Jerrod Jones
Former Editor, Off Road
The SSBC Quick-Change caliper upgrade kit comes with new machined two-piece calipers, pads, and bleeder screws. The new Force 10 Supertwin TK two-piston calipers spread the force of the braking pressure out over a larger surface, therefore improving braking. You are still displacing the same amount of fluid at the same pressure with the same foot strokes at the pedal, but now that force is better applied to the rotor. And for around $900 how could we go wrong? Those other brake kits would cost us upwards of $2,000 and make us run at least 17-inch rims. Yucko!
The '88-'98 Chevys never did stop worth a darn. They improved the brakes a little bit in the last couple years of production, but they all pretty much sucked. Many of the aftermarket brake companies recognized this and offer a slew of brake kits, but they are all for 17- or 18-inch wheels, leaving us stubborn-assed little-rim lovers without an answer to our braking woes. Were we doomed to be running around in unstoppable metal harbingers of death? We had already swapped a six-lug 9.5-inch ring gear 14-bolt axle into the back of our Tahoe, at the same time gaining just about the biggest set of drums we've ever seen fit in a 15-inch wheel. The braking improvement was noticed, but we could feel ourselves plow right through those front disc brakes, where over 70 percent of the truck's braking is done. Stainless Steel Brake Corporation had our solution ready to go with a quick-change aluminum caliper kit that would bolt directly onto our knuckle and still allow us to run our 15-inch spinners. The two-piece Force 10 Supertwin TK calipers feature dual pistons and are all it takes to get you better brakes in under an hour.
We've had the chance to put a few miles on a set ourselves, and the vast improvement has been long awaited. With many large-caliper brake kits you get more brake pedal travel because more fluid displacement is required, but the Force 10 calipers have a stock feeling to them, starting to engage soon into the pedal travel. After some 40mph-to-rolling break-in procedures, we gave the pedal a little more of a slam and couldn't believe what a difference a new caliper made on the same-sized rotor. Our brakes also got progressively better as we burned the first layers off the pads and put a couple hundred miles on them. It's easy to wear in brakes in Southern California.
Who: SSBC
What It Is: Quick-Change caliper upgrade
What It Comes With: Force 10 Supertwin TK two-piston calipers, new brake pads.
How Much It'll Set You Back: Around $900
Options: Slotted rotors can be added to the package for another $200
Options: Slotted rotors can be added to the package for another $200
