use they are a relatively inexpensive upgrade when adding disc brakes.
NOTE: If you are using Cadillac ElDorado rear calipers there are some important things you should know. One of the biggest advantages of a disc brake system is the fool proof self adjuster. Not so with this rear GM system. The rear calipers adjust off the parking brake. The parking brake is incorporated into the caliper. You must set the parking brake every time you park the car.The rear caliper pitons utilize a one way clutch inside the caliper piston. When the parking brake is applied the clutch senses when there is .030" or more clearence between the friction material and the rotor on the inboard side. When there is more than .030" the clutch turns inside the piston adjusting it out keeping the rear brakes adjusted. If you do not set your parking brake every time you will start to lose brake pedal (low and spongy) and the adjuster mechanism will not work any longer.