12" Baer Brakes for 16" GTA Wheels

turbobuick

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Jun 18, 2001
I have the 11" SS4+ Baer front brakes with modified spindles on my T-type with 16" GTA wheels. Baer only makes a 11" brake kit for the front with 16" wheels but the rear disc brake kit is 12" and fits the wheels just fine. I really like how my GTA wheels look, I put a lot of $$ into refinishing them, resizing the rears so I have 6 and having them and painted to match the color of the car. Plus they fit really well with the frame 5.5" off the ground and ZERO rubbing. I really dont want to go through getting new wheels and tires to run the 13" rotor which and require a minumum of a 17" wheel. Plus its not exactly a cheap upgrade either!

SO I called Baer and got ahold of Rick Elam about putting on a 12" rotor especially since the F-body had 12" rotors and these are F-body wheels. He got back to me and has the rotors rings and hats to make it work and are working on making a new caliper bracket. He said it will get a part # and you will now be able to buy the SS4+ kit with a 12" rotor instead of a 11" for 16" wheels. Which IMO the 11" rotor on the look stupid with 12" on the back! I'll post some pics I get them installed
 
Great company, wish I would have known this before I bought my Wilwoods.

Running 16" Rikens and the Wilwoods being 12.19" and Baer being 11", I went Wilwood's 140-12837-R.

Always liked Baer, decades ago at the annual BGNRA meeting Baer came and gave a great presentation of their brakes to us.
They also gave away a bunch of discount codes and merch. But back then the 11" is all that would clear 16" wheels.

Goodluck on this project thank you for sharing.
 
I've been considering upgrading brakes for a while now. I'm running 15" wheels currently..... I need to do some measuring but I'd be shocked if they fit. Great info here, thanks for sharing!
 
I'm running the 12.19" Wilwoods with the 6 piston caliper on a 15" wheel in the front . It is a tight fit though !
 
I'm running the 12.19" Wilwoods with the 6 piston caliper on a 15" wheel in the front . It is a tight fit though !
Nice! Im running the Telstar Centerline wheels. Notice a difference in stopping power going to the Wilwood? I ditched the Power master and converted to vacuum as the car has gotten faster ET wise.
 
Nice! Im running the Telstar Centerline wheels. Notice a difference in stopping power going to the Wilwood? I ditched the Power master and converted to vacuum as the car has gotten faster ET wise.
When I first converted to the Wilwoods I was running Telstars also !! Then my son said , nice brakes but you can't see the calipers that well . So my brake conversion cost another $3000 more for the Champion Billet wheels that I'm running now . I have a vacuum brake conversion and as far as stopping power , I feel more confident with the bigger brakes after a 130 mph shut down .
 
Great company, wish I would have known this before I bought my Wilwoods.

Running 16" Rikens and the Wilwoods being 12.19" and Baer being 11", I went Wilwood's 140-12837-R.

Always liked Baer, decades ago at the annual BGNRA meeting Baer came and gave a great presentation of their brakes to us.
They also gave away a bunch of discount codes and merch. But back then the 11" is all that would clear 16" wheels.

Goodluck on this project thank you for sharing.
Yes they are and Rick Elam came through and put together a kit for me with 12" Rotors. The 12" SS4+ kit part # is 4301654 and they will retail for $1995.00

TurboWH1 the SS4+ brake kit has an 11" rotor which will fit a 15" wheel. Baer made the 12" for me to fit a 12" rotor so yes nice company to take the time to build a 12" brake kit for a Goofy old Buick guy who insists on running 16" wheels you cant even buy tires for these days lol!
 
Finally got my parts from Baer to swap to 12" rotors. Everything bolted right on with no issues. I did need a 3/16 spacer to clear the caliper but Still very happy with the end result.
 

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Look good Chris , and if you don't think 1" makes any difference just ask any female...:ROFLMAO:
 
can these be fitted with wheel speed sensors?
Good question and that is something I will probably do at some point. I have a IPU mag pickup I plan to mount on the back side of the hub to pick up the back of the wheel studs. I also have a collar on my pinion yoke I plan to use too.
 
more pulses is always better, but I know several people using the wheel studs with decent results

Bob
 
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