[V8] UFO Rotors and Calipers

[Peter Schulz]

Brian:

Stick with the UFOs, there are plenty of cars being parted, so you  
should be able to get a decent set of used Calipers.

UFO rotors can be had relatively cheaply now compared to the ~$800  
each that they used to be in the day from Audi.

Switching to G60 Calipers and rotors may be seemingly less expensive  
when it comes to the cost or pads and rotors, but you will need to  
replace the strut assemblies, calipers, rotors and the brake lines,  
and end up with less swept rotor area than the UFOs.

One of the biggest issues with the UFOs historically was brake shimmy  
- the super large and heavy UFO rotors amplify any wear to the lower  
control arm inner bushings.

As to the cost, of doing either of these, it comes down to what your  
mechanic is comfortable in doing, typically they dont like to fool  
around with brakes and only want to install new or purchased rebuilt  
calipers.

If you do the work yourself, the UFO calipers can be easily rebuilt as  
long as the boots are not torn and the pistons arent rusted...

I know that Bernie will chime in if I mis stated anything :-)

and yes, I have a set of used UFO calipers sitting on the shelf that  
can easily be rebuilt, contact me off list if you are interested.



-Peter





On Nov 5, 2009, at 10:16 AM, Brian K. Ullrich wrote:

> Well, since you asked.
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> The GF lives in Asheville, N.C. right now (moving to Texas in  
> January), so I
> gave her the V8 to drive through the mountain winter when her last  
> car gave
> up the ghost. New snow tires, recent transmission service, plugs, oil,
> topped up fluids plus bottles of extra.made sure the car would get her
> through until January when we'd get it on a truck to Texas.
>
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> She's not very in tune with cars, and told me a month or so ago that  
> the
> brakes were getting mushy. I asked if they were stopping the car OK,  
> if
> there were any lights on on the dash, and did she hear anything  
> grinding?
> She said the brakes still worked, no lights, and no noise. I told  
> her we'd
> get the car in for a brake job with a local Audi guy this week. She  
> was to
> take it in Monday during lunch. This happened Monday morning ion her  
> way to
> work.
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> Short story is that the front pads were GONE, and had been gone for  
> a long
> time. She had metal-on-metal so long that she wore the rotors down  
> all the
> way to the ribs. Pulled a piston out of a caliper, and she was  
> toast. Pedal
> went straight to floor, she ran through three red-lights before she  
> got her
> wits together enough to put the car into N, and sort of coast to a  
> stop in a
> pile of landscape debris. She was quite understandably freaked.
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> I have not yet seen it, but the dildo at Firestone in Asheville told  
> me the
> calipers were both destroyed, brake lines on one side are destroyed
> (probably by exiting debris) and the rotors worn clear through to  
> the ribs
> on both sides. He then proceeded to tell me it would cost more to  
> fix than
> the car was worth, so I should probably just get a new car since  
> this one
> was so old. Oh, and this is a REALLY cool motor.
>
>
>
> I have a guy I trust that is going to move the car back to the GF's  
> house
> and inspect it. I'll know more then, but even though the dildo at  
> Firestone
> is a.well, a dildo from Firestone, I asked very specific, targeted  
> questions
> and got consistent answers. So my initial opinion is that I'm going  
> to have
> to replace the entire front brake system.
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> She's getting a B5 2.8 30v A4Q. Nice and mild. J
>
>
>
> From: rbade12 at aol.com [mailto:rbade12 at aol.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 4:58 PM
> To: bullrich at ullrichsys.com; V8 at audifans.com; 200q20v at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: UFO Rotors and Calipers
>
>
>
> Curious as to what kind of failure would necessitate replacement of  
> the
> entire front brake system.
>
> UFO rotors are available from many sources, AutohausAZ comes to  
> mind, about
> $160 a piece if I recall. Calipers are another deal, not sure where  
> to get
> them other than The Marketplace or ebay. I've acquired a set that  
> way for
> future use.
>
> Changing to conventional brakes requires replacement of the entire  
> strut
> assembly. The calipers would then have to sourced from ?, probably  
> easy to
> find, rotors from ?, probably easy to find.
>
> Tell us what happened.
>
> Bob
>
>
>
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>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brian K. Ullrich <bullrich at ullrichsys.com>
> To: V8 at audifans.com; 200q20v at audifans.com
> Sent: Wed, Nov 4, 2009 2:17 pm
> Subject: UFO Rotors and Calipers
>
> I'm sure this has been asked before, but I'll throw mine into the mix:
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> Anyone know where I can get a good set of UFO rotors? I'll also need
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> calipers. My GF had a catastrophic brake failure in the V8 exiting the
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> Of course, given that I have to replace both entire front brake  
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> would it be preferential to convert to a conventional setup? What  
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> Thanks!
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