Baer Brakes Big Claw Performance Rotor Kit - #2261046

[staying_tuned]

Post blower install I've been meaning to grab a Powerstop Z36 kit, mentally it was a done deal it was just a matter of time. Those kits are such a great value and have served me well on various applications over the years. I've noticed the OEM fades pretty quick when coming off the highway, locally it's 70mph then almost always a red light so they just sit and bake. By the next light I'm feeling down at least 30% braking power. I could ease on down the off-ramp and coast on into a nice 1 or 2mph roll until I get my green but I just never happens in reality. I live in a very rural area so anything beyond basics is typically a run on the highway.

Recently I was checking out a brake upgrades thread and @HammaMan mentioned Baer recently releasing a kit which increases the front rotors on up to colossal looking 15" drilled & slotted units along with OEM caliper relo brackets to increase pad contact/sweep area significantly all while retaining OEM pad size and calipers. Bleeding isn't needed as the system remains sealed. I grabbed their recommended pads as well. Total cost was just under $800 to my door. A significant bump in price from my typical trusty Z36 kit but substantially less than exploring dedicated calipers. They offer just the calipers at a very reasonable replacement cost and any OEM sized pad will fit so long term if feels like a great cost-effective approach once over the initial hump.

I'm a huge fan of Baer. I've admired their craftsmanship and precision since itty bitty. Their calipers borderline x-rated but always out of reach budget/need-wise. I had a 14' Armageddon TT GT at a kooks booth and Baer offered to sponsor it without any questions on exposure/press/yada yada. I could have driven my car into the ocean shortly after for all they knew, they are just that kind of company so when I heard about this kit I knew I'd give it a shot.

It showed up today and man these are beauts. I'm hoping to get them on this weekend, we've got grammy coming in town so going to have to pull a wee hour wrenching session to get them in but I'm hoping I can.

I'll post a short and long-term review, we've got a trip to TX coming up which should easily span 2,500-ish miles round-trip.

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[Aonarch]

Nice! They are on my list.

 

[Fox146]

Need the matching rear rotors to go with ???. When it’s time I’ll be looking at these as well

 

[SALEEN961]

I've seen a few videos mention needing to remove the backing plates when installing this kit. I'd be interested to know how much clearance there is with the new rotors installed, and if the backing plates really need to be completely removed as opposed to just being modified or bent back slightly.

Living in the northeast, drilled and slotted rotors usually don't holdup too well with all the road treatments we use in the winter, it would be nice if Baer offered a plain rotor option. I'd be very interested to see how these hold up in the rust belt.

What do replacement rotors cost?

 

[staying_tuned]

I've seen a few videos mention needing to remove the backing plates when installing this kit. I'd be interested to know how much clearance there is with the new rotors installed, and if the backing plates really need to be completely removed as opposed to just being modified or bent back slightly.

I read the same on on a full 6P caliper & rotor upgrade but my understanding based on the instructions (specific to our gen) and disparate bits & pieces found online is nothing will need to be tossed, bent, ground or otherwise jankyfied in any way on this kit. It's one of the main reasons I got this over springing not a bunch more for a caliper kit which can be had now for around $1,500 BUT grinding is required.

Living in the northeast, drilled and slotted rotors usually don't holdup too well with all the road treatments we use in the winter, it would be nice if Baer offered a plain rotor option. I'd be very interested to see how these hold up in the rust belt.

Odd. We lived in the Jim Thorpe Pocono area for nearly 20 years before heading back down south. We were 15 mins (an ATV ride locally) from Pocono Raceway : o ) I've had all manor of drilled/slotted rotors spanning R1 shorter-term solutions on up to 2-piece Alcon floaters. Our local area had limited restrictions on what could be thrown down and we were at elevation so brine, sand, char/anti-skid and whatever else the local township could drop went down and never did I experience any issues corrosion or general degradation-wise. Frame and general undercarriage is another story but no rotor issues. What have you experienced specifically?

What do replacement rotors cost?

They are very reasonable and on par with most mainstream mid-grade suppliers at this point. Here is a product groupd page on their Claw rotor line. I haven't the part number for just the rotors but based on their offerings it wouldn't surprise me if they are using the same units designed for the 6P Caliper equipped Mustang GT. Same specs & size at 15". They can be had for under $300 at AutoZone for the pair. I'll give them a ring or double-check the packing literature to see.

 

[zx6roclet]

Curious to see what the difference is. On motos ive tried upgrading rotors and it did NOTHING for performance. Pads, master, and caliper itself are the major differentiators not a rotor or changing the angle of the stock pad on a larger rotor.

 

[staying_tuned]

Curious to see what the difference is. On motos ive tried upgrading rotors and it did NOTHING for performance. Pads, master, and caliper itself are the major differentiators not a rotor or changing the angle of the stock pad on a larger rotor.

Right on, the significant increase in available mass to bleed heat is where I think the majority of the gains are to be had on this. The rotors are huge comparatively speaking. For sure it couldn't hold a candle to a proper piston upgrade but as mentioned I dig the middle-ground where this lands between $300 power-stop and direct-fit $3,500 6P calipers. Truly fit btw, I know we can make $1,500 caliper options fit, a few solid looking options exist but I'm not trying to grind or shoe horn something in.

