Thread: Brake upgrades for Defender

Originally Posted by DazzaTD5

my thought is if you want a modern vehicle with modern braking, then a classic Defender is not that vehicle.

Yeah much the same thinking that led me to renew the original 2.4tdci engine rather than put a more powerful engine in it- a defender is totally unsuited to being driven fast and I have another car for that; however that's no reason to not try to improve the brakes whilst I am at the point of overhauling them. If it ends up looking like a pipe dream, they have served me 'adequately' these 10 years.

My 130 sits at just over 3T and brakes work great...at 350,000kms. All i have done is upgraded the brake hoses to braided stainless, changed front rotors to vented/slotted/cross drilled and use genuine pads. I rebuilt the front calipers with new stainless pistons and seals about 3 years ago. I haven't touched the rears apart from a new braided stainless brake line.

I know on older models (like my 1998 300TDi) the brake booster cracks around the mounting for the master cylinder. I had to replace my booster due to cracking.

I'd try this first before forking out on LOF or other big brake upgrades.

Cheers