Titanium Brake Caliper Pistons - CCM

[Tackleberry]

I will start by stating that at present this is to gauge the level of interest to see whether the project is worth pursuing.



Titanium Brake Caliper Pistons


Notes:

100% Precision made in the UK.
Machined to the highest & consitent tolerances.
Ultra light weight.
Micro ground ultra smooth finish.
Titanium Nitrided for the highest possible wear resistance & longevity.

Sets of 6 for each Front Caliper.
Sets of 4 for each Rear Caliper.



As most of you are aware the Brake Caliper Pistons in our cars are known weak spot. due to their material and finish.

Plated Aluminium is okay for a while, but it does not take long for the plating to either wear off, or start to deteriorate and flake.

This results in the Pistons sticking or jamming and significantly reducing the braking performance, which lets be honest is not even remotely desirable in any car, let a lone high performance cars cable of near 200 mph speeds.

So what is the solution ?

Obviously service & overhaul.

This takes the form of the Pistons being replaced, and of course the Seals too.

But what options are there ?

Currently the two most common are:

1) Direct replacement with the standard Brembo product.
While keeping everything genuine is top of some owners priorities, ultimately the end result is more of the same.

2) Stainless Steel aftermarket.
Obvious advantages over the stock items, but there is a weight penalty.



But wait ! There is another solution to consider……….

I'm currently working on a project to produce the best possible alternative. These will be made from Titanium !

Goes without saying the advantages of Ti outweigh the additional cost over SS, that mainly of course being weight.

In fact my Pistons should lighter even than the genuine Brembo items, as these are solid.

Also most people do not realise they are two piece. The body being solid Aluminium, with a steel cap.

My one piece hollow Ti Pistons will therefore be lighter !



In addition they will be Titanium Nitrided.
This gives them an ultra hard wear resistant coating. Essential fit and forget !



Pluses and minus:

Genuine - Aluminium/Steel
Advantages: Genuine item.
Disadvantages: Poor longevity/susceptibility to corrosion & wear. Poor insulator of heat, so heat transfer to fluid is high.

Stainless Steel
Advantages: Non-susceptibility to corrosion/good wear rate. Excellent insulator, so heat transfer to fluid is much lower.
Disadvantages: Weight

Titanium
Advantages: Very low weight. Non-susceptibility to corrosion/excellent wear rate when Nitrided. Excellent insulator, so heat transfer to fluid is much lower.
Disadvantages: Cost



Now this will represent a sizeable financial commitment, so as I said at this time I am gauging interest to see if it is worth pursuing.

Cost wise it is reasonable to expect a set of these Ti Pistons to be more than the SS items, but not as much as you might imagine.

Potentially around 30~50% more than equivalent SS versions.


For the time being these are limited to the CCM Calipers.

These sizes will fit the following Ferrari Models:

F430
430 Scud
360 CS
California
599


Also any other manufacturer that uses this Caliper type/piston size.

In the future this should then lead to Pistons to suit not only the "Steel Brake” cars, but also any other Caliper on any car within the Ferrari range, and other manufactures too.


If you’ve made it down this far, then great !

If you are interested please drop me a PM.

If enough interest then I will proceed with the project, and release more details & pricing in due course.


Thank you for your attention.

 

[RichardCH]

sounds good but never had a problem with any of my pistons in my 430s CCM's over the last 16 years

 

[Tackleberry]

My fronts were replaced in 2016 (2008 ca). I bought it in 2013, and thought the brakes didn't feel that great. I put it down to CCM's working better when hot.
Anyway, goes in for service in 2016 and of the 12 pistons at the front a grand total of 6 (3 per side) were actually doing something. The others being seized and non-functioning.

Fortunately the rears - at the time - appear to be fine and all working.

The fronts were overhauled with OEM Brembo pistons fitted.
8 years on from there the ticking time bomb - mostly the rears - has been at the back for my mind, and this little spark of an idea popped up.

Genuine are getting scarce, or soon to be no longer available. There is the SS route, but I thought lets look at an alternative, hence...........


So while you might think they are okay, don't rely on that. At the very least a proper inspection should be done to check the pistons are in good order.
If even the tiniest sign of the chrome coming off, or corrosion on the pistons, then it's time to replace as it only gets worse.

 

[sssdu01]

I fitted stainless which were easy to get but the dust seals were more difficult to find. In the end I found an obscure brembo catalogue, found some motorcycle pistons of same size then got dust seals for that. Didnt tell them they were being fitted to a Ferrari so the price was a few quid rather than hundreds

 

[Tackleberry]

Update


Update to my original post including more details and projected pricing.

Firstly other cars that use the same Caliper/Piston:
430 Challenge
575M HGTC
612 HGTC & OTO
Enzo

Other:
Maserati Granturismo MC Stradale


Tolerances:
+/- 0.01mm across a run of 1000 units.


Thermal Expansion:
Titanium has a very low coefficient of linear expansion compared to other metals, like stainless steel and aluminium, so therefore it can be kept within the +/-0.01mm tolerance.


Machining & Finish:
The Pistons will be machined to a 0.4R.
Alone this is more than good enough for the application, however once the Ti Nitriding is applied the surface will be like glass, and extremely hard wearing.


Costing - Projected:
Front Caliper - Set of 6 (one caliper) £320
Rear Caliper - Set of 4 (one caliper) £215