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90' SI front brakes VS. DX front brakes

2802 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Stavros
Im looking to replace my front rotors and pads, and i read in my manual that DX front rotors are 2mm thicker. Is there any sort of benefit to this? 2mm isnt much, but why would Honda make them thicker? is it to compensate for the DX rear brakes being drum style?

basically, im looking to replace the rotors and pads anyways, and im wondering if there is an upgrade from a different car that i can bolt up without changing wheel hubs and suspension parts over.

Ive heard that integra front brake swaps alter your camber when the suspension moves up and down, and i dont have the money to upgrade to 90 EX knuckles w/ 10.2 inch brakes. Im cheap :roll:

any insight would be great, thanks
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if i am not mistaken i think that the 90ish prelude will swap over with the same hub
I think the thickness can be attributed to the fact that DX brakes are smaller. If I recall correctly, aren't the DX rotors smaller in diameter? This would mean that you would want a thicker rotor to prevent warpage due to overheating. (since you'd have to apply the brakes longer and harder in order to get the same braking results as an Si)
stickershop said:
If I recall correctly, aren't the DX rotors smaller in diameter?
Nope. According to the Helms design specifications section, under "Effective Disk Dia." It says the HF is 231mm/9.09in while the DX and Si are 242mm/9.53in. The Si and DX only differ in caliper and pad design.
shadowcrx said:
if i am not mistaken i think that the 90ish prelude will swap over with the same hub
I'm fairly sure the '88-91 Prelude uses the same 10.3" brakes and calipers as the '90-93 Integra and '90-91 Civic EX. The Prelude uses a 3540 proportioning valve which I'm told the EX uses as well... It would then stand to reason that they share the other brake components as well.
The '90-93 Integra knuckle is something like 1/2" taller than the EX knuckle. It would affect camber over the course of the suspension travel (you would have more negative camber at the top of suspension travel than with an EX knuckle) but the change should be minimal.
i THINK the diameters are the same, although, my memory isnt the best. i dont have my manual in front of me right now, but the size difference for thickness relative to diameter would make sense.

ill see if i can have a look at prelude calipers, rotors and pads. ill do a comparison of dimensions and see if they could line up. maybe ill even buy them and try and mount them up, if they dont fit i will do a refund on it.
Note that the '88-'89 Si and '88-'91 DX use the same front brake pads, but the '90-91 Si uses different pads- I found out the hard way- a set of pads I bought for my '91 was mislabeled- actually the DX-style pads. There is a slight difference in the retention tabs on the ends, where they clip into the caliper- that's all. The replacement box of pads was correct.
thanks to everyone for the info

i think im gonna stick with regular SI brake parts for now. I dont have another car to rip around in if something goes wrong.

i dont like the idea of weird camber dimension when my wheel moves up and down. thanks bobski, for the warning :)

crxsquared, i had a similar problem, except i had left over pads (unused) from a DX that was written off just sitting in my garage. Then i bought my current car (SI) and tried to mount them up. luckily i had my receipt and got the right ones.
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