So what, are we brake crazy lately (note the back to back brake reviews)? Well actually when we started shopping around for a replacement brake setup for our T-Maxx, this one caught our eye and we had to try it.


The kit looks awesome and comes with two 7075 aluminum, vented brake discs and three carbon fiber pads. It also comes with two longer brake mounting cap screws to accommodate the thicker brake setup.

We ripped the truck down and started the install. It looked pretty straightforward....pad then disc then pad then disc then pad. Unfortunately installation was not that simple. It was a struggle. We played with it for awhile trying to get this installed/setup so it was sitting on the brake hub properly. In fact we decided to stop what we were doing and contact CNR to see what the heck we were doing wrong (we were forced to contact CNR as there were not any instructions with the kit).

After a couple of e-mails it was apparent that it must be something we were doing wrong as CNR was not able to give us any real clues other than "it should fit". They did offer to take the kit back and refund our money (that's pretty cool of them) but we wanted to make it work!

Ultimately, we removed the entire kit, and started over. We were finally able to get it to sit on the brake hub by being very particular with the brake retaining bolt settings. If you screw the cap screws in a little too far, it forces the bottom of the brake disks out and off of the brake hub. If you do not screw them in far enough, the entire disk will fall off the hub. In short, you need to take your time and really do some fine tuning with the brake cap screws to get everything in the right place. Even then, it is still riding very close to the edge of the brake hub (reference the picture to the left).

Ok enough of the fit, on to the performance! The brake performed very well....when we could keep the outer brake disk on the hub. We really had to ease up on the brake linkage adjustment! This brake grabs hard and does a great job stopping the mass of the truck. Compared to the stock system it is worlds better....again, when you can keep the outer disk on the hub. Unfortunately, this kit has proven to be more trouble than it is worth.

The entire kit sells for $15 and CNR has a free shipping deal right now. Now for the million dollar question....is it worth the extra money over the stock setup? No. Is it worth the extra money over a single carbon fiber disk? No. It is a very cool setup with the dual disks (we like cool stuff) but honestly, it does not fit well and the outer disk falls off the hub often, locking everything up.

We like the idea of the kit but did not like the installation hassles, lack of instructions and poor fit.

UPDATE: We have been fighting with this kit non-stop the past few weeks. The outer disc keeps falling off the hub and locking everything up. The only way to fix this would be to upgrade to a wider brake hub. Unfortunately CNR does not include this with the kit. If they did, this kit would have been rated at 4 or 5 stars. We have removed this kit from our truck and will probably not even bother with it again. Do yourself a favor and order a wider brake hub if you order this kit. Do yourself a bigger favor and just find another brake upgrade.

Visit the Crazy Nut Racing web site for more info on this and other items.