Volvo 240 Big Brakes
Return to Main Page       UPDATED: November 15, 2008
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Web www.davebarton.com
This page illustrates some pretty cool brake upgrades I have done for my 245, as well as some other big brake options for 240's.
Hopefully it helps you if you decide to do something similar.  If you have done something like this for your 240, I would really like to hear about it and see some photos.
 
EMAIL ME
 


Before the Big Brakes: 
          I owned my 245 Turbo for 6 years before beginning this modification.  I had a lot of experience with the stock 240 brakes and lots of experience trying different things to improve them. 

          I was already a customer of IPD, so naturally I tried some of their brake pads.  I tried the PBR Deluxes for a while and found out they had a bad tendency to fade after a few hard stops.  The fade wasn't subtle... it was really bad.  The braking came back once I let things cool a bit.  The PBR Deluxes are really good when cold... lots of bite, low dust.  Just don't expect much out of them after hard stops.

          Then I ordered a set of PBR Metalmasters.  These pads are designed for much heavier use.  I never got them to fade, but the cold stopping was not very good at all.  One time while on the freeway on a long roadtrip (I hadn't touched the brakes in a long time, so they were as cold as can be), all the traffic came to really quick stop in front of me.  I hit the brakes and found I had very little braking power.  I used all my strength (mind you, I have leg-pressed 700 lbs before) and I baaaaaarely stopped in time, nearly plowing into a stopped car ahead of me.  The Metalmasters went in the trash as soon as I got home. 

          A friend and fellow 240 owner, Clay Dewan, suggested the Mintex (red box) pads.  I was skepticle, since they were inexpensive and a name I didn't know at the time.  But I tried a set and absolutely fell in love with them.  They had great cold and WET stopping. And they were exceptional when treated badly.  I used Mintex pads for several years and several Thunderhill Track Days and they never failed me.   I highly recommend them for your 240.

          I wish Mintex offered pads for the R calipers.

Update:  May 2008
          Finally..... Here's are some sources for a variety of aftermarket performance brake pads for the 2004-2006 S60R/V70R calipers.
          http://www.zeckhausen.com/Volvo/S60R.htm and  http://www.importrp.com/home.php?cat=37

BIG BRAKES
          I began this project in December 2003 when I purchased a set of new S60R calipers and rotors (2004 and later S60R).  My original plan was to design a caliper bracket to fit these calipers on the front of my 245.  Before I got very far, I discovered that Travis Kijowski of Strictly Volvo Racing (SVR) in Maryland was in the process of developing an aluminum bracket for these calipers to fit a 240 strut housing.  He and his brother, Todd, planned to use the brackets to fit the R calipers on a 940 Turbo fitted with 240 strut tubes (long story, but the 940 struts were incompatible).  My original plan was to have a 2-piece rotor set made using Wilwood components (or equivalent)... i.e.: aluminum hats, separate rotors.  But when I found out about the SVR brackets, which could use the stock R rotors with no mods... a direct bolt-on, I put off the idea of custom rotors for a while to save some time and money.
         
          I completed this project in March 2004 and it has been one of the best mods ever. 

(BELOW PHOTOS) The photo on the left is what used to be on my 245... stock rotors (except for the custom drilling).   The right side photo shows the R brakes after installation.  I was pretty amazed about the rotors going on with no mods.  I guess Volvo has a habit of keeping some specs pretty consistent.

          The R caliper is an aluminum 4-piston type made for Volvo by Brembo.  The caliper weighs in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. (about 3.3 kg).  The rotor (also made by Brembo) is 13 inch (330.2 mm) x 1.25 inch (32 mm).   They are quite a bit larger than the original 10 inch brakes.  The rotor weighs approximately 20 lbs (about 9 kg).  I had the slots on the R rotors custom machined at the cost of about $25 per rotor. 
 
 

          These are the aluminum brackets you see at right, which allow the R calipers to bolt to the 240 struts tubes with no other mods.  Pretty cool!  These brackets are available from Travis Kijowski at Strictly Volvo Racing.  His email: brick.pilot@verizon.net. 

          UPDATE November 2008:  It appears these brackets are no longer available from the above source.  A new source has been located below.

