blackobxt Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 So i got my rockauto brembos today and was pretty excited. Opened them up and initially they felt wrong, mostly because they werent gold but they felt a lot heavier than i remember. Quick google for the weight and they were pretty spot on at about 10lbs so that couldnt be it then it hit me, i distinctly remember the word "brembo" being on the back side of the back casting which this did not have. Another quick google confirmed that i was right! Maybe im crazy, maybe im looking for something to be wrong (i am), and maybe not all sti brembos had the name cast into them. Sadly i have no friends with sti's to inquire and it might not even matter that they are knock offs but im curious to find out. I searched about fake brembos and what came up was fakes with different pins for the pads. these had the right pins so who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 pics? rockauto aren't gold? Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 rock auto brembos are re-pros, not genuine brembos. rom what i've read they are equally functional for the most part. OP is right that genuine brembos have the name cast on them. rock auto sells gold, black, and raw alu color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 Will get pics tomorrow. I’m ok with repros especially for the price and as long as they perform. autozone had them available as well but they come in gold and in the picture it shows brembo in the casting. I ordered one to see what shows up. Will post pics of it as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 i have a set of gold brembos with pads & rotors that needs to find a new home...if you get tired of this Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 Pm sent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 so, through a lack of communication and me walking around the house spouting off about them not being real, my wife took it upon herself to return them. however, the caliper i ordered through autozone showed up and it's identical except for being gold in color (not the brembo brass metallic). i found some discrepancies but they were just castings and despite the picture autozone provided, these also lacked "brembo" in the casting. as stated before, i wish i had access to a real brembo to measure fore differences, which i may potentially buy one. also something to note, it was cheaper through autozone than it was rockauto this is where "brembo" is normally cast this spot here is normally smooth and doesnt have this rectangular raised portion in the casting The reason for all this isnt to cry about them being repros, its to raise awareness that there are repros on the market and to potentially know what you are looking for when buying a set of used brembos which may or may not be authentic. I think for the price, as long as they perform these are awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaylew Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 (edited) They are likely non genuine. I used to work for a company that supplies to the likes of Rockauto, Advance etc. The end supplier might change the name, but they are all from similar sources. Generally speaking, from a company like Cardone (they're are mostly crap and my prior employer) they will sell stuff boxed as "re manufactured" when it actually isn't. In reality for something that is more difficult for the company to get the cores to reman, like these brembos, they will take stock from their "new" line, which is just sourced from a manufacturer in (most likely somewhere in China) that can replicate the OE. Cardone will then re-box the knock-off version and sell it as "re manufactured" even though it isn't. That amongst many other reasons is why I no longer work for them. The likelihood of getting genuine OE brembos for any car, from the run of the mill auto suppliers is slim Edited February 25, 2021 by jaylew Wagon is LIFE! - 265,000 miles and climbing Unofficial Build (Restoration) Thread Steering Rack Rebuild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 Oh they are definitely not genuine. With the high cost of even obviously abused brembos my first thought when I learned of the rockauto “stripped rebuilds” was how they managed to get enough cores to sell especially at that price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haze Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 I went through the same thing when I swapped my '05 Mustang GTs brakes to GT500 "Brembos" For whatever it's worth, I ended up keeping the knockoff calipers. They've been on the car for 2 years now and have taken everything I (and 9psi of boost) can throw at them. I'm not sure there would be any functional advantage to having the real deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 except yer buying knockoffs which doesn't provide money to the original company. meh Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 upon further inspection, there are several companies making OE replacement brembo 4-pot/2-pots. Powerstop has them both in red and is raw alu silver. autozone is selling their duralast version in both gold and black. NUGEON brand has their version too. rock auto carries both the powerstop and the Nugeon versions seems there are enough STIs out there to warrant production for aftermarket OE-replacement units. looks like one can swing a full F+R retrofit now with pads and rotors for under $1K brand new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted February 26, 2021 Author Share Posted February 26, 2021 except yer buying knockoffs which doesn't provide money to the original company. meh This is the only thing that has me torn, the calipers seem good enough but as you stated it provides nothing to the manufacturer who did the r&d to provide a good product. Normally with a small company who’s got knockoffs on the market for almost half the price I’d spend the extra to support the little guy but this is a company that started in 1961 that probably doesn’t give a damn about calipers they produced 14yrs ago. If there is a line to draw, where do you draw it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 My branded brembos are pissed. Maybe they will fit the lawnmower... Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 (edited) except yer buying knockoffs which doesn't provide money to the original company. meh they arent knockoffs, they are OE-replacements. Brembo isnt some niche aftermarket company with their designs getting copied. they are an OE parts supplier for many car companies. And like other OE parts supplier, once there is a sufficient market, other companies will repro the parts. its not marked as a brembo, so its not a knockoff. the only issue here is quality, and I'm sure YMMV depending on the company who makes the repro. those duralast units are dirt cheap. i may do a retrofit on my outback. front "brembo" calipers, rotors, and pads for under $500. Edited February 26, 2021 by whitetiger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 they arent knockoffs, they are OE-replacements. Brembo isnt some niche aftermarket company with their designs getting copied. they are an OE parts supplier for many car companies. And like other OE parts supplier, once there is a sufficient market, other companies will repro the parts. its not marked as a brembo, so its not a knockoff. the only issue here is quality, and I'm sure YMMV depending on the company who makes the repro. those duralast units are dirt cheap. i may do a retrofit on my outback. front "brembo" calipers, rotors, and pads for under $500. Yeah, lawnmower Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VespaGTS Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 I need to replace my front left caliper due to piston seal being torn and sticky piston. Let’s say a guy decides to stay with stock calipers. Who makes the best remanufactured ones, or should I replace with stock OEM from Subaru. I like the idea of upgrading my calipers and I have seen these listed on RockAuto. But I am running Enkei 17” GTC-01 wheels so I don’t think they fit, but I have not tried. I always try to upgrade when parts need replacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 ^you could just rebuild your stock caliper with a seal kit. if you want a reman, powerstop or centric are reputable. you need to say what the width and offset of your wheel is if you want an opinion on whether it will fit over STI brembos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VespaGTS Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 They are 17x7.5 with 48 offset. 5 x 100. Kinda light at 17.8# each. Didn’t know that bit about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 They are 17x7.5 with 48 offset. 5 x 100. Kinda light at 17.8# each. Didn’t know that bit about them. ^that is the exact measurements of the 2004 STI BBS wheel. I'd wager they will fit. If not, a 5mm spacer would be all you would need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VespaGTS Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 Thanks I appreciate your feedback. I’ll check pricing today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VespaGTS Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 Just to be clear about what I’m going to need to do this conversion. I will need front rotors, decent pads like EBC, but I will not need the mounting bracket for the caliper due to it bolting to the bracket mounting points. Correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 all you need is the calipers, and 2004 STI format rotors with the 5x100 bolt pattern. thats for the front. Id go for hawk street 5.0 pads, not EBC. the rear needs a bracket, and an adapter rotor for your rear parking brake which you can get at KNS i think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Febreze Mee Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 I know there are plenty of pictures out there, but please take pictures of the final product when you finish the job, Vespa. More pictures don't hurt - quick somebody quote that! MILKRUN - Click Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shralp Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 I swapped in used GT calipers to the Outback few years back (not sure if they were rebuilt or not but they appeared to be in good shape), but the right front failed horribly last winter with a sticky piston that just would not let go. It’s was completely overheating my nice DBA rotors. Dunno, just don’t trust a lot of these OEM remanufacture companies. You can get lucky once in awhile and get a deal from some of these Suby parts warehouses. I was able to get a Suby OEM GT caliper for $200 shipped and in my book, that’s worth it rather than the hassle and time to rebuild. Shot it with 2 coats of primer and two coats of flat black and it was good to go. Unfortunately my front left just started doing the same thing. Couldn’t find a deal this time. $290 from Subaru guess that’s better than what I paid for my Stoptech trophy kit lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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