W114 coupe brake upgrade
W114 coupe brake upgrade
Hi,, not getting anywhere searching so I'm looking for definitive information on upgrading the brakes on the coupe. Any info on anything that fits would be greatly appreciated, thanx
See if you can find the part numbers for the w114 brakes and compare them to the part numbers for the w123 brakes, if they're the same then I know w116 calipers and rotors fit on a w123 and the calipers are slightly larger and the rotors I believe are vented. 2nd Gen (post 1985) w126 brakes fit on a w123 and they're much larger, but you need larger wheels to fit them. So, depending on the similarities between the w114/5 and w123 brakes you might be able to upgrade them to larger s-class brakes
Also, I'm not sure if r107 cars had larger brakes or nor, if so they probably fit because they share the front sub-frame with the w114/5 I believe
The issue with 114's is the hub. There are 2 versions.
The early version has a different brake rotor stud PCD to the later one.
If you have the later version, then the best upgrade is to run the w126.039 560SEL rotor and calliper, and steal the brake booster and master cyl while you're at it - be aware that the holes for the brake pedal bracket may also require a slight modification to fit the 560 booster, but it's worth it. You'll need to fabricate some new brake lines on the front - with a banjo fitting at the calliper instead of a straight male fitting. and the brake line will need to be longer, I think mine were 4" longer or thereabouts.
That is the best bolt-on, the swept area increase is about 70% increase over the 114 pad, and the rotor is THICKER, which means it can dissipate a HUGE amount of heat. I've written this up for the morons over on benzworld because they just can't put the crackpipe down and listen - look in the r107 section if you want to see how much bullshit I've had to deal with. <jackasses>.
As for the rears, change the calliper and rotor out for 124 24v rears or 124 wagon rears, or later e320 rears. with the rears, the dust shields will also need to be swapped out, because of the handbrake and rotor diameter increase - or cut the shrouds off....
early r107's up to about 1973 shared the same 108/114 'tiny' brakes, before going to a medium size brake. then in sept 85, the whole front end changed, and you can't use 560SL 4 pot callipers and rotors, because the offset is different to the earlier version.
IMO the 560SEL brake upgrade is far better and much stronger. I thrashed the bejeezus out of my slc with 560 brakes and they never faded. with OE ATE pads (genuine) and a full overhaul on the calliper.
That's about the limit I'd go on standard suspension, as the increase in unsprung mass beyond this conteracts the performance of the brakes, particularly over undulating mixed surfaces.