          The latest versions are the black anodized ones with laser-etched "SVR."  The natural color brackets were pretty much prototypes and were the ones I used initially.  These brackets weigh in at 15 oz. each (about 425 grams).   Lots of detailed info has been written on this conversion over the last couple years and can be found in the Turbobricks Forum (http://forums.turbobricks.com/) and at the below links specifically (among others):  
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=22183
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=22070
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=17562
http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=20624


          SVR's bracket was designed to allow the R caliper to be mounted in almost the same place as the stock caliper.   You can see in this pic how the R caliper is moved outboard (away from the strut tube).  This was necessary so it correctly fit the position of the R rotor, which is set farther outboard than the 240 rotor.  To put this in perspective, when measuring from the inside pad surface of the rotor, the R rotor will be about 5/8 inch (about 16 mm) more outboard than a stock 240 rotor.   The outside face of the larger R caliper will be about 24mm (just under an inch) further outboard than a stock caliper.

          The stock sheet metal brake backing plates were useless for this upgrade and went in the trash.

          Notice that you only need ONE brake line per wheel instead of two brake lines as on the non-ABS 240.




15 Nov 2008: NEW SOURCE for R brake caliper 240 brackets:
RSI (R-Sport International.com) in Portland, Oregon, has just announced they now have begin making 240 mounting brackets for this conversion.  Please contact RSI directly.



R BRAKE PARTS LIST:

The front R CALIPERS are Volvo PN 8602682 and 8602683.  List price (March 2007) is $228.00 each plus core deposit ($40.00) from your Volvo dealer.
The front ROTORS are Volvo PN 30645222 (same left or right).  List price (March 2007) is $100.00 each from your Volvo dealer. (I had the grooves on the rotors custom cut by a machinist).
The SPRING CLIPS/RETAINERS are Volvo PN 30645137 and are about $18 per set (2 sets required).
OEM front brake pads are PN 30645135 or 30748957 and are about $70.
(I opted for EBC Green Stuff pads, PN DP21210, which I bought from The Tire Rack.  Cost was about $100 for fronts and $60 for pads to fit my rear stock calipers)

BOLTS NEEDED FOR THIS CONVERSION:
Minimum of Grade 10.9 hex head or 12.9 black socket head recommended.
Metric 12 x 1.75 mm x 40 mm (4 required)
Metric 12 x 1.75 mm x 60 mm (4 required)
Hardened 12 mm washers recommended (8 required)
Brake Junction Block Plugs (pictured), Volvo PN 1387506 (2 required) about $4 each.


         You will notice two new hard brake lines in the picture of parts.  These hard lines were used to replace the origional hard lines going from the calipers to the flexible lines (I already had stainless front flex lines, so I used one of those for each side).  The old original hard lines can be re-used, but I find the brass fittings often seize in the calipers or at the flex line over the years, so I decided to buy new ones to avoid a headache.  I got them from FCP Groton at http://www.fcpgroton.com/.  They are part number AA0320, $4.00 each (2 required).



          The 240 brake junction block shown here has 8 ports. I have illustrated the original 240 brake line configuration (non-ABS type). The stock Volvo front caliper (non-ABS) uses two brake lines per caliper.  The front R caliper uses only one line per caliper.  For this conversion, two of the front caliper ports on the junction block need to be plugged.  TIt appears the best method for this conversion will be to keep the front brakes on a single circuit, i.e.: both fronts calipers on front junction block ports and the rear calipers on rears ports, such as the illustration to the right. 








          WHEEL SIZE IS CRITICAL:  When planning an upgrade like this it is very important to carefully consider the need for larger wheels AND more room to the outside of the original brakes.  As far as wheel diameter, I am pretty certain at least a 17 inch rim is required for this conversion if you use 13 inch rotors.  There are some 17's out there that still will not clear.  The wheels shown in these pics are 18 inch. 
          So far I know the 17 inch Volvo R wheels will clear just fine and I have been told the Volvo Tethys also, but both are FWD wheels and will need custom spacers to fit a 240.  
          The outside face of the new, larger caliper will be further outboard (out toward the wheel spokes).  My measurements show them to be about 24 mm (just under an inch) further out compared to the stock caliper.  So if your wheel spokes are already close to your original front calipers, you will either need new wheels or wheel spacers to push them outward.  A bunch more discussions from others who have worked out this install can be found at the Turbobricks forum.


