Huh? This is a super high-end monoblock caliper made by Lockheed, the CP3485-8so.
Back in ’94 this was still available new, but nowadays it’s incredibly rare.
There are two types: 90mm for Suzuki and 40mm for Brembo, and of course they have aluminum pistons!
Since it’s a monoblock, AP was fearless selling these directly to regular users!
Below that is the Yoshimura Nissin—a collaboration between Nissin and Yoshimura.
The logo looks great! It’s one of those kit parts from Brembo. This one has a 40mm pitch.
The body is a split design and the piston is iron. It’s heavier.
Below that are scratches on the caliper piston—sesame-like marks and horizontal scratches.
You might think the caliper piston only moves in the direction it pushes the pad, right?
Actually, it moves in other directions too. If you’ve done a caliper overhaul, you probably know this,
but the piston always gets scratched (in the perpendicular direction opposite to the pad-pushing direction).
With the wheel and rotor spinning like crazy and the pad holding it down, of course the piston gets pulled too.
When the piston moves, the cylinder needs clearance for that movement. That’s the play!
So the cylinder wears too. To reduce wear in just one spot and even it out,
you rotate the piston (and it’s easier to clean too). Just don’t rotate worn-out calipers, though.
Maintain the pad pins well too. They’re called slide pins for a reason—they actually slide.
The pin gets hit by the pad and gets marked, it wears down, and you can’t push the pad smoothly unless you get past that groove!
Don’t skimp—replace them occasionally. People ask sometimes, but the pad pins don’t actually support the pad.
Look at the structure carefully. You’ll see it if you look—which means the body needs maintenance too.
So you get the idea.
Don’t skimp on brake fluid either. Start with cheap OEM fluid if you want—experience the effect of fresh fluid first,
then try high-performance options like Brembo (LCF) or Newtech (RP320) to feel the difference.
If you go high-performance from the start, you end up just feeling safe without ever knowing what the performance really is.
Article by Nenchiya ← Who the heck is this?
