Viper Big Brake Upgrade - Gen 2 Viper

[Luisv]

Big Brake Upgrade on my Gen 2 Viper

So I went ahead and did it. I upgraded the brakes on the Viper. I've seen some write-ups on this but I felt that there has not been one in a while and I wanted to add a bit more detail. I will give you a listing of all the parts (well... what I remember as I am writing this) and the tools I used.

This will be a long one with lots of photos and text. I will try to include it all. It may be overkill for some, but I rather provide as much detail as I can. If you know the info... skip forward. If you need detail... hopefully I give you all you need.

NOTE: This writeup is setup by sections. In other words, Rear modifications and installation, brake rebuild, front brakes, etc. It is not sequential. Just be aware that this is not a step by step in that sense. For example, I detail the rear first. In order to do that, I have to have removed the front calipers and rebuilt them in order to install them on the rear. However, I don't get to the removal of the fronts until later in the write up. Bottom line... you'll need to jump around a bit.

Also, I will not detail the left and right sides. Obviously, what you do on one side, you repeat on the other.



Plan:

Improve the braking of my Gen 2 to the sub-100 foot levels of the later Vipers. I own a 2002 Viper GTS Final Edition. To do it... I will upgrade the front and rear calipers and rotors.

Background from the research I did before I made the final decisions.

The stock brakes on the Gen 2 Vipers are:

- Front: Brembo manufactured four piston 42/38 calipers in front. This means that the pistons on the caliper are 42mm and 38mm, two of each. The rotors are 13 x 1.26 inch rotors.

- Rear: Single piston sliding calipers with a 42mm piston. The rear caliper also has the parking/emergency brake integrated. The rear rotors are 13 x .87 inch rotors.

2001 and 2002 ABS was standard. My car has ABS and this writeup assumes you have ABS. 1996 to 2000 were non-ABS car.

Braking Distance 60-0 is 115 to 117 feet

Stock Brakes on the Gen 3 and Gen 4 SRT-10 Vipers are:

- Front: Brembo manufactured four piston 44/40 calipers in front. The rotors are 14 x 1.26 inch rotors.

- Rear: Brembo manufactured four piston 42/38 calipers in the rear. The rear rotors are 14 x 1.26 inch rotors.

In addition to the basics listed above the master cylinder bore size on both the 2001-02 Vipers and the Gen3/4Vipers is 1.125". On the 2001-2002 Gen 2 Vipers, the stroke is 1.54". More on this later.

So based on this info, what I planned out was getting the calipers to match the setup on the Gen3/4 brakes. In order to do that, I need to upgrade the front calipers to 44/40 and the rears to four piston 42/38 calipers. The most cost effective way to do this is to get SRT-10 calipers for the front and transfer the Gen 2 front calipers to the rear axle. Not as difficult as you would think. The kit I used (relocation brackets) is from IPSCO which are excellent! The quality of the parts are outstanding. The fit is perfect and everything bolts up without issue as advertised. The parking brake is also awesome and the part quality is awesome. The engraved Sneaky Pete is gorgeous. Overall I would recommend the stuff blindly.

Parts List:

Gen 3 Front Calipers Part Numbers: 05136153AA and 05136152AA for the Left and Right
Gen 2 Front Calipers These are the ones on the car that I transferred back
Gen 3 DODGE VIPER StopTech Slotted Brake Rotors Part Number: 126-63055SR & 126-63055SL for the left and right (will be the new front rotors)
Gen 2 DODGE VIPER StopTech Slotted Brake Rotors Part Number: 126-63036SR & 126-63036SL for the left and right (will be the new rear rotors)
SRT10 Caliper Mount Kit - Front for GEN 2 Vipers (96-02) Part Number: IPS301
Gen 2 Caliper Mount Kit - Rear using 13" Gen 2 front rotors Part Number: IPS304
Gen 2 1996-2002 Stainless Steel Braided Flex Brake line kit Part Number: IPS186FR (Both Front and Rear)
Viper 3/8" Thick Hub Centric Wheel Spacer Part Number: IPS111-38 (4 units)
Extended Lug Nuts to use with Spacer Plates Part Number: IPS189 (4 sets of 6 needed)
Hawk Performance HPS Brake Pads - Viper Gen 3 Front Part Number: HB193F.670
Hawk Performance HPS Brake Pads - Viper Gen 2 Front Part Number: HB194F.665
Viper Mechanical Parking Brake Kit for 13 inch rotors Part Number: IPS090-13




Got mine with Sneaky Pete for the Gen 2


A note on the above calipers. I purchased a set of used calipers from X2Builders. I've purchased a number of parts from them before and have had nothing but great parts. I have replaced a broken e-brake handle and a replacement tank and replacement cover panel. (you can search up my fuel tank replacement) However, since the brakes are critical, I purchased rebuild kits for all the calipers including the ones on the car. I rebuilt all four calipers. To do that I used:

Centric Brembo Rebuild Kit for Gen 3/4 Front Calipers Part Number: 143.03005 One Per Caliper
Centric Brembo Rebuild Kit for Gen 2 Front Calipers Part Number: 143.63023 One Per Caliper

The centric parts are great (Centric is the parent company for StopTech) and each kit replaces all the seals and dust boots.



In addition to the rebuild kits I replaced the bleeder valves for the brake calipers. As FYI for you, you need to get those in a a M10x1 thread by 29mm length. The length from the bottom threads to the point of the bleeder is 6mm. I found the eight (two per caliper) at NAPA Auto Parts locally.

In terms of tools, you'll need / I used:

Reciprocating Saw and/or Cut-Off Wheel on a grinder or angle grinder.
Grinding disk on an angle grinder
Sanding Discs / Poly cookies
Large Channel Locks
Torque Wrench that will provide up to 110 ft/lbs of torque.
Allen sockets for the bolts used to attach the new brackets and calipers. You will need a 10mm allen and an 8mm allen key to fit the socket. Remember to get any adapters you may need to attach these to the torque wrench.

Of course.... Set of short and long metric sockets. Largest socket you'll need is an 18mm if memory serves. A few open end wrenches. You'll need these especially for the brake lines and bleeders. Shorty wrenches help but not needed.

Last thing... get four large plastic boxes / trays. You'll spend $20 but you place one under each wheel when you start pulling calipers and lines off, you can let the fluid drain into the trays.