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Volvo 940(740) with 302mm 850 Brakes (Picture Heavy)

The question I face now is what front brake setup I want to run on my cars? As my 744 already has the Wilwood w/ 12.19" rotors but I want to swap those rotors out for the S60R rotors with the adapters I have here from NIW. But then I also happen to have a set of S60R calipers here (front and rear), what should those go on?

I have a feeling that this 302mm upgrade might just be a temp thing as as I happen to have a spare set of the NIW adapters so if I can source another set of calipers I could have all 3 of my cars with s60r rotors and I hate to say it but the rotor size really does matter.


And for those asking about the Brake hose length, This should give you a bit more detail to the length of my SS hoses that I am using with the 302mm swap, I will try to get a picture of them at full lock next time I drive the car (waiting for a new wideband 02 sensor to come in).

302mm945_34.jpg
 
If you have the R calipers, they have a lot more pad surface than the Wilwoods when mated to the S60R rotors. The 7420's use about 3/4 of the rotor surface. The Wilwoods are also a ton lighter, plus if you go with them all the way around, it's one pad set to have in stock, not two, but pad choices are a bit more spendy.

Personally, I'd stay Wilwood if you already have the goods to do so. Maybe leave the 302's on the wife's daily since I'm guessing she may not beat on it quite as much as you?
 
gsellstr said:
Yeah, that's my plan as well, since they are cheap enough. Looks like a few of the reman's actually come with the adapters for about the same price as well.

We'll be into it around $400 I suspect once everything is said and done, between calipers, pads, lines, rotors, brackets, and cryo on the pads and rotors.
Click to expand...

Just glanced around on rock Auto. They want more for some of the core charges than they want for the caliper. How does that make sense? $400 doesn't seem bad, but my math is adding up different. I'll search the world wide web more for the deals.
 
gsellstr said:
If you have the R calipers, they have a lot more pad surface than the Wilwoods when mated to the S60R rotors. The 7420's use about 3/4 of the rotor surface. The Wilwoods are also a ton lighter, plus if you go with them all the way around, it's one pad set to have in stock, not two, but pad choices are a bit more spendy.

Personally, I'd stay Wilwood if you already have the goods to do so. Maybe leave the 302's on the wife's daily since I'm guessing she may not beat on it quite as much as you?
Click to expand...

So then my 744 should go to R calipers front and rear,the 944 after I do the V8 swap should get the wilwood + s60r rotors. And eventually my 945 DD should stick with the 302s because it is just a daily?

And the 945t is now mine, the wife has the 1994 855T with the M56 swap (w/ 302s) along with her e39 as the other daily.
 
thelostartof said:
Details about it?

I have heard about the dvs kit to use the s40 t5 calipers and 320mm rotors and those should work with the same 6.5mm spacers along with thier adapter kit. There are also a few options when it comes to wilwood parts or s60rs. This is a nice quick and easy swap that costs a lot less for new parts that the other kits.
Click to expand...

Did you ever pursue this? I couldn't find anything searching, so I'm probably not using the right terms.

I have all the stock brake parts from my C30 T5M, so thinking I should make them fit to offset the V8 project.....

EDIT. -I don't have any stock rotors, I also don't see how this can work with the P1 rotors being the incorrect bore for the 700/900 hub

EDIT - just going to go with the 302 setup - need to stick with brakes that will fit in the 16" wheels without machine work.
 
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Some of those posts muddy the process. Not sure why the UK peeps go on about changing the servo, I don't recall that ever being a "thing" with 700 series.

At this time (11/2022), you can buy the unloaded calipers with 302 brackets off Rock Auto for under $60 ea., Including the $25 core charge....
 
lookforjoe said:
Some of those posts muddy the process. Not sure why the UK peeps go on about changing the servo, I don't recall that ever being a "thing" with 700 series.

At this time (11/2022), you can buy the unloaded calipers with 302 brackets off Rock Auto for under $60 ea., Including the $25 core charge....
Click to expand...

My '89 760 had "soft" brakes until I updated to the 940 "Jumbo" style. Braking was much better after that.

Yes, there's a lot of posts in there that really aren't necessary.

thelostartof did a great job of boiling it down to the essentials.

Good to know about the price on the calipers from RA.
 
swedishiron.com said:
My '89 760 had "soft" brakes until I updated to the 940 "Jumbo" style. Braking was much better after that.

Yes, there's a lot of posts in there that really aren't necessary.

thelostartof did a great job of boiling it down to the essentials.

Good to know about the price on the calipers from RA.
Click to expand...

Yes, TLAO's post is to the point.

When I worked for Volvo during the 80's/early 90's, we would do the "Jumbo" brake upgrade for all in-warranty period customer repeat complaints regarding braking quality/pulsation/vibration, etc. That worked, except when the Service manager insisted we provide the parts to do it on a 740 NA - He wouldn't take no for an answer & then cursed when the steelies wouldn't fit over them :lol:
 
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I retro fitted these "302" brakes to my 9 series sedan..... much improved over the miserable stocker setup. Barely cleared inside the 16" rims I ran on the sedan..... also upgraded to the 95 servo/booster at the same time so I could not separate the improvements. Net it was a win - best brakes ever on my old sedan.

Those interested, see my "Cheap Thrills" build thread for all the details, even PNs I believe.
 
DET17 said:
I retro fitted these "302" brakes to my 9 series sedan..... much improved over the miserable stocker setup. Barely cleared inside the 16" rims I ran on the sedan..... also upgraded to the 95 servo/booster at the same time so I could not separate the improvements. Net it was a win - best brakes ever on my old sedan.

Those interested, see my "Cheap Thrills" build thread for all the details, even PNs I believe.
Click to expand...

Took awhile to find it - helpful, that's not where I assumed the grinding had to occur.
 
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