So I was thinking the other day about the rear brakes on my MINI. I am replacing my front brakes with those off the R56 MCS and was thinking that maybe it would be possible to put my old fronts on the rear. Sort of like a rear BBK. Does anyone know if this would be possible? I would think that I would only need to have some sort of bracket made to hold the larger caliper, but who knows. Any thoughts and info would be great.

 

Don't you think a parking brake would be useful?

 

Interesting thought. Contact Todd at TCE for why it might not work or be worth the effort. The front caliper is quite a bit larger than the rear and it's meant to work with a larger rotor that is vented not solid like the rear stock rotor.

Otherwise for less hassle, why not use a kit from TCE-
http://www.tceperformanceproducts.co...s.pl?record=13

Rear Plus 1:The Rotor kit. $579
Enhance the look of your car with a front and rear kit! TCE offers two rear kits. This kit comes with larger rotors, optional rotor finishes, caliper relocation brackets and everything you'll need for a quick and simplet installation. Retains the factory parking brake caliper and pads. Fits 16" and larger wheels.

• Billet aluminum rotor hats (TCE or Wilwood style to match front)
• 11.75 x .375" solid rotors
• Gas slotted and zinc plated
• TCE spec stainless steel hose kit
• All required hardware
• Optional cross drilled rotor finish- ADD $135

Rear Plus 2: The Parking Brake kit.$1195
Move on up to some big calipers to match the front FSL or DP model parts! This new kit comes with Wilwood's own parking brake caliper and retains the stock cables for easy installation. Larger 11.75" rotor to match your front kit make this an easy choice.

• Wilwood Parking Brake Calipers
• Radial mount brackets
• BP10 pads
• Billet aluminum rotor hats (TCE or Wilwood style to match front)
• 11.75 x .375" solid rotors
• TCE spec stainless steel hose kit
• All required hardware
• Cable mounts and clips
• Optional cross drilled rotor finish- ADD $135
• Optional RED powder coat finish- ADD $30

 

Who needs those. I'll just avoid hills.

 

yeah those are good.
Dunno if its worth it because of how light the rear is they may lock up pretty easy...
just get your brakes on there and see how you feel after.
besides you wanna tell me where you got your brakes and how much you paid for them

 

I bought the R56 brakes from the market place. I have bought two sets from there in the last month. Around $300 each.

I looked at he TCE kits, but don't want to spend that kind of money. I just thought since I'll have the brakes I could give it a try.

 

...or just upgrade to a better pad, maybe the Carbotech? Can be found in the product reviews.

 

The front caliper mounted on the rear would need an adapter plate of some sort. The larger and thicker vented front rotor is matched with the front caliper so you'd have to mount that on the rear hub. I don't know if the front caliper can be used at all with the smaller thinner rear stock rotor- I think the front pad width is too much. Check with Todd.

Since stock front brakes are obviously more robust than the stock rear brakes, if you did mount the front brake on the rear you'd increase weight and increase rear brake bias. I'm not sure if that would be any improvement over just a JCW front brake kit and better rear pads.

The JCW kits are supposed to be designed to work with stock rear brakes, improving the rear pads is sensible/practical. Most of the stopping is done with the fronts. Good brake bias for the MINI is maintained

Those rear kits are more for the full Big Brake kit upgrade in the fronts but they can give you an idea of what is possible.

 

that makes sense minihune. I think that i'll just stick with the stock set up and look into some better pads and rotors. I never even thought of the weight factor.

 

Xnotfunkylex
you said you bought two sets of front brakes?
That means you have one extra...
May take them off of your hands for some funds?
Pm me.

Colin

 

I took off my rear brakes and poked around with this idea a while back. It would just need a pretty simple adapter plate (which I don't know how/have the equipment to machine at the moment). I would only do this if I were getting big brakes like 13 or 14" in diameter (I am no brake expert, however).

 

Sorry Colin, but the second set is for my dads car. Good luck with finding a set. I'll let you know if I see anything.

 

Commented on a post along these lines the other day.

See This Post

Unless you're doing this purely for looks, there really isn't any need to do this. The rear brakes do almost no work, and simply upgrading the pad 99.9% of the time is effective enough.

 

Thanks everybody for all the iinformation. I think that I'll just leave the factory rear brakes on. Just doesn't seem worth the hassle to have a little bit bigger caliper on the rear. I think the front will be just fine.

 

smart choice