FRONT/REAR BRAKE BIAS:
          For braking to be effective when you get near the limit, you need a pretty good balance between the front and rear.  Having brakes that prematurely lock the front or rears is bad, although if anything is going to lock first, the fronts are preferred... just slightly before the rears though.  When I tested these brakes initially with no adjustments or changes to the front/rear bias (including a day at Thunderhill Raceway in May 2004),  I found the front brakes had a little too much strength and would prematurely lock if I wasn't careful.  This required some concentration and discipline at track speed.  I found if I was gentle on the pedal I could prevent it, but it needed to be improved.  For a better balanced setup out of the box, I suppose anit-lock brakes work nice at leveling things, but adding ABS wasn't an option I wanted to tackle. 
          If I were to use dual master cylinders with a balance bar, the imbalance could have been solved with an easy adjustment, except it would have been very expensive and goodbye power assist.  I thought about removing the rear brake reduction valves (to increase rear brake pressure) and installing a custom single rear line with an adjustable proportion valve to regulate rear pressure.  As a first step I decided I would remove the reduction valves.  After the valves were removed I needed some way to re-connect the brake lines and found that a standard 240 junction block (shown in pic) worked perfectly in place of the reduction valves.  It fits like it could have been made to go there.  Four of the open ports on the block needed to be plugged (so four more brass plugs needed).
          The final result of my install was great... better than expected!  I now have a very nice front/rear balance which takes full advantage of the improved brake system.  Much stronger front brakes (because they're so damn big) and stronger rear brakes also (since removing the reduction valves). 

          So now we know this can work for a 245.  What about a 242?  ....After Doug Kauer did his install, he then tried this method on his R-caliper eqipped 242 Turbo and raved about the results.
          Through amateur backyard mods like this, many Volvo owners have greatly improved the performance of their cars.  This isn't the end-all solution and it might not be for you, but for the money, it was one of the best modifications I have ever done to any Volvo.  I want to thank Travis Kijowski at Strictly Volvo Racing for designing and producing the caliper brackets.  They turned out very nice. 

          If you do a mod like this (or even do it differently), I would like to hear your results.





Experimentation is the key to improving modifications.
Here is an R caliper installation that was done a little differently and the results.
-from Matt Dupuis (added 07-16-06)

Here's some feedback on my conversion, and what I've done differently than (I think) everyone else:

The piston dimensions on the S60R calipers when mounted on a P2 car (S60R) are 34 mm for the leading piston and 38 mm for the trailing one.  For a staggered piston design to work as designed, the trailing piston must always be larger than the leading piston.  This is done on calipers with long pads to keep the pad twist under control and to keep the pad wear (and heat) even across the length of the pad.

It occurred to me later that the P2 chassis has the calipers mounted in front of the axle centerline, and that the leading (smaller) pistons would be on the top, and on the same end of the caliper as the bleed nipples.  When rotating them around to the rear of the axle centerline, as on the 240 chassis, the smaller piston would remain the leading piston.  This would be the correct way to installed them, however it places the bleed nipples pointing straight down.  Furthermore, the high pressure line, as it comes out the caliper, would also be angled down, making it difficult to route the line away from the suspension control arm.

I pondered these problems when I was doing my installation, and attempted removing of the blanking plugs from the trailing side of the caliper to move the bleed nipples to that side so they'd be pointing up.  They would NOT come out.  I tried heat, I tried chemicals (thread unlocker), and I tried force.  Eventually I stripped a couple of the plugs' socket hexes (not to mention the paint from around one of the plugs with my propane torch), so I gave up trying to move them.

I came to the conclusion that I'm only going to need to bleed these brakes once or twice, so I might as well remove the calipers and hang them "upside down" from the struts to bleed them.  I shoved a piece of metal between the pads to keep them from compressing, and bungee'd them to the spring, and they bled out just perfectly.

As far as the brake hose issue, I solved this by using a regular 240 hose and hose-to-caliper hardline.  The hardline threads into the caliper properly, and allows one to quickly bend upwards and clamp to the strut (being removable is necessary, so the caliper can be removed and bled again if needed).

And to my pleasure, these calipers fit just fine behind a Volvo Tethys wheel, when using a 25mm spacer.  They're not very visible back there behind all those spokes, but they fit just fine.

I used Hawk pads for an Subaru STi as Hawk doesn't list them for the R, or at least they didn't when I bought the pads (The STi Brembo caliper shares the pad dimensions with these calipers).   I'm not sure if I'd use them again - they squeal when lightly applied and the dust is pretty dark, and on the Tethys the dust accumulates quite quickly. 