 

[HammaMan]

I've seen a few videos mention needing to remove the backing plates when installing this kit. I'd be interested to know how much clearance there is with the new rotors installed, and if the backing plates really need to be completely removed as opposed to just being modified or bent back slightly.

Living in the northeast, drilled and slotted rotors usually don't holdup too well with all the road treatments we use in the winter, it would be nice if Baer offered a plain rotor option. I'd be very interested to see how these hold up in the rust belt.

What do replacement rotors cost?

Before they changed up their site, they had both solid and slotted rotor replacements available but this kit was strictly D/S. Now I cannot find the replacement rotor part numbers or listed on the site.

 

[SALEEN961]

What have you experienced specifically?

I frequently see drilled rotors with very pronounced ripples in the face of the rotor and bands of rust or pad material that line up with the edges of the drilled holes. Slotted rotors seem less problematic than drilled rotors, but once the slots start rusting they tend to grow and create noise.

I don't have any really good examples on hand at the shop right now, but I'll post a few pictures of what I experienced when I gave Powerstop pads and rotors a try. I see this a lot on Mercedes rotors, but almost never on Porsche rotors. I think the big difference there is whether or not the cars are garage kept and whether or not they get driven in the winter.

The Powerstop brakes shown below were only installed on my truck for about 19K miles and 22 months before I was too annoyed by the pulsation and rust to keep them. The pulsation started getting bad after the second winter at roughly 18K miles.

 

[SALEEN961]

Before they changed up their site, they had both solid and slotted rotor replacements available but this kit was strictly D/S. Now I cannot find the replacement rotor part numbers or listed on the site.

I think I found them, but I'll have to call Baer to verify. In any case it looks like replacement rotors cost more than the whole kit, not much more, but still more than I would have expected at $779.90 for 2 rotors.

I wonder if I would be able to order the kit with plain rotors by calling and ordering directly from Baer.

 

[staying_tuned]

@SALEEN961 - Man those are terrible. They look like victims of cheap pads worn down to the rivets vs. father frost but your sig indicates you are an auto tech. I guess I've just been lucky. I've just never seen anything like that caused by material they are throwing on the roads in winter.

---

I was able to get them on. Each took about 45 mins start to finish. We do indeed pick up surface area contact, in fact if you pull your front wheel and shine a good light you'll see overhang of the pad material on the top of the stack. It's not a ton but plain as day if you can get good light down there. Next time you're changing them out feel the un-leveraged surface, it's new and smooth. I'm sure over time it slides and gobbles it up but it certainly isn't being utilized effectively. This really shouldn't be surprising though, you take a pad with a smidge of overhang and carry it over to a larger rotor (without overshooting size) and you get more contact.

Install was pleasant. The stock bracket bolts call for 184lbs but they use red thread-locker on that beast so they fight the whole way out. Not bad but everything else was so smooth they stand out. Other than that it was quick and painless. All pad hardware/pins/etc. slotted & clicked nicely without any mangling and I didn't have to compress the pistons to slip the stockers back on, just a little wiggle and in.

Ok onto the shots. It happens to be raining a slush mix right now, not the best weather to bed them so I gotta wait till tomorrow. After that I'm headed straight to the highway to see if I'm getting significantly less fade coming off off-ramps. I expect more bite with the pads and that could be had with just pads alone, it's really consistency and less to no fade that I'm looking to achieve.


Stock pad, bottoms are fed, tops overhang a tad.

Rotors side by side.

New bracket on and prepped. Fantastic feeling quality btw, no scuffing or damage on anything either.

OEM size Baer pads with full contact top to bottom.

Done.

 

[staying_tuned]

Forgot to post this one. I don't know if every aftermarket (yet OEM fitting) pad would be the same but the Baer pads are just plain bigger.

Stock pad top, Baer bottom.

 

[staying_tuned]

I think I found them, but I'll have to call Baer to verify. In any case it looks like replacement rotors cost more than the whole kit, not much more, but still more than I would have expected at $779.90 for 2 rotors.

I wonder if I would be able to order the kit with plain rotors by calling and ordering directly from Baer.

Nada, you're looking at the kit 100%. You a Baer hater hah? I'll call them, you most certainly can.

 

[SALEEN961]

Nada, you're looking at the kit 100%. You a Baer hater hah? I'll call them, you most certainly can.

When looking up replacement 15"x1.18" rotors for a 6x135mm bolt pattern, these are the only options listed on their website. The drilled and slotted rotors are a little cheaper, but the prices are up there if they are correct.

 

[staying_tuned]

Spoke with Baer, part numbers are as follows for the drilled & slotted rotors:

Left: 6910874
Right: 6920874

They are $650 for the set. He said Holley runs a pretty persistent free shipping @ 10% off code but suggested when the time comes source from AutoZone. I had no idea but AZ will be starting to carry Baer soon, he said when that happens expect prices to drop.

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