mikec Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Hi guys just wanting a second opinion really I'm after fitting the larger calipers,to my 90 along with a disc rear axle, I've been offered some unused britpart calipers, a full set, for 60 quid. What do you reckon. I have to say I've avoided britpart recently, but wondered if people had used the calipers and found them ok? Cheers mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I know a heavy 110 running Britpart vented callipers. On did fail, but it was replaced by supplier NQA, and both the other and the replacement have since done splendid service, and are still in good condition - I know, because it comes to use my drive for its maintance and I usually end up underneath it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 doubt Britpart actually make the calipers, other option is to use post 1991 110 front calipers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 It's getting hold of these calipers that's the problem, I've got a set of rr ones, but they have the twin pipe setup and I'd prefer not to be using t pieces to ppe them up. For 60 quid they seem cheap enough but, obviously doubt ill have any comeback if they do fail. Cheers guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Not with a barge pole my friend. They will probably be alright, but is probably good enough for your brakes? I got a set of decent second hand calipers, stripped them down, and then rebuilt them with stainless pistons. A far better option Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Without making light of the consequences of a failure, what's the worse that could happen. Presumably they'll leak as soon as there fitted if there rubbish? Or would it be more likely to leak over time? I'm half tempted to get them and see what the quality is like when they get here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 well material failure is something you can do little about, and affects all manufacturers at some point. You could strip them and have them NDT'd for cracks. That would then leave you with bare callipers, which you could rebuild with stainless pistons and pukka seals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tychoS Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I would not use anything from Britpart for safety critical parts of a Land Rover. Too many bad experiences with their products. Brakes, steering and tires are three areas where you should aim for the best possible quality you can possibly obtain. Save on other areas of the vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frax Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I did buy a set but at the time I did not know they were Britpart, I would never willingly buy anything with their name on it. What I did when I found out that they were made by Britpart was strip them and replace all the seals with quality items and the pistons are not stainless steel. They have been OK no leaks and work fine and have been on for over a year and as Western says the chances are that they do not cast the steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Really? With all that is posted about the quality of their parts, especially with the notoriety of their brake parts in particular? Do you really think it's worth so much risk to save just a few pounds to buy second hand low grade pattern parts of very poor repute rather than buying new Lockheed OEM parts for just a little more? It's your life, and that of other passengers and road users you are gambling for a few pounds. Rule of thumb: if you feel the need to ask about the wiseness of fitting a part like this, then you already know the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Good luck Mike. Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Well from what I've read the brakes discs are supposed to be ok, I can't believe that all britpart stuff is rubbish, after all the stuff they sell will all come from a range of suppliers, all of which may or not be the cheapest available, but it doesn't make them all bad products, its just a matter of finding which are good and bad! Ill be honest I've just done a bulkhead and engine change and made an effort to make sure I got pretty much nothing britpart. Can't find any posts on google about anyone having problems with calipers though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Really? With all that is posted about the quality of their parts, especially with the notoriety of their brake parts in particular? Do you really think it's worth so much risk to save just a few pounds to buy second hand low grade pattern parts of very poor repute rather than buying new Lockheed OEM parts for just a little more? It's your life, and that of other passengers and road users you are gambling for a few pounds.Rule of thumb: if you feel the need to ask about the wiseness of fitting a part like this, then you already know the answer. To be fair it's hardly a "few pounds" 60 quid compared to 350-400 quid for new ap parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 To be fair it's hardly a "few pounds" 60 quid compared to 350-400 quid for new ap parts. I think you can do better than that, I don't know the exact details of your motor but I've just been looking at vented callipers on ebay, AP Lockheed, about £90 each Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Smith Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I have had Britpart front calipers on my 110 for about 6 years now. No leaks, no sticking, no visible corrosion, they work perfectly in every way. The castings are identical to the original ones. Of course a lot may have changed in 6 years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweetyduck Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I've got them on my truck and apart from one sticking piston in Kenya (or was it Uganda?) they have been fine and considering I'm running 2960kg and have driven about 80,000km in the last 16months (a hugh proportion of which has been offroad) I'd call that OK. I have spare pistons but haven't fitted one yet. The sticking piston was probably due to me cooking them on the long decent where the incident happened going down the rift valley. All the Britpart paranoia is mainly due to "other peoples experience" and never your own (most parts sold in Africa are Britpart). Small seals and stuff are cheap enough to go origional or OEM in the UK. Big stuff is likely to be OK in my opinion. My center diff is Britpart and apart from the fact its way out of tollerance on the sun gears its a massive lump of metal and has also done fine. No idea who made it or my calipers but they are going OK. You can buy a few calipers for the same price as AP.... ps my disks are who knows what and are fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off Road Toad Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I'm going to go against the rest of the stampeding sheep and say I don't think you'll have an issue with their calipers. I know a 110 (I rebuilt it with/for a friend) using their calipers and a rake of other stuff, its currently in South Africa having driven most of Europe, East side of Africa and most of the middle over the last 3 years and its absolutely fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 Cheers guys, that's what I was after some actual experiences of their calipers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Baaaaaaaa ! I remain staunchly anti Britpart in the light of my own experiences with the poor quality parts that they try and pass off as good quality parts. I won't use them nor recommend them to anyone, particularly important parts like brakes. If that makes me a sheep humbled in the glow of your superiority Mr Toad, then so be it. At least it won't be on my conscience. Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 All the Britpart paranoia is mainly due to "other peoples experience" and never your own (most parts sold in Africa are Britpart). Small seals and stuff are cheap enough to go origional or OEM in the UK. Big stuff is likely to be OK in my opinion. My center diff is Britpart and apart from the fact its way out of tollerance on the sun gears its a massive lump of metal and has also done fine. No idea who made it or my calipers but they are going OK. You can buy a few calipers for the same price as AP... My opinion is based on my own experience, thanks, but feel free to accuse everyone of jumping on a bandwagon without asking if they have had personal experience too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 To be fair it's hardly a "few pounds" 60 quid compared to 350-400 quid for new ap parts. If you go for the LR Genuine Parts, yes, but most people know to find OEM parts in their OEM, not LR boxes as the Land Rover mark-up up is horrific. OEM parts in the right branded box is what you want, and Lockheed callipers aren't terribly expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 If you go for the LR Genuine Parts, yes, but most people know to find OEM parts in their OEM, not LR boxes as the Land Rover mark-up up is horrific. OEM parts in the right branded box is what you want, and Lockheed callipers aren't terribly expensive. No mate gen ones are about 400 per caliper but that figure was an estimate for a set of four oem ap ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 If you go for the LR Genuine Parts, yes, but most people know to find OEM parts in their OEM, not LR boxes as the Land Rover mark-up up is horrific. OEM parts in the right branded box is what you want, and Lockheed callipers aren't terribly expensive. You realise I'm talking about a set of four calipers here? Not a single one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 My recommendation, unless you have damaged callipers, is to rebuild the existing ones with a Zeus stainless piston kit. I've done 10 callipers now, and the Zeus pistons are superb. It cost me about £100, maybe £110, IIRC, for the full set for four callipers, and I don't have to worry about them seizing again in a few years time. You can wire brush the callipers or have them blasted before stripping, whichever suits you best. Blasting is easier, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Would blasting before stripping be the best course, rather than stripping and then blasting? Just wondering, I'm guessing the exisiting seals will keep 99% of the grit out making cleaning easier afterwards? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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