So far they're the most confidence-inspiring brakes I've ever driven.  I'm not 100% happy with the balance yet - the fronts are too powerful, even though:
a) my car's not lowered;
b) my car's got a heavy V8 in the nose; and
c) I removed the rear brake limiting valves, but boy does the car stop! 
I do prefer a bit more rear bias, and I don't spend any time on a road course, so I imagine I'm not the utmost authority on brake setup, but I wish I had a bit stronger rear brakes.  Next step MIGHT be converting to different rear calipers... maybe Rs and vented rotors as well?

As a follow-up to Matt's submission above... on the subject of Potential Uneven Pad Wear due to the offset piston sizes....  I recently pulled and inspected my Green Stuff pads after 2.5 years and found nothing that suggests they were wearing unevenly so far.  Also, of all the other people running R calipers in the "wrong" direction on 240's, so far I have heard of no abnormal or uneven pad wear.... just great braking!  Take this for whatever it's worth, but I suspect the issue is a minor one. 

And a side note regarding comments I have read about EBC Green Stuff pads after I bought them.  I read several forum posts supposedly written by  "experienced" people, who said the Green Stuff pads were "horrible" because they were not aggressive enough for the track, but too aggressive for the street.  I have found that my two plus years with these pads (with a couple really aggressive track days) completely disagrees with their opinions.  These pads have worked great for me.  No squealing, great stopping when cold, no fading when hot, and very little dust!  And others have since reported that Hawk pads are horrible when they get a little wet.  I haven't seen this problems with EBC Green Stuff.  And Hawks, as it turns out, are considerably more expensive than EBC pads.  My considered opinion is that Green Stuff works fine in this combination.
Dave B.

Dave's Latest Brake Upgrade... October 2006

Since I have always wanted to upgrade to a two piece Wilwood rotor assembly, I went ahead and had the above pictured rotor set made up.  It was done by Todd Cook at TCE Performance Products in Tempe, Arizona, http://tceperformanceproducts.com.

And since a custom hat/rotor combo means that I can decide what offset I want (within limits of course), I decided it was time to move the rotors inboard .500" (1/2 inch).  This would give me broader wheel options in the future.    This is where the modified/carved up SVR caliper adapters pictured above come into play. 

I had the raised pads on the adapters shaved .500" (1/2 inch) where they meet the caliper.  The other clearanced areas you see were necessary to clear portions of the caliper body. 

You may compare the photo at left (original SVR caliper mount) to the photo below showing the modified SVR mount in place, which moves the caliper more inboard. 

Now you might ask... If I could move the calipers inboard 1/2 inch, then why not move them in an INCH?  ...As mentioned above there are limits.  The limiting factor with the 240 is the steering arm, which is normally less than 1/2 inch from the stock rotor.  That's about where my new setup puts the Wilwood rotor.  I suppose it would have been possible to get another 1/4 inch if I pushed it, but I'm happy with these results.




















OTHER INTERESTING BRAKE PHOTOS:

These are interesting.  Pretty simple design.
I found these pics on a Porche 944 site. 
Anyone want to make some sets for 240's??

 

 

What's this?  Looks like an S60R rear caliper mounted on a 240 rear hub.  It's a pretty simple design for the bracket if anyone wants to try it out.  A rear proportion valve would be needed to reduce the pressure some.  This setup belongs to the guy in the below website (in Swedish).
http://www.boost242.se/1-Design/Mats_boost_2006.htm

The below photos are Porsche calipers adapted by a European 240 owner for an '81 244 Turbo.   Custom two-piece rotors were used, however the size of the rotor is not known.  Nice, simple adaptation.   These pics were  located in the following Turbobricks thread:  http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=22070




The brake setup below is the result of some innovation by DVS Performance Parts in Australia at http://www.dvs.net.au.
The conversion uses an 11.25" diameter (22 mm thick) rotor from a 740 Turbo (or 940 if you're in the US, since Australian 940s are different), a Mazda RX7 turbo II (5 stud wheels) caliper, and the adaptor plate (available from DVS).  A modifed 240 backing plate with cooling vents is available too.  Supposedly this will fit inside a 15 inch wheel, but it may neeed a small (5 mm) spacer for a 240 Turbo (Virgo) wheel.  Additional discussion about this can be found at http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=68630. 

If anyone is running one of these conversions, I would like to hear from you on how it's working, wheel sizes, clearances, etc.



240 StopTech kit now being offered by Kaplhenke Racing.
http://www.kaplhenke.com/
This kit utilizes StopTech brake components along with a custom caliper mounting bracket to give you a first class front brake upgrade.  Not cheap.

 - 4 Piston aluminum calipers
 - 332 mm slotted rotor
 - Floating rotor hat system

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